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.
[Table of contents]
BEST of the SEASON
by Terry Richardson and Carine Roitfeld
The Balenciaga Boutiques
interview with Nicolas Ghesquière and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
by Olivier Zahm
by Spencer Sweeney
by Alex Israel
by Caroline Gaimari
by Glenn O'Brien
by Olivier Zahm
by Sabine Heller
by Nathaniel Goldberg
by Camille Bidault Waddington
by Gardar Eide Einarsson
by Max Snow
by Robert Longo
by Olivier Zahm
by Olivier Zahm
by Anuschka Blommers and Neils Schumm
by Terry Richardson
by Paola Kudacki
by Ari Marcopoulos
interview with Nicolas Ghesquière and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
by Olivier Zahm