How did you meet "Yukio"?

It was my first year on my own.

I think it was about 12 years ago.

 

I had some time off from my work in Ueno, so I wandered over to the Ueno Zoo.　

It's been a long time since I've been to the zoo, but it was very quiet and everyone was asleep.

I had a negative impression of the zoo until then.

I guess my bitterness about "feeling sorry for them in a cage" was greater at that time.

Thinking about this, we continued on, and arrived at the polar bear area.
When I looked up, I saw a polar bear standing upright.

​

 

　Isn't he cute?

​

 

Earlier I had been worried about the zoo, but this encounter changed everything.

That was our first encounter with Yukio, the polar bear.

 

At first, I simply thought, "Yukio is cute," and

I went to the zoo for a very simple reason.

And as I went there several times, I gradually accumulated information on the biology of each animal.

Over time, I came to understand the character of each individual animal and so on.

You became more and more beloved.

As you became more and more interested in each animal

One by one, the negative feelings I had about the zoo disappeared.

Then, little by little, I started researching "why zoos were born" and "what the zoo's true role is" and so on.

So you naturally came to know about it from the activity reports and other signs and handouts that you saw in the park?

 

It's an important part of life in society, and it's an important part of life as a creator.

Earning money and producing results are inseparable parts of life.

But the truth is, while the activities are full of stimulation, they are not the only way to make money.

It's a very busy, exhausting and exhausting daily grind.

That's the "other important thing" that I want.

So, in a way, it's a day of sacrifice.

I felt like going to the zoo would free my mind and body.

I could see and touch and feel it in my mind and

You can take a big deep breath and spend time with nothing to hold you captive.

It's so simple to come here and remember the most important thing.

It's unspeakable, invisible, and so warm...

The beauty and joy of this world, that we live and eventually die.

The unexplainable, mysterious events and the mysterious power of nature.

This is the "other important thing" that I have been searching for.

And to tour this zoo and capture the animals on camera.

So it became my life's work one step at a time.

 

Thinking back, I chose this job on an "idea".

I joined the company with an ambition, to design cars.

During a training period at the company where I was working as a CAD engineer.

It was a wonder idea that came down to me like a big, very bright energy.

Suddenly one morning, "I'm going to be a photographer! I decided to do this.

 

I realize that life is a series of opportunities to choose a path or to make some choices.

I think it's up to each of us to decide what we will always look to for guidance and reliance in those situations.

Of course, some choices require a great deal of energy in the form of experience, but

What you need to do when you choose to make a decision that you have no experience with is

Isn't there such a thing as this kind of mysterious power in action?

To me, it's exactly like this.

So there's always an experience where you have a sense of "sense of wonder" to show you the way.

​

 

The experience of living as an actor

I worked as an actor from second grade through college.

When I was in second grade, I was recruited to perform in the musical "Annie

My parents applied for an audition, and to my surprise, I passed.

I was a young girl with no experience in the acting industry, and everything I had to do was a huge barrier to me.

I had to leave school early and miss school trips.

It wasn't just acting, singing and dancing, because I had zero experience at all.

Yet, six months later, I was still singing and performing in front of many customers.

I was in the spotlight and I still can't forget the excitement I felt at that time.

Even though I was small, I was desperately learning every day how to get out of the situation.

I think I was trying to figure out what to do, and I was making trial and error every day.

The instructors and staff who guided me were the ones who gave me the answers to the questions I was trying to answer.

I think I was struggling to master it somehow.

The clumsy trial and error was something I got to experience around this time.

Later, as a freelance photographer and

I feel that I have been able to turn the walls that I have encountered in my work and projects into strength to overcome them.

And what I experienced there has made me realize that I can handle it, even when I encounter problems.

It's led me to where I am today, where I feel like "there's nothing I can't do.

Maybe it's a great energy and confidence boost for your life right now.

 

 

New life

I have a little life in my belly right now.

I am six months into a stable pregnancy.

I think there has always been a big desire for me to become a man.

The desire to fully savor my sexuality as a woman and

Even with that, I feel the extremes of wanting to live out my life freely.

I feel as if I have always fought against my own selfishness.

Maybe it's a feeling I've been dragging around since I was a child.

When I finally reached the age of old childbirth.

We didn't want to have any regrets, so we decided to try to get pregnant.

 

In light of the current environment for child-rearing in Japanese society, the world situation and the natural environment, we decided to try

It's true that instinctively I've been hesitant to procreate in recent years.

It's just that the next generation is going to have the next set of values and

I feel like it's a different evolutionary process.

I also felt that individuals should not be allowed to make their own judgments about whether it was good or bad for them.

In addition, here's one more difficult barrier to fertility.

My husband's job requires him to go overseas for more than half a year, 3/4 of the time when he's on a business trip in a year

You've been finding it difficult to find the right timing for a natural pregnancy.

You had to take a gamble on one or two of the few chances you had.

I knew it was a gamble I couldn't win now that I was older.

We are going to a specialist clinic where IVF can be done in the summer of 2019.

At the time, I was 37 and my husband was 41.

When we first got married, we were hoping that one day we could conceive naturally.

Their lives themselves are often separated by time and distance.

We wanted to start IVF without any resistance from the beginning, rather than using the timing method or artificial insemination.

We ended up going with ICSI, but we tried the shortest course possible.

I was able to get pregnant this year in March 2020.

 

I was pregnant and spending time with my baby in my belly.

I am now savoring the time of change that is slowly making me a mother.

The strange sensation of a knock on my belly and

Every day I can't help but wonder if they're still growing well today.

To think that I'm in the middle of this mysterious and wonderful experience of nurturing life.

I'm so glad I took the plunge and took the plunge into fertility.

 

 

Sense of Wonder

Until now, I've just loved it and made it my life's work.

It's a natural connection to my work.

I am gradually getting more and more precious time and opportunities to get involved with zoos.

I have learned about various issues related to zoos and their related environments.

And I've learned that there are many issues that are too numerous to list.

You also learn that there are a lot of zoo people who are still working in the field as best they can.

I'm always thinking about what I can do to help them.

Anyway, I thought the only thing I could do was to "go to the zoo again today".

Just going to see the cute guys you've been recommended to meet gives you energy.

It's time to get back to the point of origin.

We'll continue to increase the number of opportunities to meet animals and zoos through books, magazines, apps and photography classes.

The only way for me to convey the joy and wonder of it was through photography, so

I want to continue to work to share the appeal of this project with as many people as possible, even if it's just a little bit at a time.

 

I also think that after the birth of my child, I will encounter a different set of values.

Even after I return to work, I'm going to change my way of working from the frantic way I used to work.

You can schedule your child to grow and

I'm wondering if my work and what I'm shooting will possibly change.

I've been talking to my husband about how I want to get the word out about my kids through photos and videos.

The content of social networking sites may be changing again.

 

In the past, the content of social networking sites has naturally turned to work in response to our interests.

It has led to my next meeting and I am confident that I will see some different changes again after the birth.

That's what I'm looking forward to now.

I've lived my life thinking that the only thing that will happen in my life is what I need to happen to myself.

At the optimal time, we may have met and broken up and lost and gained something.

So I'm going to struggle with the present to the fullest in this way, and cherish every moment.

And I hope to encounter a "sense of wonder" again there.

 

This sense of wonder will probably continue to guide me in the future.

​

 

​

​