This series was inspired by production of two works.
This portrait series began several years ago in response to the pandemic. Amid the restrictions imposed during that time, I set up a non-woven fabric in a room and used a projector to cast images of people close to me-photographs I had taken in the past. The projected images, passing through the fabric, seemed to extend endlessly into the space around me. As I watched them fill the room, I found myself wondering: where does an image truly begin and end? As if to extract just a fragment of that expanse, I re-photographed the projections using black-and-white film, then print- ed them onto photographic paper through a photogram process in the darkroom. Through this intricate process, I traced the wavering lines between my gaze toward others and the shifting contours of memory within myself.
The other series focuses on photographing my family and the land we live on. After my father underwent eye surgery, part of his rehabilitation involved gazing into the distance every day. One day, as I watched him standing by the open kitchen door, looking outside, I suddenly felt as if his gaze stretched on endlessly. At the end of his gaze lay the familiar garden ─ an everyday part of our lives, yet also a place deeply tied to memories: the rhythms of family life, the scent of the earth, and the presence of my grandmother, who had passed away a few years earlier. Perhaps it was mere coincidence that the garden happened to be in his line of sight. But I came to believe that what my father saw was not "distance" in the physical sense, but rather something rooted deeper within our memories and inner landscapes. If that's the case, then my father's gaze toward the garden is akin to roots burrowing deep into the earth. And in time, just like the trees planted there by my grandfather, grandmother, and mother, his gaze will take deep root in the land. The path of these roots does not need to be bright; instead, it sharpens the senses as it deepens. When my roots seek to settle there, I close my eyes and draw the image toward me.
会場：Daedeok Culture Center 第 1 2 3展示室（대구광역시 남구 앞산순환로 478 / 大韓民国 大邱広域市 南区 アプサン循環路 478）
Artist Information
岩橋 優花 (Yuka Iwahashi)
1997年、和歌山県生まれ。京都芸術大学大学院 芸術研究科 映像メディア専攻 修士課程 修了。
主な展覧会に「in Cm | ゴースト、迷宮、そして多元宇宙 KUA ANNUAL 2022」（東京都美術館、2022年）、「Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award 2022」（PARC DES ATELIERS / フランス、アルル、2022年） 、「Kyoto Art for Tomorrow 2023 ―京都府新鋭選抜展―」 （京都文化博物館/京都、2023年）、「2024 남구청년예술제 『New Horizons』（Daedeok Culture Center / 韓国,大邱、2024年）。
She received her M.F.A. in Arts, specializing in Photography and Image-making, from Kyoto University of the Arts.
Her major group exhibitions include Meanwhile(La galerie Écho 119, France 2021), KUA ANNUAL : in Cm | Ghost, Labyrinth and Multiverse (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2022), Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award 2022 (Parc des Ateliers, Arles, France, 2022), Kyoto Art for Tomorrow 2023 (The Museum of Kyoto, 2023), and 2024 Namgu Youth Arts Festival: New Horizons (Daedeok Culture Center, Daegu, Korea, 2024).
In 2025, her solo exhibition To The Light Of My Roots was presented at PURPLE (Kyoto) as KG+ program. The work was also featured in the international photography and media exhibition Ghost Memory: A Journey into Lost Time in Daegu, South Korea.
同時復刊『遊戯』はこちらから Click here for the simultaneous reprint of 'Homo Ludens'
監修:トモ・コスガ
執筆: 山岸章二、瀬戸内晴美、深瀬昌久
戸田昌子、三好洋子（旧・深瀬）
Supervision by Tomo Kosuga
Text by Shoji Yamagishi, Harumi Setouchi, Masahisa Fukase,
Masako Toda, Yoko Miyoshi(formerly Fukase)
Book design: Chikako Suzuk
bilingual (Japanese and English)
Originally published in 1978 by Asahi Sonorama of Japan
Yoko
Masahisa Fukase
"Masahisa Fukase, the Timeless Masterpiece 'Yoko' -- A Miraculous Reprint Edition!
Originally published in 1978, Masahisa Fukase's 'Yoko' stands as a defining series in his body of work, yet it had long been out of print. Now, nearly half a century later, this extraordinary photobook returns, brought to life with the full support of Yoko Miyoshi (formerly Fukase), Fukase's model and muse, and under the careful supervision of Tomo Kosuga, director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives. This new reprint edition faithfully includes all photographs and texts from the original edition.
In addition, it features newly incorporated elements: contemporaneous texts referenced at the time of the original publication, an essay by Masako Toda, and a heartfelt message from Yoko Miyoshi on the occasion of this reissue. Every aspect of the book's design and composition has been meticulously crafted to reaffirm the significance of this masterpiece and the passage of time it has endured.
Fukase and Yoko met in 1963 and were married in 1964. In the 1960s, they lived together as newlyweds at the Soka-Matsubara public housing complex, where Fukase began photographing Yoko. In the 1970s, he continued to capture her in various locations, including his hometown of Hokkaido, her birthplace of Kanazawa, as well as Izu, Kyoto, and other places. In the autumn of 1973, Fukase created a series titled Untitled (From the Window), capturing Yoko's elegant poses every morning as she left for work, taken from the fourth-floor window of their home using a telephoto lens. These photographs were published intermittently between 1964 and 1976 in the magazine Camera Mainichi.
In 1974, Fukase's works were included in the New Japanese Photography exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. During this period, the couple traveled to New York, and the scenes from this journey were also captured in his photographs.
Fukase's relentless pursuit of self-exploration led him to consistently turn his camera toward himself and his family.
As Tomo Kosuga noted, Fukase's private life became art, making the personal public and gradually leading to "a paradox in which they seemed to be together solely for the sake of photography." (Excerpts from "Masahisa Fukase 1961-1991 Retrospective") The couple divorced in 1976, and two years later, the photobook Yoko (published by Asahi Sonorama) was completed. The cover featured a photograph of Yoko in a kimono, gazing back through shattered glass radiating outward, a powerful and poignant image that captured the essence of their complex relationship.
For this new reprint edition, the book's format has been expanded to amplify the presence of each photograph, and the cover has also been renewed. In addition, the pages featuring ravens--ominous yet poetic symbols that seemed to foretell the future of the couple--are now arranged with greater stillness and deliberation, inviting viewers to engage more deeply with every image.
In revisiting 'Yoko,' one must ask: What, ultimately, did Fukase capture through his lens? Against the backdrop of the era's spirit, the photobook contemplates the essential question of photography--the nature of relationships between two individuals.
We hope that this 'Yoko,' with its liberated scale and profound sensitivity, spreads its wings and takes flight once more, soaring freely into the present and resonating anew in our time.
"Whether we call it love or a mirror, it is undoubtedly one and the same--the profound communion with the other."
── Masako Toda (Photography historian)
"Here is the record of photographs taken by one man of one woman over a period of more than ten years."
Masahisa Fukase was born in the town of Bifuka in Nakagawa District, Hokkaido, in 1934. He graduated from the Nihon University College of Art's Photography Department in 1956. Fukase became a freelance photographer in 1968 after working at the Nippon Design Center and Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishers. His major collections include Yugi (English: Homo Ludence) (Chuokoronsha, 1971), Yoko (Asahi Sonorama, 1978), and Karasu (English: Ravens) (Sokyusha, 1986). His major group exhibitions include "New Japanese Photography" (New York MoMA, 1974), "Black Sun: The Eyes of Four" (Oxford Museum of Modern Art, 1985), "By Night" (Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, 1996), and "OUT OF JAPAN" (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002). Fukase has also held countless other solo exhibitions. He is also the winner of prizes such as the 2nd Ina Nobuo Award in 1976 for his exhibition "Karasu" as well as the Special Award at the 8th Higashikawa Photography Awards in 1992.
In 1992 a tragic fall had left the artist with permanent brain damage,and it was only after his death in 2012 that the archives were gradually disclosed. Since then a wealth of material has surfaced that had never been shown before.
In 2017, His first posthumous major retrospective "l'incurable égoïste" was held at the Arles International Photo Festival, France. The following year, his first domestic retrospective, "Play" was also held at KYOTOGRAPHIE, Japan. and In conjunction with the exhibition "Private Scenes," at Foam,2018, The Netherlands, Masahisa Fukase; Xavier Barral(English and French) Akaaka (Japanese), have been published.
Other titles, including Kill the Pig; Ibasho & the (M) éditions, 2021, Sasuke; Xavier Barral (English and French),Akaaka(Japanese) ,2021, Family; Mack, 2019, have been published in recent years.
同時復刊『洋子』はこちらから Click here for the simultaneous reprint of 'Yoko'
監修:トモ・コスガ
執筆: なだいなだ 山岸章ニ
Supervision by Tomo Kosuga
Text by Nada Inada, Shoji Yamagishi
Book Design: Bunpei Yorifuji, Haru Kakiuchi
bilingual (Japanese and English)
Originally published in 1971 by Chuô-koron-sha of Japan.
Necessary corrections were made to obvious typographical errors in the original text.
Homo Ludens
Masahisa Fukase
Masahisa Fukase's Origin: 'Homo Ludens' -- Revived After Half a Century
"Masahisa Fukase's first photo book, 'Homo Ludens' (Yugi) (Chuo-koron-sha, Contemporary Images 4), was published in 1971. This anthology of photographs, taken over more than ten years and edited by Camera Mainichi editor Shoji Yamagishi, is a collection that marks the origin of Fukase's work and is filled with images and essence that would shape Fukase's later creations, is structured into six sections, each vividly capturing the interplay between photography and life.
To (Slaughter) features images of Yoko Wanibe, whom Fukase accompanied to a slaughterhouse, juxtaposing the dismemberment of livestock with Yoko posing in a black cloak. ;
Kotobuki (Congratulation) straightforwardly depicts his life with Yoko shortly after they got married, in a manner reminiscent of a private novel;
Gi (Frolic) portrays the underground scene in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where Fukase had gone after leaving the home he shared with Yoko, and the lifestyle of young people living together as a group;
Mei (Memento), one of his earliest works, looks back on the pregnancy of his former partner, Yukiyo Kawakami, with whom he lived for eight years;
Meanwhile, Haha (Mother) and Fu (Music) capture scenes of Yoko and her mother.
Throughout these sections, 'Homo Ludens' conveys the mutual interplay of all living things, and the contradictory yet interconnected phenomena of life and death, meeting and parting.
Fukase's lens is turned towards himself and those close to him, The images explore the essence of life as a form of play, with raw and unflinching honesty. This first photo book stands as a powerful testament to Fukase's vision.
For this new reprint edition, all photographs and texts from the original version have been included, with a focus on reconfiguring the design to emphasize the relationship between the images and surrounding negative space, as well as the multilayered nature of the title. This approach serves as a timeless response to Fukase's vision.
With its exploration of the many facets of 'Homo Ludens', it remains a significant work, offering a renewed perspective not only on Fukase's oeuvre but also on the act of seeing itself and our own existence.
Masahisa Fukase was born in the town of Bifuka in Nakagawa District, Hokkaido, in 1934. He graduated from the Nihon University College of Art's Photography Department in 1956. Fukase became a freelance photographer in 1968 after working at the Nippon Design Center and Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishers. His major collections include Yugi (English: Homo Ludence) (Chuokoronsha, 1971), Yoko (Asahi Sonorama, 1978), and Karasu (English: Ravens) (Sokyusha, 1986). His major group exhibitions include "New Japanese Photography" (New York MoMA, 1974), "Black Sun: The Eyes of Four" (Oxford Museum of Modern Art, 1985), "By Night" (Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, 1996), and "OUT OF JAPAN" (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002). Fukase has also held countless other solo exhibitions. He is also the winner of prizes such as the 2nd Ina Nobuo Award in 1976 for his exhibition "Karasu" as well as the Special Award at the 8th Higashikawa Photography Awards in 1992.
In 1992 a tragic fall had left the artist with permanent brain damage,and it was only after his death in 2012 that the archives were gradually disclosed. Since then a wealth of material has surfaced that had never been shown before.
In 2017, His first posthumous major retrospective "l'incurable égoïste" was held at the Arles International Photo Festival, France. The following year, his first domestic retrospective, "Play" was also held at KYOTOGRAPHIE, Japan. and In conjunction with the exhibition "Private Scenes," at Foam,2018, The Netherlands, Masahisa Fukase; Xavier Barral(English and French) Akaaka (Japanese), have been published.
Other titles, including Kill the Pig; Ibasho & the (M) éditions, 2021, Sasuke; Xavier Barral (English and French),Akaaka(Japanese) ,2021, Family; Mack, 2019, have been published in recent years.
1 76 x 112 Millimeters Photographs Pasted on Ruled Notebooks
Keisho Okamoto
12 Introduction Daichiro Shinjo
18 Karimata
38 Shimajiri
46 Ikema Island
52 Nishihara
56 Kurima Island
62 Uruka
72 Culture and Activities
89 Preserving Sound and Text
97 Cross Myahk Daichiro Shinjo
105 Faith as Seen by a Zen Priest from the Southern Island:
A Conversation Between Grandfather and Grandson Keisho Okamoto, Daichiro Shinjo
116 Okamoto's Approach to the Study of Folklore as Local Studies Takanori Shimamura
124 The Power of the Photograph Record Naoki Ishikawa
128 Map of Miyako Island
132 Photo Captions
134 List of Daichiro Shinjo's Works
135 Biographies
137 Sudiru Daichiro Shinjo
編集：辻村慶人
進行：永井あやか
Editor：Yoshi Tsujimura
Project facilitator：Ayaka Nagai
------------------------------------------------
SUDIRU
Keisho Okamoto, Daichiro Shinjo
Keisho Okamoto (1937-2024) was a Zen monk deeply rooted in Miyako Island and one of the earliest folklorists to undertake the study of Okinawan folklore. Beginning in the latter half of the 1960s, before the reversion of Okinawa to Japan, he conducted extensive fieldwork primarily in the village of Karimata, delving into the folk culture of the region under the influence of leading Japanese scholars such as Kunio Yanagita, Shinobu Orikuchi, and Kitaro Nishida.
This book compiles photographs taken by Okamoto between the late 1960s and late 1970s as part of his practice of folklore as local studies. His lens captured the rituals and ceremonies of Karimata, Shimajiri, Ikema Island, Nishihara, Kurima Island, and Sunagawa. What emerges from these images transcends their role as research materials: they are unembellished portrayals of people expressing gratitude to the gods and to nature, deeply immersed in prayer. As Okamoto was not a professional photographer, his images project a reality free from artistic manipulation, offering a raw and intimate perspective on these sacred moments.
The book also presents works by Daichiro Arashiro, who overlays Okamoto's photographs with layers of indigo and ink, layering the present over the past to create a space for rebirth. Following Okamoto's passing, his invaluable academic materials--including photographs, notebooks, audio recordings, and artifacts--were continuously preserved by his grandson, Arashiro. The past recorded by Okamoto intersects with the present lived by Arashiro, resurrecting the photographs into the contemporary world and forging a dialogue across time. Furthermore, the academic perspective titled "Okamoto's Approach to the Study of Folklore" by folklorist Takanori Shimamura and the contribution by photographer Naoki Ishikawa add depth to this exploration of cultural continuity and transformation.
The title, "Sudiru," is a word from the Miyako language meaning "rebirth" or "resurrection." Through the dialogue between Keisho Okamoto and Daichiro Arashiro, this book invites us to reflect on our roots and poses questions to a world where diverse cultures and values intersect, offering a new perspective on the present.
"Folkloric turning. This is precisely what Shinjo is attempting with this book. Okamoto's folklore studies acquire an entirely new form of expression through their connection and fusion with the works of contemporary calligrapher Daichiro Shinjo."
Takanori Shimamura
"Just as Atget's photographs were discovered by Berenice Abbott and the value of Tsuneichi Miyamoto's photographs was reappraised by Daido Moriyama, Keisho Okamoto's photographs stand tall as a monument to the photographic record and memory due to the efforts of his grandson, Daichiro Shinjo. It gives me great pleasure that the photographs of Keisho Okamoto, which touched my heart five years ago, have stood the test of time and will be released in the form of a photobook."
Naoki Ishikawa
"Originally, the photographs were not supposed to be made public. But from the instant my grandfather pressed the shutter, through the long and involved process that culminated in their presentation in this expressive form in our time, there is great significance. As I confront these images, the sense of glimpsing my own "roots" fills me with energy and vitality. It seems as if a single thread for expressing the present moment is strongly tied to each of the photographs. Mysticism, curiosities, rarity-these are of no importance. As I continue to engage with the foundation of my being, it seems that I am tracing a path back to my umbilical cord that gives me a sensation of subdued excitement within my heart.What appear in the photographs are not artificial performances but simply the authentic and unpretentious appearances of people who are naturally expressing gratitude to the gods and to nature."
1992年、沖縄県宮古島生まれ。静岡文化芸術大学卒。禅僧で民俗学者の岡本恵昭を祖父に持ち、幼少期より禅や仏教文化に親しみながら書道を始める。禅のほか沖縄の精神文化を背景にして、伝統書道に新たな光を当てる自由なスタイルを追求。身体性と空間性を伴う現代的な表現で、形式にとらわれない書を展開している。 2017年、Playmountain Tokyoで初個展「Surprise」を開催。その後、ロサンゼルスのALTA Gallery（2023年）など国内外で展示を行う。2021年にtricot COMME des GARÇONS、2024年にTAOのコレクションに作品が起用され、2021年にはエルメス制作のドキュメンタリーフィルム「HUMAN ODYSSEY」に出演。2022年には、地元宮古島に「PALI GALLERY」をオープンさせた。
2014年 静岡文化芸術大学卒業
2017年 個展「Surprise」Playmountain Tokyo
2022年 PALI GALLERYを開く
2023年 海外初個展「Black Wax」ALTA Gallery , Los Angeles
2024 年 金沢21世紀美術館 「すべてのものとダンスを踊って―共感のエコロジー」展に出展
Keisho Okamoto
Keisho Okamoto (b. 1938) served as head priest of Ryuhozan Shoun-ji, a temple of the Myoshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, founded on Miyako Island in 1611. Alongside his temple duties, Okamoto was also a tireless folklorist who conducted research on the indigenous folkways of Miyako Island before Okinawa's reversion in 1972. Okamoto was a keen observer of shamanism on Miyako Island, drawing on his perspective as a Zen monk to explore the island's spiritual culture as seen in its folk beliefs and myriad village rituals. He worked to preserve fossils and folk tools gathered around the island, along with artifacts that had survived at Shoun-ji temple. Much of his collection was donated to the Miyakojima City Museum and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, where these precious materials can be seen today. Okamoto was involved in the creation of the Miyakojima City Museum as a member of the Hirara City (present-day Miyakojima City) museum council, the committee for the protection of cultural properties, and the historiography committee. As both a religious scholar and native son of Miyako Island, Okamoto's extensive firsthand research into the local beliefs, customs, and terroir was instrumental in furthering an understanding of the island's folklore. His books include Beliefs and Rituals of Miyako Island, published by Dai-ichi Shobo.
1961 Graduated from Hanazono University, Department of Zen Philosophy
1965 Named head priest of Shoun-ji Temple
2011 Beliefs and Rituals of Miyako Island published by Dai-ichi Shobo
2019 KEISHO MYAHK 196X photo exhibition held at Gallery UESUYA
2022 SUDERU exhibition held at PALI Gallery
2024 Died at age 87
Daichiro Shinjo
Daichiro Shinjo (b. 1992) was born and raised on Miyako Island, Okinawa. Introduced to the world of Buddhism from an early age by his grandfather, the folklorist and Zen priest Keisho Okamoto, Shinjo first began practicing calligraphy at the age of four. Building on his upbringing steeped in the teachings of Zen and the spiritual culture of Okinawa, Shinjo brings contemporary new light to calligraphic traditions with his own free style, unbound by traditional calligraphic forms. A graduate of the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture, Shinjo's work has been exhibited widely both in Japan and abroad. In 2017, he presented his first solo exhibition, Surprise, at Playmountain Tokyo. In 2023, he made his international exhibition debut with a solo show at the ALTA Gallery in Los Angeles. Shinjo has also collaborated with fashion brands such as Comme des Garçons and Hermès, appearing in the latter's documentary film series Human Odyssey in 2021. Shinjo currently resides on Miyako Island, where he founded the artist residency and gallery PALI in May 2022.
2014 Graduated from Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
2017 First solo show, Surprise, held at Playmountain Tokyo
2022 Opened PALI Gallery
2023 First international solo show, Black Wax, held at ALTA Gallery, Los Angeles
2024 Participated in the Dancing With All: The Ecology of Empathy exhibition, held 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
On August 9, 2006, at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony to pray for the re- pose of atomic bomb victims, Itcho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki at the time, began his Peace Declaration to the world by expressing his anger and frustration over the fact that nuclear weapons had still not been eliminated from the world. I am the son of Itcho Ito's cousin. I was deeply moved as I listened to him deliver his Peace Dec- laration on the television. I felt so proud of him and looked forward to great things from him in the future.
I became clearly aware of Itcho Ito when I was in elementary school. At the time, I had the impression of him as being a big man who was cheerful and energetic. He loved sunflowers that bloom turned toward the sun. He was someone whose presence brightened everything around him. His first name was Kazunaga, but people always affectionately called him Itcho-san.[...]
Through slow and steady effort and with "no political base, no name recognition, and no financial backing" Itcho Ito gained increasing public support. He was elected to the Nagasaki City Council and later advanced to the Nagasaki Prefectural Assem- bly. Then in 1995, he ran in the election to become mayor of Nagasaki, a dream he had held since elementary school.
On the day they counted the votes I was in high school then I clearly recall watching the election coverage at home on the television with my family. All of us were silently praying that he would win. At the breaking news that Itcho Ito was the projected winner, my father raised both hands repeatedly, each time shouting Banzai! Banzai! in an explosion of joy that I had never seen in him before. Witnessing that scene of triumph shook me to the soul. I think this was the moment when I inherit- ed the desire of my father and family to support the politician Itcho Ito.
Then twelve years later, on April 17, 2007, during his bid for a fourth term in the Nagasaki mayoral election, when Itcho Ito returned from campaigning to his cam- paign headquarters in Daikokumachi, Nagasaki at 7:50 p.m., he was shot in the back by a man belonging to a crime syndicate. On hearing the news, I trembled un- controllably, tears flowed, I began to sweat, I cried so hard that my nose ran, it was hard to breath, blood oozed from my clenched lips, and I felt faint.
What happened? Why? Please don't die! were some of the thoughts that raced through my mind. I drove through the night to the Ito family's grave where I put my hands together and prayed desperately. My prayers went unanswered. At around 2:30 in the middle of the night of April 18, Itcho Ito passed away.
The incident was reported every day in newspapers and on television for many days afterward. New reports had always seemed to me to be simply a flow of words and images, but news of this incident that was so close to home felt like a terrible weapon gouging into my heart. For a while, I was tormented with despair just seeing those news reports and left unable to do anything for days.
All I can do is take photographs. But I know from experience that photographs can become a weapon, so in consideration of the feelings of the bereaved family I felt that it was wrong to photograph this overwhelming happening.
Years later something occurred to change how I felt.
Every year on April 17, a platform was set up for people to offer flowers at the site of the incident. In 2019, on the 13th anniversary of Itcho Ito's death, it was decided that the platform would no longer be set up. It was then when I began to fear that the memories of Itcho Ito and the significance of the incident would inevitable fade away. After struggling with my reluctance to photograph anything connected with the incident, in the end I became strongly resolved to preserve Itcho Ito's memory through photographs.
I went to Itcho Ito's family members and others close to him who had been his long-standing supporters to tell them about how I felt and to hear their stories about him.
When I had the chance at various times during the COVID-19 pandemic, I visited each of their homes to hear their thoughts on the incident and about the kind of person they perceived Itcho Ito to be. They were all unanimous in saying that they didn't understand why the incident had happened. They also talked of Itcho's aura as a politician and that they had expected he would continue to be even more successful in his efforts.
The incident not only crushed the hopes of the many people who supported this one politician; it also disrupted their everyday lives. Regardless of the reason, taking someone's life is never justified.
As I was photographing the people who had supported Itcho Ito and scenes of daily life in Nagasaki, I carried the hope that no one would have to experience such sad- ness again and that everyone could live their lives in peace. When I spoke to people in the city while taking photographs and they would cheerfully answer yoka to yo, meaning it's okay, it made me feel happy. With each photograph I took, I thought what a great city it is, but at the same time my perplexity deepened about why such an incident had happened here.
Even as I proceeded with this photography project, there was no end to tragic events in the world. Every time I watched such news reports, I wondered. What is the point of continuing to appeal to the public to eliminate violence?! Couldn't such tragedies have been stopped? No matter how much society may advance, it is meaningless without advancement on an individual level.
I am heavily concerned that facts and lessons we must not forget will sink into oblivion. I don't want them to fade away. They must not be allowed to fade away. I want to preserve the memories through photographs.
This is the moment I wish to make an appeal borrowing the words of Itcho Ito. "What on earth are human beings doing?"
I pray that this photograph collection serves as a catalyst for reflecting on that question.
1999, graduated from Japan Institute of Photography And Film (Post Graduated Course).
After working at a cable television company for few years, became a freelance photographer in 2009.
2009, Canon New Cosmos of Photography Excellent Award (juried by Nobuyoshi Araki). Many other awards in various contests.
2019 photo book "Dokyusei" [AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc]
The Ueno Hikoma Japan Institute of Photography Arts Encouragement Prize "Hanakoi" is collected at Kyushu Sangyo University.
At the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, he also works on advertising photographs such as taking charge of portraits for brochures at Kishin Kasayama exhibition.
