Still Life

“You keep that,” said my dad. It was a copper medal commemorating the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which were held before I was born. He told me that the start of shinkansen rail services was timed to coincide with the Games, and that sales of the colour TV sets that replaced black and white ones went through the roof. The second Tokyo Olympics was planned to take place 56 years after the first, in 2020. But the Covid-19 pandemic broke out at the start of the year, and the Games were rescheduled for 2021. The global coronaviruscrisis remained unresolved, however, and cities in Europe and America went into lockdown. In Japan, where the law does not allow lockdowns, states of emergency were repeatedly declared in the major cities. In April 2021, Tachikawa Sougo General Hospital, a medical facility in one of Tokyo’s suburbs, posted messages in its windows warning that it was at the limit of its capacity to treat patients and calling for the Olympics to be cancelled. At present, with three months to go before the Games are due to start, the majority of Japanese citizens are still unvaccinated, while the Japanese government’s line is that the Olympics will go ahead. / This short documentary series is intended to allow us in future to look back on the once-in-a-lifetime year of the planned Tokyo Olympics.

America in Kanagawa | There are dotted with US naval facilities in Kanagawa where I live. Of these US Radio Transmitting Facility Kamiseya in the suburbs of Yokohama was drawn off and the land was returned in 2015. The site area was 242ha. Cherry blossoms were planted along the surrounding highways as a sign of friendship. This part of the square opened to the public during the first week of April, despite the former border fence, the crossing is still prohibited. It is planned to attract an International Horticultural Exhibition which will be held in 2026, on the site of this US naval facility. After that, there is a plan to build a big theme park. The purpose of this photo series is to record one part of the history of Japan and the history of Kanagawa where the landscape will soon be reborn. This series is an ongoing project, which started in April 2019 / Part II: US Army Sagami General Depot (Return of the land in 2014. 17ha) at Sagamihara, Kanagawa.

This photo series focuses on the area that extends underneath the Seisho Bypass along the Seisho Coast and National Route 1. The Seisho Coast is usually a quiet place with few people around, familiar to locals as a fishing spot and a walking route for large dogs. At the same time, coastal erosion due to natural processes has progressed. Some areas have lost as much as 45 metres of sand beach in the last 65 years, and the seawater pools at Hiratsuka and Kozu have recently been closed. In the Ninomiya area, a typhoon washed away the beach and caused a section of the Seisho Bypass to collapse in 2007. Currently this area has an artificial sand beach. At Kozu the pier structure of the Seisho Bypass is being eroded by waves, and tetrapods are becoming increasingly common here. I decided to make a photographic record of the appearance of this coastal area that has been restored by humans. Another purpose of this photo series is to make a comparison between Hiroshige’s depiction of Hiratsuka, Oiso and Odawara in "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido", and how these three places look nowadays. This series is an ongoing project, which started in September 2018.

The wintertag (winter day) series is one of the winter landscapes in Japan. This series is an ongoing project, which started in January 2014. These are photos at the foot of Mount Fuji and my hometown (central Kanagawa prefecture / An area along the Sagami River). Lake Yamanaka at the foot of Mount Fuji is approximately 70km from my hometown. In my hometown, it rarely snows however, Lake Yamanaka freezes every year. In November 2016, it snowed for the first time in 54 years in my hometown. The Lake Yamanaka is the headstream of the Sagami River (photo 14, 24) and it is the only lake with natural debouch into the rivers among the Five Lakes of Mount Fuji. These landscapes are simplified by snow, captured simply and minimally. -I was born in the winter season- / incl. Sub-series "The misty road".

My father comes from Takamatsu (Shikoku Island). I went to Takamatsu and Shodoshima (Island of Seto inland sea) for the first time in 30 years. In childhood, I always spent the summer in Takamatsu with my cousin. This personal series is re-recording of the memories of my childhood. [B/W : Aug.1979, Aug, 1981 | Color : Aug.2016, Sep.2016, Aug.2017]

Single photo archives & Short series. Thanks for the feature | photo #04 : Incandescent zine Issue 17. photo #05 : @allcitiesarebeautiful COMMUNITY ROUND-UP N°23. photo #08 : Drive-by Film (@drivebyfilm). photo #09 : EYESCAPE MAGAZINE special issue "CONNECTIONS". photo #14, #15 : COVID-19 PICTURES (during the covid-19 pandemic). photo #16 : The Film Photography Diary. photo #27 : post evidence magazine (@post_evidence). photo #41 : People Sleeping in the World (@peoplesleepingintheworld).

Musical actress and Vocalist: Kazumi Abiko / Woodwind Quintet: Ensemble fem / Guitarist: Hidetoshi Ehara / Singer-Songwriter: Tomomi Oe w/Junpei Chiba