BOOK The Absence of Two私家版

九州は宮崎県国富町。
田畑が広がるのどかで小さなこの田舎町に、86歳になる私の祖母と23歳になる私の従兄弟・大輝が共に生きていました。
大輝は幼少期より祖母と同じ家、同じ部屋で暮らし、大切に育てられてきました。
祖母の家に遊びに行くと必ず、祖母の側には大輝が居ました。
祖母は必ず大輝の話をしました。
いつだったか、大輝が私に向かってこう言ったことがあります。

「ばあちゃんが死ぬまで僕が面倒見る」

その言葉通り、青年へと成長してからも祖母と離れることなく、二人の暮らしは続きました。
大輝にとって祖母は「居場所」そのものだったのでしょう。
祖母にとって大輝は、人生の晩期に訪れた宝物だったに違いありません。
お互いがお互いを必要としながら、支えあい、いたわりあいながら生きてきた二人。
そこには確かな信頼と愛情、そして二人だけの時間が緩やかに流れていました。
私はそんな二人が紡ぐ小さな日常を家族として、写真家として描写し続けました。
そしてこのストーリーは、遠くない将来に訪れるであろう祖母の死をもって終わりを迎えるはずでした。
しかし、それはある日突然、何の前触れもなくやって来たのでした。
大輝はその生涯を自ら閉じたのです。
青々とした若葉がいくつかの季節を巡った後、落葉し、その生を全うするかの如く。
この作品は小さな田舎町に生まれ、小さな生命を育み、小さな日常を生きた、小さな家族の愛の物語です。

The town kunitomi is located Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu Japan. This

small and peaceful rural town with it’s field is where my grandmother,who

was born in 1928, and my cousin Daiki, who was born in 1980, lived together.

On behalf of his busy parents, ,y grandmother carefully raised and took care

of Daiki from the time he was a child, living with him in the same house,

eating and sleeping in the same room together.

“I attended his elementary school entrance ceremony, you know. All the other

children’s mothers were young, and I’m sure Daiki wasn’t happy with being

the only one who’s grandma showed up. I bet the teachers also wondered why

his grandma had come”

So my grandmother said one day, as she showed me a photo album. It

contained photographs of many memorable moments, from his Shichi-Go-

San celebration and elementary school entrance ceremony to his sports day.

The album was like one that could be found in any home, the only slight

difference being that my grandmother a ways appe red along with Daiki in

the pictures.

For my grandmother, Daiki was no doubt a treasure that had been entrusted

to her during the late years of her life. Ever time I visited my grandmother’s

house, she told me various stories about Daiki. Always sitting next to her on

these occasions was a young Daiki, with a beaming smile on his face.

Meanwhile, for Daiki, my grandmother must have been the very “place where

he belonged.” Their time together over many years gave birt to a bond that

transcended the usual relationship between “grandmother” and “grandchild”-

a strong sense of and trust flowed within both of them. One Daiki mentioned

to me.

“Since I grew up showered by grandma’s affection, I think it’s natural that I

take care of her until she dies.”

True to his words, Daiki remained by my grandmother’s side ever after

becoming a student at a nursing university, continuing to live with her and

fully devoting himself to her care.

Until I began photographing them, I had observed their small everyday world

as nothing out of the ordinary. The image of Daiki off to university. The image

of the two of them relaxing on the floor, chatting about small things. Now,

however, every time I look at the images I continued to document of the two

thought my lens, as both a family member and a photographer , these

seemingly ordinary scenes appear as precious moment.

This story was supposed to come to an end with my grandmother’s death,

which would no doubt come in the not-so-distant future. However, it

unexpectedly ended in a different way.

“I wonder where he’s gone to? He went out on his motorbike and hasn’t been

back since”

At the end of February in 2014, Daiki suddenly went missing. There being

nothing she could do, my grandmother just stood in front of the window and

kept waiting for Daiki to return home. Almost a year passed without any word

of his whereabouts, until one day Daiki’s body was found in the anything

behind, and had brought an end to the 23 years of his life. Like lush green

leaves that turn brown and fall with the passing of the seasons. As if following

in his footsteps, in the following year my grandmother passed away.

The last thing that remained were countless photographs of the two and their

life together, all the time needing each other, supporting each other, and

caring for each other. Thought there photographs, which capture images of

his small everyday life in this rural town, I try to reach out to them, and to

engage in a dialogue with them once again.