Traditional Japanese calendar painted on cloth : Lieutenant K C Ewen, 2/7 Field Regiment

Old Japanese hospital sheet titled in black ink in Japanese characters: 'October 4 1945 / Commemorating end of Second World War'. A depiction of 'Fuji Yama' and a Japanese Rising Sun flag sit centrally on the sheet. Surrounding are twelve distinct and separatly captioned scenes, realised in red, green and black ink. They depict, from top right:
1. 'Jan. A Happy New Year' (Japanese kites and storks flying against a red sun);
2. 'Feb. "Setsubun"' (A priest throwing roasted soy beans -the mamemaki ceremony - driving away a pair of evil spirits with hooked hands and feet, carrying clubs);
3. 'March. Girl's Festival' (A male and female doll in traditional dress kneeling on a raised platform in front of a decorated folding screen);
4. 'April. The Scene of Cherry Blossom' (Two figures walking down a street of old Japanese buildings, including a pagoda, surrounded by red cherry tree blossoms, accompanied by a detailed sprig of cherry blossom);
5. 'May. Boy's Festival' (Depictions of water lilies, Japanese kabuto (samurai helmet), mempo (mask) and katana (sword), and four carp fish kites mounted on bamboo);
6. 'June. "Sumo" (The Japanese Wrestling)'. (A smiling sumo wrestler in traditional garments gesturing behind him to a sumo match being fought within a rope ring, watched by a gyoji or referee);
7. 'July. The Festival of the Weaver Star' (Lighted paper lanterns and hand written scrolls detailing wishes for the coming year hang from a leafy bamboo branch, against a dark sky with three stars; a close up of a scroll in the foreground);
8. 'Aug. The Bon Festival Dance' (Men and women in traditional dress, holding fans, dance before two taiko drummers performing on a platform. Traditional musical instruments- a stringed shamisen and its bachi plectrum, two styles of taiko drums and a shakuhachi flute - are highlighted in the foreground).
9. 'Sept. Moon Festival' (Depictions of traditional offerings to the waning autumn moon - pampas grass (susuki), a container of white rice dumplings - sit in the night on a verandah);
10. 'Oct. Chrysanthmum' (A stand of red chrysanthmums);
11. 'Nov. The Maple Tree' (A mountainous coastal scene with ships sailing, with a stepped road in the foreground running through a series of tori, or arches, lined with banners. A pair of maple leaves are highlighted in the foreground);
12. 'Dec. The Snow Man' (A yuki-daruma, or snowman, in front of a snow-covered scene).

There is evidence of the design being mapped out in pencil before paint was applied. There is some staining and foxing to the sheet.

Illustrated bedsheet related to the service of NX122032 Lieutenant Kenneth Carr Ewen, a Survey Officer with 14 Battery, 2/7 Field Regiment. Born Cremorne, NSW, on 12 July 1921, Ewen enlisted on 23 September 1942, aged 21, at Wingham, NSW. Towards the end of his service, at war's end, he relates:

'I was on Tarakan Island in October 1945. The war was over and hundreds of Japanese soldiers came out of the jungle to surrender. We had constructed camp sites and huts to accommodate them, plus fencing and barbed wire to contain them. To keep the Japanese soldiers occupied we obtained picks and shovels from the engineers- we took every pick and shovel they had! We then divided them up into squads of about 25 and took them out of camp to repair roads, dig drains, etc. All were supervised by soldiers with Owen guns.

'I was responsible for four squads. One very small Japanese soldier, using a shovel, would pick up a spoonful of soil each time. I thought he was putting on an act, so I demonstrated taking a full shovelful each time. There was still no improvement, so I consulted the Japanese medical doctor and our unit doctor. My query was what did this man do before the war? The answer was that he had been a commercial artist.

'The following day I went around our units, including Brigade Headquarters, collecting coloured inks and pens. Armed with an Owen gun I went to the Japanese Hospital looking for a piece of clean bed sheeting - this was not possible. However, I took a sheet back to camp and boiled it three times to get it reasonably clean. The next morning I erected a canvas fly between two trees, set up a table and chair and pinned the sheet to the table. Pens and ink ready, I got the Japanese doctor over as an interpreter. Having explained to the doctor what I wanted, the doctor gave instructions to the prisoner. I asked the doctor what he had said. He turned to me and said "Draw, you bastard, draw!"

'I put two Australian soldiers on guard and left for my normal duties. 'At the end of the day the drawing was finished. The doctor was interested and wrote the titles in English which was duly copied. This was my only war souvenir.'
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The work produced by the unfortunately anonymous Japanese artist illustrates popular annual Japanese festivals. January is represented by kites, ushering in a New Year; February by the Satsubun, or bean-throwing ceremony, usually celebrated on 3 February and associated with the cleaning out of bad spirits from a household; March by the hina matsuri or hina doll festival, held on 3 March, where traditional Emperor and Empress dolls are displayed with food offerings, briging good luck and health to girls; April by the cherry blossom festival or hanami, where people celebrate the blossoming and follow the flowering from its awakening in Okinawa in January to Kyoto and Tokyo at the beginning of April.

May is represented by the Boy's Festival, or tango no sekku, celebrated on 5 May, hoping to bring strength and health to sons - represented by koinobori, or carp fish kites, one for each male member of the family, and traditional warrior equipment; June by traditional Sumo wrestling; July by Tanabata, or the Weaver Star Festival, based on an ancient legend concerning two stars which only met once a year; said to be the most advantageous time to invoke a wish; August by the Bon festival Dance, a Buddhist day honouring the spirits of ancestors, when graves are cleaned and fires lit to light the spirits' way. September sees jugoya, the Full Moon Festival, coinciding with the harvest, where offerings of chestnuts, rice dumplings and pampas grass are displayed; October is the seasonal autumn flowering of the chrysanthemum, Japan's official flower, which is celebrated on 9 September; the Maple Leaf Festival, centred on Mount Takao, is held over the month of November, when autumn brings the red maple leaves to full colour; while the cold of December is represented by a typical Japanese snowman.