Fairy tale

30 x 20 inches, 76 x 51cm / 20 x 20 inch, 51 x 51cm

Digital photo print on Aluminum Board

2020 - on going

Edition 10

In the Edo period (17th-19th century), Japanese costume dolls were traditionally used as wedding gifts for samurai families. They also played an important role as substitutes to protect the family in times of disaster. Nowadays, this custom is no longer practiced, and I brought the dolls to California, as there were no people to take them.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I started a photo series called “Fairy tale” with these dolls. In those difficult days, to avoid isolation and fear, the dolls, who had never been outside their homes in Japan, set out on a journey in California. It was a journey in which, in addition to the talismanic protective power they have as tradition, they gained a sense of freedom and adventure that they had never had before.

These little dolls were taken to various places, and their traditional appearance as guardian fairies was juxtaposed in unexplored places, leaving a photographic image of them. It is a record of the fairies who protect freedom and the survival of life, nature, and culture there.

江戸時代（17~19世紀）日本の衣裳人形は武家の結婚祝いとして伝統的に使われていた。またそれは災害時の身代わりとして家族を守る重要な役割も果たしていた。今はその風習もあまり行われなくなり、引き取り手がなくなった人形たちを私はカリフォルニアに連れてきた。

コロナ禍で、これらの人形たちと“Fairy Tale” という写真シリーズを始めた。その困難な日々の中で孤独や恐怖を避けて、今まで日本で一度も家の外に出た事がなかった人形たちはカリフォルニアで旅に出た。それは伝統としてもっている魔除けの力に加えて、人形たちがこれまでもったことがなかった自由な冒険の感覚を獲得した旅だ。

さまざまな場所に連れて行かれたこの小さな人形たちは守護の妖精としてその伝統の姿を未踏の場所に並置され写真イメージに残された。それは自由とそこにある生命、自然、文化の存続を守る妖精の記録である。