Purple Magazine
— S/S 2012 issue 17
Tokyo Today
text and photos by CHIKASHI SUZUKI
Ever since the earthquake disaster on March 11, 2011, those living in Japan have been faced with a need for change. Even in Tokyo, approximately 200 miles away from the district hit by the earthquake, people saw images of the tsunami and the demolished nuclear power plant, and were afraid of the radiation in the rain. And now, even after almost a year, there is still anxiety and a fear of death. People have been forced to be acutely aware that the world they’ve created is transitory and fragile. But in Japan, there has always been a certain sense of beauty, the belief that happiness and love are back-to-back with death. When people are conscious of death, life shines with all its strength and transience. I want to continue to document the “strong and beautiful Japan,” which endured both the earthquake and radiation.
