The Burning Ceremony

• Photographer
  Cain Shimizu
• Technical Info
  F8,1/40sec.,iso100,
• Photo Date
  15 January 2024

Daruma are traditional Japanese dolls that are displayed in homes to pray for good luck. Buy it at the temple. The eyes are not written at the time of purchase. Those who purchase the doll take it home and paint one of Daruma's eyes black while keeping in mind the goal they want to achieve. Then, once the goal is achieved, paint the other Daruma's eyes black. After a year has passed, regardless of whether the goal has been achieved or not, people bring their Daruma to the temple and participate in the burning of the Daruma. This is a traditional Japanese ceremony called daruma offering.

I was born in 1970 in Osaka, Japan. I became interested in cameras when I was in high school. At that time, the goal was to shoot the Blue Impulse, an acrobatic flight team. After that, I didn't shoot for a while, but when I was 30 I started shooting again. At that time, I was mainly shooting landscapes in color. However, around 2018, I started taking monochrome photographs in earnest. I was convinced that taking a work in black and white would more accurately represent the scenery I felt. Since then, I have been shooting mainly Japanese landscapes , streets and airplane.