It's fun to shoot town and its people. I want to photograph a variety of lives of people. There're people walking without talking, waiting for someone, talking to friends, and taking a break. I like to walk while photographing one part of the flow of these people. And, I wish to depict their lives using such natural scenes.

There was a woman talking gently to a dog waiting for the owner. She said, "how clever are you! You're so kind. Aren't you thirsty?" and people around her were smiling. Whenever I find such a scene like this, I feel so happy to shoot. And, I'm still satisfied even if I cannot photograph it.

I wonder if a conversation between a seller and a customer enriches the lives of each side by going beyond the relationship between them. Regardless of situation, speaking to strangers builds a sense of solidarity and warms up the air. Doing this intentionally is one way to enjoy life. And, I guess I'm also smiling when I photograph the moment like this.

At the moment I aimed my camera at the interesting posters on the wall, I noticed some people running down on the stairs, but I took the shot. I often come across the scene like this, and I love this shot because I seldom have a chance to photograph such moment.

こIn this town, I see many tattooed people regardless of gender, and no one cares about it. For example, even bankers, teachers, and police officers have tattoos and this must be unbelievable in Japanese culture. They do it for many reasons including making wishes and dressing up. And, it's interesting to see the design that contains their emotions.

Women tend to have flower patters and show them on the neck, shoulder, arms, or ankles. Men, of course, don't have flowers, but dragons or mysterious patterns like the men on a fantasy story. And, Chinese characters are popular among men and women, but sometimes I find "Five miles in the mist (meaning to lose one's bearings)" or "dumb animal" and I wonder if they understand the meanings. By the way, the characters for "love" and "fortune" are popular among women.

こI love hers on the back of her right hand because it really matches the design of her cloth. She had the similar pattern on her left arm, too. I was amazed to find that tattoo plays an important part of total fashion. Honestly, I'm tempted to get a tattoo like this from the cheek to the neck. It'll be fun to get lost for about a week and show up with the tattoo in front of my people and enjoy their dramatic reactions.

I like to shoot melancholic facial expressions of women because I see a drama on them. It's not just about love, but it's more complicated and mysterious one including several stories. She's in the center of the swirl and faces many problems. Even though she almost loses, she always survives like a phoenix. Although it's full of suspense, I like a happy end. Wait, is it too ordinary?

I try my best not to disturb a scene like this. Then, I hear my inner voice "why do I still want to shoot?" But, I do it instantly after adjusting exposure by test-shooting other directions because I really want to shoot such moment. I want to record these people who are spending a good time by not doing anything special in the relaxing air just before the sunset on the left side of this photo.