Since a certain time, I have had more chances to visit cemeteries. This is in

order to do grave keeping. As I place flowers and incense before the graves and

gaze at the gravestones, the fresh flowers, the slightly wilting flowers, and the

completely dead flowers that have changed color make me recognize the signs of 

people’s visits. While I look at these, I remember the classical Japanese word,

“itsukushimu.” If one were to replace this word with its English equivalent, it

would have varied nuances, such as, “to care for,” “to love,” and “to respect” at

times. Here, everyone carries those emotions somewhere, as they spend time

with the departed, who remain in their memories.  

 

Up until this point, the accumulation of my experiences facing others in family

units with the “Standard Temperature” and the “Theory of Happiness” has been

recognized as having become a large bunch, consisting of Japan and Japanese

people. On one hand, one is reminded that every family’s feelings, thoughts, and

the diversity of the style of their actions, become genetic memories and are thus

passed on. This project endeavors to use these points as a base to illuminate the

common feelings that make Japanese people’s hearts beat.

 

I approach cemeteries in various areas, using them as places that connect with

the concept of  “itsukushimu.” Additionally, I approach and visit families, having

at least three generations of each family come together to be photography subjects,

as people who connect with “memories.” An additional purpose of this is to show

timelines in relation to the families.

 

The true nature of life — death and rebirth — exists within time. Through our

co-existence with the lives that once were, we discover where we came from.