Tenko
Tenko (2005) oil on canvas with mixed media 10 canvases 18 x 13 cm
POA
Counting one to ten in Japanese with my father was always a bit of fun as a child. It was only when researching his story that I discovered a more sinister background to my father's familiarity with Japanese numbers. In most of the camps, the roll-call or 'tenko', took place twice a day and the prisoners had to stand in rows of ten and shout their number. If they got it wrong, or were just too near the front of the line, a beating could easily follow. The Japanese are superstitious about writing the numbers four (shi) and seven (sit-shi) as I am told the symbol for 'shi' also means death. More than two out of ten prisoners died during captivity.