In the summer of 2006, I traveled to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum to see an exhibition of works by Tsuguharu Fujita that I had missed in Tokyo and Kyoto. From around seven in the morning, the sound of cicadas grew steadily louder, and by midday their chorus was pouring down all around me. I still recall the vivid memory of being enveloped in that sound.
The traces of the atomic bombing remain in many forms, such as the Atomic Bomb Dome, yet it is said that countless people still lie beneath the ground. In that soil—contaminated by radiation, and formed from the remains and excreta of countless living beings—cicadas spend years before emerging above the surface. Are they born carrying the weight of Hiroshima’s past? Each time I visit Hiroshima and hear their voices, I feel a deep requiem for those who perished and offer a prayer for peace.
This year marks 80 years since the end of the war. Yet even now, conflicts and wars are taking place in many parts of the world. Countless lives are lost, and those who remain are left with deep sorrow—wounds that will not easily heal. I earnestly hope that we will once again look back on history and strive for a world without conflict.
Tatsuya Hirabayashi
Tatsuya Hirabayashi Profile
1961
Born in Tokyo
1978
Became a private disciple of photography critic Tatsuo Fukushima
1984
Graduated from the School of Humanities and Culture, Tokai University
1984
Joined Doi Co., Ltd.
2003
Founded Photographers Laboratory, Ltd.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1998
The Cost of Growth — Doi Photo Plaza Shibuya
2001
Tokyo Memory — Doi Photo Plaza Shibuya
2003-2015
Annual exhibitions at Kodoji, Golden Gai, Shinjuku
2007
Tokyo Night Light — Art Space Motor
2013
Reiki Manzan: Mount Takao — Nikon Salon Shinjuku; in)(between gallery, Paris
2014
Reiki Manzan: Mount Takao — Nikon Salon Osaka
2018
Thank You, Mother — Roonee 247 Fine Arts
2018
White Flowers — Nikon Salon Ginza / Nikon Salon Osaka
In the summer of 2006, I traveled to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum to see an exhibition of works by Tsuguharu Fujita that I had missed in Tokyo and Kyoto. From around seven in the morning, the sound of cicadas grew steadily louder, and by midday their chorus was pouring down all around me. I still recall the vivid memory of being enveloped in that sound.
The traces of the atomic bombing remain in many forms, such as the Atomic Bomb Dome, yet it is said that countless people still lie beneath the ground. In that soil—contaminated by radiation, and formed from the remains and excreta of countless living beings—cicadas spend years before emerging above the surface. Are they born carrying the weight of Hiroshima’s past? Each time I visit Hiroshima and hear their voices, I feel a deep requiem for those who perished and offer a prayer for peace.
This year marks 80 years since the end of the war. Yet even now, conflicts and wars are taking place in many parts of the world. Countless lives are lost, and those who remain are left with deep sorrow—wounds that will not easily heal. I earnestly hope that we will once again look back on history and strive for a world without conflict.
Tatsuya Hirabayashi