Twenty-four oils of landscapes and flowers by award-winning artist Ryoko Oikawa were saved from destruction in the March earthquake because they had just been shipped to her first UK exhibition, the Bristol Evening Post reported on 10 May.
Oikawa lives in a town in Iwate Prefecture where 80% of the 8,000 homes were destroyed. Her son Atsuhiko, who lives in Bristol, said: “If the paintings had stayed in Iwate, they would certainly have been damaged”.
