shashasha

Having released “Showa 88” in 2011 and “Showa 92” in 2015, “Showa 96” is the third and final part of his Showa work.

I am not trying to express nostalgia by naming my series ‘Showa’. To me, ‘Showa’ represents the ‘gritty determination to survive’. Rather, I am trying to create a world of fantasy, imagining if ‘Showa’ had continued to exist in another time and space and what kind of world it will be. I am releasing this third part of my Showa work just as the Heisei Era is coming to an end.

I find aesthetics in the contradictions and fraying that exist in human beings trying to survive throughout their life - people who continue to follow their own beliefs even when they are regarded as misfits. By following my gut feeling, sometimes I make portraits of them and sometimes I build stories from the feelings I get from the places.

Perhaps this whole process is now complete, and I hope to have filled the emptiness in my contradictory state of mind - living in a world of great comfort without having to worry about food and other necessities, even though I am thankful for the achievements of our predecessors.

Am I being driven by the era, or am I being driven by what I have deliberately made up for myself?

The only certain thing is, Heisei is ending this year, but Showa continues.

― Kazuyoshi Usui