The Prohibition Law was enacted in 1920, but on the
other hand, there were many bars and taverns that
operated under the radar, which had the detrimental
effect of making people dependent on alcohol. Here, a
doctor is pictured administering a drug to an alcoholic
patient. It appears to be a work about Prohibition and
the contradictions that existed during that time.
The New York Shimpo wrote, “Ten years have passed
since the prohibition of alcohol was enforced in the
U.S., and the prohibition officials’ decree, as Emperor
Shirakawa sighed, ‘The domination of monks, dice, and
alcohols can do nothing,’ and everywhere Buckaroos
are dancing like mad…The irony of this contradiction is
depicted. The artist’s emotions are exuded in that gloomy atmosphere. (Noboru Fujioka, “Dokuritsu
Bijutsu Ten,” New York Shimpo, March 19, 1927).