TAKEN UP BY THE MEDIA WHEN I PARTICIPATED IN FUKUSHIMA—A GROUP EXHIBITION HELD IN KÖLN, GERMANY THAT WAS FOCUSED ON THE THEME OF FUKUSHIMA AT THE TIME OF THE NORTHEAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE.

REGARDING FUKUSHIMA

COMING FROM FUKUSHIMA, THE DEVASTATION CAUSED BY THE EARTHQUAKE WAS SIGNIFICANT TO ME. SUCH NATURAL DISASTERS ARE UNAVOIDABLE IN PLACES WHERE THERE ARE LIVING VOLCANOES, BUT THE DISASTER IN FUKUSHIMA IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS, DUE TO ITS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PROBLEM. ARTISTS ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY IN NEED BY VICTIMS OF THE DISASTERS AS MUCH AS DOCTORS AND CARPENTERS ARE, BUT THEY ARE INDISPENSABLE IN THAT THEY CAN HEAL PEOPLE EVEN AFTER FIVE YEARS, TEN YEARS, OR MORE. AS A PERSON FROM FUKUSHIMA, I WISH TO CONTINUE TO CREATE ARTWORK THAT CAN GIVE PEOPLE HOPE.