Eriko Masaoka (b. 1983, Japan) began her photographic practice at the age of twenty, traveling through remote villages across Japan and living for extended periods on a ranch in Hokkaido and within an Ainu community. These formative experiences proved instrumental in shaping her artistic sensibility.
Without predetermined objectives, Masaoka allowed intuition to guide her movements, letting thought and circumstance determine her course. Over the span of a decade, this meditative journey gradually found its conclusion, forming the narrative that underpins this body of work.
In the images presented, distinctions between people, animals, objects, and landscapes are gently dissolved. Each element is treated as a vessel of life, imbued with spirit—reflecting a worldview rooted in animism. The work contemplates the ephemerality of existence, likening all forms of life to a drop of rain: momentary, luminous, and worthy of reverence.
Photographs were taken across a diverse range of locations, including Hokkaido, Okinawa (and the nearby islands of Iriomote and Aguni), Kagoshima, Kikaijima, the Tōhoku region (Akita, Aomori, Nagano, and Niigata), as well as Tokyo, Osaka, Mount Kōya, Rotterdam (Netherlands), Gullfoss (Iceland), and the Azores (Macaronesia).
The book includes a preface by the artist, originally written in Japanese and accompanied by an English translation.
