My creative process is deeply influenced by my personal history, cultural background, and a constant exploration of the impermanence of life. Born in Japan and raised in small towns surrounded by nature and industrial landscapes, my early experiences shaped my approach to photography. From a young age, I was drawn to the act of capturing fleeting moments, whether through experimentation with my father’s camera or later, when I began developing my skills. These early experiences sparked a lifelong connection to photography, a medium that allowed me to preserve transient moments and explore their deeper significance. 

I worked in the commercial photography industry for more than 10 years, during which I honed my technical skills and developed a deep understanding of visual storytelling. However, my experience in the commercial industry, which constantly involved working with digital images, led me to revisit analog photography. The return to film photography allowed me to rediscover the beauty of imperfection—something that digital images often lack. This shift marked a change in both my subject matter and my creative process, and I began to embrace the tactile, slower, and more deliberate nature of analog work. 

I began to focus on more intimate themes, such as home and identity. One of my earliest works after returning to photography was Déjà Vu, a series that reflected my memories of childhood and my perceptions of home. This series was selected for the Japan Photography Award in 2016, marking the first significant recognition of my work. From this point, I continued to explore themes of loss and identity in projects like Absentee, which was born from the isolation and grief I felt during the COVID lockdown. The series was both a personal reflection on the fragility of life and a meditation on the distance between presence and absence. This project was later self-published as a photobook, further cementing my interest in combining photography with bookmaking. 

In my exhibitions, I focus on creating a spatial experience for the viewer, where the arrangement of the works is carefully considered. I often incorporate Japanese paper to evoke my cultural background, using its rich texture to deepen the viewer’s engagement. I also pay close attention to the choice of frame and mountboard, as these elements become an extension of my work, contributing to its overall aesthetic and thematic expression. 

In my recent work, I have embraced the photopolymer photogravure printing technique, a non-toxic alternative to traditional photogravure. I am drawn to the pencil-drawing-like quality it imparts to the images, which I feel evokes a sense of timelessness and depth. This printing method allows me to create works that feel both delicate and enduring, enhancing the themes of transience and memory that I explore in my practice.  

As my practice has evolved, I’ve explored themes of migration and identity in works like Ctrl Shift + J, a series that reflects my experience of living between two languages and cultures. The title refers to the keyboard shortcut I use to toggle between English and Japanese, a gesture that symbolizes my constant navigation between different identities. The use of geometric lines in the images reflects the sense of not fitting in, a feeling that I have carried with me throughout my life. I’ve always been drawn to the beauty of geometry, and I find that it provides a powerful framework for exploring these themes. 

Underlying all of my work is an exploration of temporality—the idea that everything is transient, that nothing lasts forever. This theme is central to my practice and informs every series I create. My work is a way of grappling with the fragility of life, capturing moments of fleeting beauty, and reflecting on the inevitable passage of time. Each image is an attempt to preserve something ephemeral, a reminder of how deeply interconnected we are to the world around us, even as it changes. Through this lens, I view photography not just as an art form, but as a means to understand and engage with the world in all its complexity.