Background

"Make sure you take your Grandma back to Japan."

Upon giving permission to marry his daughter, my great grandfather gave my grandpa one condition: that when my grandma passes away, her remains should be put to rest at the family shrine in Kyoto, Japan.

Upon his deathbed Grandpa passed that responsibility onto me.

What ensued was a trip to reconnect with my heritage. Coordinating with my cousins, my siblings and I flew across the world to bring her ashes back to her home country. Holding a traditional Buddhist ceremony, we were then able to finally put her to rest. A bittersweet reunion, we spent the next 2 weeks sharing stories across countries with our cousins, exploring her hometown, and retracing places she had been. Through our explorations, we got to understand a side of her we had never fully understood growing up — a sense of community and an appreciation for origin that could only be absorbed through experiencing Japan and meeting our family in-person.

This photo series was a way to capture the day to day scenery of Japanese life specifically with an eye on how history and nature are preserved in even the most bustling cities. Captured via a Kodak Instant Camera, each photo is a candid snapshot that is free from post-manipulation. This series represents an ongoing exploration into a culture I experienced secondhand and a legacy I am still navigating.