OBITUARY:Iri Maruki

In his excellent obituary of Iri Maruki [21 October], James Kirkup writes of "the general indifference and ignorance" about "the finest artistic protests ever made against the folly of war", writes Peter van den Dungen. What was true in the 1950s is to a large extent still true today, particularly outside Japan.

But this situation would have changed dramatically if the nomination of Iri and Toshi Maruki for this year's Nobel Peace Prize had been successful. It would have been the first time (long overdue) that artistic efforts for peace had been honoured in this way.

It is thus a pity that the article made no mention of the fact that the Marukis did not confine their work to the theme of Hiroshima but expanded it to include other critical experiences of the century such as the extermination of the Jews in Auschwitz and the rape of Nanking by Japanese soldiers in 1937.