Travelling around the World

Oscar Oiwa is an internationally renowned artist based in New York who is active in Japan, Brazil, and other countries across the world. Oiwa is a 2nd generation of Japanese Brazilian born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. This work, displayed on the five pillars facing the second-floor atrium, depicts seven emigrant ships that actually departed from Japan carrying migrants for Central and South America, Hawaii, the United States, and other countries, and it honors the first emigrants to leave Japan for overseas in search of a better life. This is a site-specific work that can only be seen at JICA Yokohama, for which it was created since it is home to the Japanese Overseas Migration Museum, a museum of emigrant history. Titled Travelling around the World, the work as a whole includes the works on display at the first- and second-floor entrances.