Hiroshi Takai's new series "Yato no Tachimori" is a quasi-sequel to his photo book "Yato no Januke" (2023), and looks at the complex beauty of a simple life in rural Japan through the eyes of an outsider. Takai, who lives in Hyogo Prefecture in the western part of Japan's main island of Honshu, traveled to small settlements around the city of Fukuchiyama in neighboring Kyoto Prefecture and photographed the daily life that unfolds there.
“There are almost no arable lands in these settlements; people can only farm on small plots of land on gentle slopes. The traditional practice in these places is for the first-born son to take over the inherited land and live his life as an heir to the family …
If I had grown up in those areas, I might not have been able to take these photographs. I have been and will always be an outsider to these villagers—even though I am also living in the countryside—but I would like to maintain the persepctive I have as an outsider.”
― from Hiroshi Takai’s afterword
