‘Hello Chinatown’ signifies life, hope after disaster in Japan

The artwork of Koji Toyoda is simple, whimsical, almost childlike, and on the surface it is happy.

Toyoda’s "Hello Chinatown" exhibit, showing at Chinatown Boardroom through July 29, depicts the joy of surfing through stick-like figures who seem to be looking forward. Smiley faces are incorporated into the paintings, whether in a cloud, a sun, or tree.

Toyoda, 49, owner of Palm Graphics, says no particularly deep thinking was involved in his pieces, water acrylics on hemp canvas.

What is significant, however, is that several of his works were created after the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami that rocked the country and caused a nuclear disaster.

Toyoda, a father of two who lives in Osaka, was deeply affected by the tragedy, having lost friends who once surfed near the Sendai coastline. He was in so much grief and shock that he stopped painting and surfing.

It was only after a family friend showed him that life goes on was he able to do these things again.

That friend lived right behind the nuclear plant but made a move to the west coast of Japan, believing that life has to go forward.

The friend invited Toyoda to go surfing. Once he got out into the water, he was able to start painting again.

The two activities go hand-in-hand for the artist, who has been surfing for 34 years. He comes to Hawaii at least once a year to do just that. Toyoda believes surfing is about being one with nature and celebrating life.

IN "TANDEM," a couple is facing forward on a surfboard on a background of bright yellow sky and blue ocean, looking upward, as a white cloud smiles down on them. Diamond Head is in the background.

Toyoda purposefully sketches his personages as international figures, with no particular skin color.

Yet color is important to the artist. Yellow represents hope, he said. A small bird riding on the knees of the girl symbolizes freedom and imagination.

"It’s about going back to regular life," Toyoda said through an interpreter. "Tandem" was the first painting Toyoda completed after the Japanese tsunami.

Another painting, titled "Happily," depicts a couple sitting under a tree full of smiley faces, next to the ocean. One is playing a guitar and the other holds a four-leaf clover.

They both look upward, thinking of the future, Toyoda said. They possess a feeling of "slowly rising" hope.

In other paintings, like "First Feelin’," Toyoda captures what it’s like to stand up on a surfboard for the first time, which was inspired one day as he watched a surf lesson.

Though the work was completed before the tsunami hit, its message is relevant: It’s about renewal and remembering the beginning of life.

But whether before or after the tsunami, Toyoda’s artistic message is simple: Be happy.