Yabukimachi-Panorama 14

Going back to Fukushima
Fukushima: it is a geographical place, and it is also a symbolic entity. Going back to Fukushima is not simply to go back to a place which, in the last few months, has become universally famous. It is also to return to a place which separates before and after, childhood and maturity, past and future.
Three sequences illustrate this symbolic place.
The journey reminds us that Fukushima is the city that we have left, and that it is also the city we are going back to. The gentle, persistent activity of the peasants reminds us that the life of before continues, regardless. The Buddhist ritual that accompanies the father’s last journey reminds us that death is not an end and the son’s return is also a new beginning.
_ Gérard Briche