I once considered myself a moderate leftist, but as I visited incidents’ sites I had mixed feelings. I quickly became tired and felt no sympathy whilst shooting. Although I don’t worship leftism ideology anymore, I still remained involved in the story, asking myself ‘’Why?’’. The more I investigated, the more it became clear to me how this group was different from others. Seemingly they lived as honest hard working people amongst society, but hidden under this disguise were faces of terrorists. They called themselves ‘’East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front’’ as the main aim of their bomb attacks they chose big companies and targets related to the imperial character of Japan. Despite the character of the group, they denied to be affiliated with communists or left-wing fractions. The main motive of their actions were atrocities committed by the Japanese empire during WWII and discrimination of Ainu,Korean and Chinese people living in Japan. There’s nothing that can justify taking someone’s life, but as their ideology somehow corresponded with my political views from the past, I developed particular interest in this case. Visits to towns where they lived and incident sites became a quest for my own identity.

　私はかつて、自分を左側に近い人間だと思っていた。しかし現場を訪れるにつれ、次第に違和感が拡がり、共感を感じられぬまま写真を撮る事に疲労を感じるようになった。左翼的なイデオロギーを信奉する訳でなく、疲労を感じ尚、関わろうとする自分に「なぜ？」と問いかけ続けた。調査を進めていくと他とは異なる特色を持つ組織の存在が浮かんできた。彼らは真面目な勤め人として過ごしつつ、テロリストの顔も持っていた。自らを「東アジア反日武装戦線」と名乗り、次々と企業を爆破していった。この組織は左翼的な言葉を使わず、その矛先もアイヌや在日に対する社会、日本の戦争責任へと特化していた。何があろうと人の命を奪う事は許されない。だが、この指向性が政治的に早熟だった私の学生時代にオーバーラップし、「彼らを辿ればこの時代に興味を持つ理由が分かるのでは？」という思いを抱かせた。彼らの暮らした街と現場を巡る事は、自分自身の本質をさぐる作業なのかもしれない。