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"What on earth are human beings doing?"

On August 9, 2006, at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony to pray for the re- pose of atomic bomb victims, Itcho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki at the time, began his Peace Declaration to the world by expressing his anger and frustration over the fact that nuclear weapons had still not been eliminated from the world. I am the son of Itcho Ito's cousin. I was deeply moved as I listened to him deliver his Peace Dec- laration on the television. I felt so proud of him and looked forward to great things from him in the future.

I became clearly aware of Itcho Ito when I was in elementary school. At the time, I had the impression of him as being a big man who was cheerful and energetic. He loved sunflowers that bloom turned toward the sun. He was someone whose presence brightened everything around him. His first name was Kazunaga, but people always affectionately called him Itcho-san.[...]

Through slow and steady effort and with "no political base, no name recognition, and no financial backing" Itcho Ito gained increasing public support. He was elected to the Nagasaki City Council and later advanced to the Nagasaki Prefectural Assem- bly. Then in 1995, he ran in the election to become mayor of Nagasaki, a dream he had held since elementary school.

On the day they counted the votes I was in high school then I clearly recall watching the election coverage at home on the television with my family. All of us were silently praying that he would win. At the breaking news that Itcho Ito was the projected winner, my father raised both hands repeatedly, each time shouting Banzai! Banzai! in an explosion of joy that I had never seen in him before. Witnessing that scene of triumph shook me to the soul. I think this was the moment when I inherit- ed the desire of my father and family to support the politician Itcho Ito.

Then twelve years later, on April 17, 2007, during his bid for a fourth term in the Nagasaki mayoral election, when Itcho Ito returned from campaigning to his cam- paign headquarters in Daikokumachi, Nagasaki at 7:50 p.m., he was shot in the back by a man belonging to a crime syndicate. On hearing the news, I trembled un- controllably, tears flowed, I began to sweat, I cried so hard that my nose ran, it was hard to breath, blood oozed from my clenched lips, and I felt faint.

What happened? Why? Please don't die! were some of the thoughts that raced through my mind. I drove through the night to the Ito family's grave where I put my hands together and prayed desperately. My prayers went unanswered. At around 2:30 in the middle of the night of April 18, Itcho Ito passed away.

The incident was reported every day in newspapers and on television for many days afterward. New reports had always seemed to me to be simply a flow of words and images, but news of this incident that was so close to home felt like a terrible weapon gouging into my heart. For a while, I was tormented with despair just seeing those news reports and left unable to do anything for days.

All I can do is take photographs. But I know from experience that photographs can become a weapon, so in consideration of the feelings of the bereaved family I felt that it was wrong to photograph this overwhelming happening.

Years later something occurred to change how I felt.

Every year on April 17, a platform was set up for people to offer flowers at the site of the incident. In 2019, on the 13th anniversary of Itcho Ito's death, it was decided that the platform would no longer be set up. It was then when I began to fear that the memories of Itcho Ito and the significance of the incident would inevitable fade away. After struggling with my reluctance to photograph anything connected with the incident, in the end I became strongly resolved to preserve Itcho Ito's memory through photographs.

I went to Itcho Ito's family members and others close to him who had been his long-standing supporters to tell them about how I felt and to hear their stories about him.

When I had the chance at various times during the COVID-19 pandemic, I visited each of their homes to hear their thoughts on the incident and about the kind of person they perceived Itcho Ito to be. They were all unanimous in saying that they didn't understand why the incident had happened. They also talked of Itcho's aura as a politician and that they had expected he would continue to be even more successful in his efforts.

The incident not only crushed the hopes of the many people who supported this one politician; it also disrupted their everyday lives. Regardless of the reason, taking someone's life is never justified.

As I was photographing the people who had supported Itcho Ito and scenes of daily life in Nagasaki, I carried the hope that no one would have to experience such sad- ness again and that everyone could live their lives in peace. When I spoke to people in the city while taking photographs and they would cheerfully answer yoka to yo, meaning it's okay, it made me feel happy. With each photograph I took, I thought what a great city it is, but at the same time my perplexity deepened about why such an incident had happened here.

Even as I proceeded with this photography project, there was no end to tragic events in the world. Every time I watched such news reports, I wondered. What is the point of continuing to appeal to the public to eliminate violence?! Couldn't such tragedies have been stopped? No matter how much society may advance, it is meaningless without advancement on an individual level.

I am heavily concerned that facts and lessons we must not forget will sink into oblivion. I don't want them to fade away. They must not be allowed to fade away. I want to preserve the memories through photographs.

This is the moment I wish to make an appeal borrowing the words of Itcho Ito. "What on earth are human beings doing?"

I pray that this photograph collection serves as a catalyst for reflecting on that question.

Makoto Yasumori

1977, born in Yamaguchi.
1999, graduated from Japan Institute of Photography And Film (Post Graduated Course).
After working at a cable television company for few years, became a freelance photographer in 2009.
2009, Canon New Cosmos of Photography Excellent Award (juried by Nobuyoshi Araki). Many other awards in various contests.
2019 photo book "Dokyusei" [AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc]
The Ueno Hikoma Japan Institute of Photography Arts Encouragement Prize "Hanakoi" is collected at Kyushu Sangyo University.
At the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, he also works on advertising photographs such as taking charge of portraits for brochures at Kishin Kasayama exhibition.