This exhibition consists of two parts.

Side AGrandma Comes Back

For the past two years, I have been taking pictures of the blind itako (spiritual medium), Take Nakamura.Itako work includes praying, fortune-telling and exorcism, but the majority of people visit her for channeling, the practice of bringing the soul of a deceased person into the spiritual medium. Channeling is when the soul of a deceased person possesses the itako and the itako mediates communication between the dead and the living.During the filming, I witnessed many times how the people who interacted with the deceased through channeling left with light hearts and smiles on their faces, saying that they felt relieved, nostalgic and warmed up inside.

My grandmother passed away in September 2016 and my first child, a daughter, was born in December of the same year. My grandmother had no way of knowing what her great-granddaughter looked like or who I was as a father.I wanted to at least report back to her, so I asked Take-san to channel for me. Then, my grandmother, who Take-san found, came from the other shore to this shore. It was only a brief exchange, but I experienced the changes in my emotions, memories that came to the surface and the events that took place.

Grandma Comes Back is a work that visually expresses the world view and image of channeling that is difficult to explain in words.

SideBThe Person in Front of Me

Take-san's room is always dark. In contrast, Take-san is bright and cheerful and smiles a lot. While waiting for her clients, we talked about topics including itakos, family, work and small talk. I have been going to her home for about two years, and as soon as I started going, my image of itakos changed 180 degrees.

People with grief and anxiety come to Take-san's house daily. Recently, tourists from abroad also stop by. She says, "Yes, that's right," in her gentle Nanbu dialect, and then she grabs her prayer beads and heads for the altar,saying to ask God and Buddha what they should do, begging and imploring God with all her heart and asking for the power to protect her customers.
After sending everyone off on their way home with light footsteps and weight lifted off their shoulders, Take-san returns to her darkened room.

While containing supernatural elements, itakos function as counselors for everyone in the village, and everyone in the community adores Take-san as a mother figure. However, every time itakos are covered in the media in an occult style, an occult image as opposed to the real image takes root throughout Japan.

These women did not suddenly become itakos because of a revelation from the gods or Buddha. Itako was one of the few career options for the visually impaired, who were born when the situation was different from today, and enabled them to live independently. The sorrow of the itakos is hidden between the contrasting gazes from inside them and society outside them.

Here, a woman named Take Nakamura makes her living as an itako. My works capture a human being who has been close to and devoted to people for more than 75 years. I want you to capture the figure straight out of the image and think about her.