I am a Japanese ruins photographer. When the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear power plant accident occurred in March 2011, I was in Fukushima Prefecture, where the accidents occurred.

I was saddened, but I thought it was necessary to document this disaster and preserve it for future generations, so I started a camera to capture the city that was destroyed by the earthquake.

At first I was photographing the sad sight of the city destroyed by the earthquake. However, when I found flowers and plants sprouting from under the rubble, I was surprised and cheered up by their beauty and vitality.

Since then, I have been absorbed in photographing the beautiful vitality of plants and flowers sprouting in ruins. I have come to believe that while ruins are symbols of death and destruction, they are also places where new life begins.

My mission is to convey to future generations the grief caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and mourn the victims, and to give hope to the bereaved families of the disaster by drawing new life sprouting from beneath the rubble.