Sacred Japan - Myth or Reality?

Having lived in Japan for 23 years, I often ask myself how can I capture the spiritual side of it with a camera. What are the relationships between nature, tradition, religion, and modern Japan?

I have always been fascinated with the mood and energy I feel at temples, shrines, houses, fields, and other sacred places. I believe it is their openness and closeness to nature that excites my spirit. Sometimes it is a visual attraction. Sometimes it is the smell and sounds. These photographs are a personal journey to refresh my spiritual vision of Japan.

However, these photographs are not just a record of various places visited or discovered. They reflect back to me how I felt on being there. As I observe and participate in meditation, prayers, and festivals the experience is filtered through my my mind's eye. At the same time I try to understand what it is that the Japanese feel, believe, and experience. I begin to understand the Japanese attitude of resignation and submission to one's destiny.

Perhaps the blurred image of the pinhole mirrors the Japanese's blurred vision of themselves. Thus it seems an appropriate way to focus on the myths and realties of Japanese spiritual traditions.
With the pinhole camera's long exposures the results are often left to chance or fate. The world as captured by it often appears fantasy like. The pinhole camera has a subtle way of blending the Japanese spiritual myths and realities that I experience.

Edward Levinson (1996-2002)