Where the Path Remembers Time

As the project enters its final stage of shooting, the theme of “the pilgrimage road” has begun to resonate more clearly as the central tone of People Pass, the Path Remains. In particular, I have focused intensively, over the course of my last four journeys, on the roads that lead through the sacred sites known as the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Temples. As I have mentioned before, these henro-michi —pilgrimage paths— possess a striking purity of purpose, especially when they pass through the mountains.

Hundreds of years ago, pilgrims walked these same paths. Pilgrims still pass along them today. And in the future, too, those who carry some form of prayer or wish within them will surely continue to follow the footsteps of those who came before, walking the same single thread of road. That road does not merely connect one temple to another. It also connects past, present, and future. In other words, a path is not only something that extends through space; it is also a device of memory, continually expanding through time.

I have once again published a revised portfolio, including several new works. Nothing would make me happier than if these photographs were able to convey, even in some small measure, the thoughts and feelings I have come to hold toward such paths.