Statement

The Light of Japan
Photography is an expression of light. The light is complex and its reflection arouses various sensations. I sense a certain mysterious, unique quality in the light of Japan, and am fascinated by the enigmatic natural setting infused with such light.

Even after the indescribable disaster of 2011, people remain in this land. Why do we continue to live here at the mercy of such overwhelming power of nature? Perhaps it is because the risk of living here is compensated for by the extraordinary beauty of the landscape. The light that creates those landscapes—that is what I aspire to capture in my photographs.

蛍来て見るや田の面は星の居る遥けき空に続きたりけり
窪田空穂

Fireflies hover above the water-filled rice paddy,the reflection of their light seamlessly continues in the faraway starry sky.
by Utsubo KUBOTA (1877-1967)
Japanese have had a tradition of admiring the ephemeral light of the firefly in waka poetry from as early as the eighth century. The above poem by Kubota, a famous contemporary waka poet, conveys his thoughts about the short-lived fireflies that emit the faint flickers for only 20 days in their one-year lifespan, and for those people who are deceased and may live in heaven.

Geographically speaking, Japan is located between a continent and an ocean. It is a place where the enormous powers of nature—far beyond human wisdom—compete with one another, as well as a crossing where an arid atmosphere collides with a wet one.

The waves of energy that are generated by crustal moving plates heading to the continental wall rush toward the Japanese archipelago. That great energy can be discerned in the glow of volcanos. Sakurajima volcano is located in the southwest of Japan, just two and a half miles east of Kagoshima, a city of 600,000 people, and erupts as many as 1000 times per year. The sight of red-hot lava bursting out of the crater and the blue lightning generated by the static electricity of the volcanic smoke is so merciless as to arouse horror. Nevertheless, those lights have an otherworldly allure to them.

The beautiful climate of the archipelago was created by the abundant clean water made from vast amounts of vapor coming from the ocean. In that sense, Japan is a country of water. The rich water is an important element that contains and mirrors the sensuous light.

The energy of dynamic upheaval splits the atmosphere and the water intensifies the light. I want to seize that light.
日本の不思議な光
写真家は光を表現するものだと思っている。

光は複雑で、その反映は多様な感覚を呼び起こす。
私は、日本の光に不思議な独自性を感じている。
その不思議な光に注がれている、日本の風土の不思議にも強く引き込まれる。

強烈な災害を経験しても、なお、この場所に留まり暮らす人々、
大陸と大海の狭間にある地形は、人の知恵を上回る巨大な力のせめぎ合う場所でもある。乾燥と湿度の激しく交じり合う大気の交差点でもある。

圧倒的な天の力のもとで、暮らし続ける理由は、
その風景の類まれな美しさが、脅威を与える自然からの尊い贈り物だからでは無いか。
その尊い光を映像として捉えたいのだ。

蛍来て
見るや田の面は
星の居る
遥けき空に
続きたりけり
                     窪田空穂

日本の歌人は、八世紀から、はかない蛍を詠んできた。
現代の代表的な歌人、窪田空穂の歌は、一年の命に、わずか十日だけひかり、死んでゆく、一瞬の蛍の淡い光から、天空やそこに住まうであろう故人の記憶までを想う。

地殻のエネルギーを光として感じる火山。日本の西南にある桜島は、60万人の住む鹿児島市からはわずか4キロメーター東にあり、年間1000回の噴火を記録している。
赤いマグマの飛び散る様と噴煙の静電気で生ずる青い稲光は峻烈で恐怖を感じる。
しかしながら、峻烈で不思議な美しさを感じる光でもある。

地理的に海からの大量の水蒸気が、清廉で豊富な水を注ぐこの麗しい列島は、地殻エネルギーが大陸の壁に押し寄せる激烈な土地でもある。

日本は水の国でもある。
その豊かな水は、妖艶な光を宿す大切な要素だ。
この水は、光に密度を与え、ダイナミックな地殻は大気を切り裂く衝撃を与え、天の畏怖を住む人々に与える。

その光を捉えたい。真に気高い力だけなのだ。