In contemporary society, plants have permeated the urban surface as an integral part of the urban fabric, creating a unique visual landscape. On limited sites, a battle for space is being waged between the city and plants, which is intensifying as the city continues to develop. The existence of plants can be drastically altered by the arbitrary thoughts of humans.

Plants exist as life, but can also be treated as things by creating fake plants through industrial materials. These plants have become familiar to us along with the transformation of the city. Given this situation, we decided to objectively observe the plants present in the city.

The death of someone close to me brought a fear of death to me. When I witnessed the death of my grandparents and how my stepfather lived with death, my fear and sadness about death grew and became unnerving. I felt that all words were helpless.

To let it all go, I headed for the mountain. The mountain was a quiet place of peace and tranquility where suffering had left. I wrote down my wavering feelings in a poem.

While walking along Nata Beach in Fukuoka, I found an old pottery shard. Upon investigation, I discovered that the site was the Nata Ruins, a Yayoi Period settlement site dating back about 1,900 years. The vast dunes of the Nata Coast were also found to contain volcanic ash formations, including the Aso-4 pyroclastic flow from Mt. Aso in Kumamoto, which is believed to have erupted about 90,000 years ago. I photographed the ruins that might be my roots and from Mt. Aso to Ehime-Ikata in Shikoku and the neighboring prefecture of Kochi, where pyroclastic flows reached across the sea after burning Kyushu with high temperatures and high speed.

It has been more than 120 years since the Wright Brothers first fulfilled their dream of flying. Over these years, aircraft have continued to evolve. Some are newly built, while others are discontinued and become industrial waste. While some parts are reused and others are melted down and reborn as aluminum cans, some that are not disposed of are displayed in parks and museums as well as in Self Defense Force and other facilities. However, more and more aircraft on display are being removed due to aging. I would like to record the aircraft on display, along with their environment, and preserve them for future generations.

What is the other? What is normal? What is 'as is'?

The difficulty of simply being there, without being bound by images.
It is the same with living.

There are limits to what you can see. What you have seen is only a part of the scene. In fact, I may not be seeing anything at all. Now, I can only face it again and again.

Just the way it is, just the way it is.
That's it, that's the way it is.
Look at the self and know others.

Many feelings are surging in society today - coldness, greed, suspicion, conflict, division and an inexplicable anger that is also spreading on the internet. We live in such a society, which can create negative feelings. Sometimes we want to escape this reality. Even if only temporarily, it would be nice to give myself a break. The vastness of the ocean absorbs all our negative feelings and the sound of the waves seems to speak to us: “You are doing very well, and welcome back here.” I too escaped into this world and met many different people.

Morning light pours over the streets.
The sound of flowing traffic awakens life and tires scrape the city floor.

We meet, we take on life and we learn once again to face life.
We are the shadows in the darkness and we pursue the light.