​

Thabarwa, a shelter built by monks nearby Yangon, Myanmar. 

As a Japanese photographer who has travelled more than 50 countries.

I still felt utterly helpless when I first arrived here. 

A place that is forgotten and abandoned by society, 

everyone here seems to have lost their scripts and roles.

Lying on the bed surrounded by nothing, 

they stared at the ceiling and counted the meaningless hours in the day.

 

​

Until today, 

I can still hear the 24hr-non-stop chanting in Thabarwa. 

When we have nothing, 

the only we can do is to tell ourselves that 

suffering is not suffering.

 

What remains of life when the role is lost? 

There is no goal, no attachment; 

what is left, is the mere existence.

And what of the people who have their roles taken from them? 

 

Have their meanings of existence been taken too?

Every day someone was brought in wrapped up in a straw mat; 

every day someone was buried wrapped up in a straw mat. 

I think, even when you are no longer needed by the society, 

you should not be denied the meaning of existence by anyone.

 

I want to，  LIVE!