‘Taro and Living Creatures’  

July 7, 1999 - October 4, 1999

‘I was born Tokyo’s Aoyama 6 Chome and lived there during my childhood. In those days there were no surfaced roads in Japan and the air was always filled with the smell of earth and numerous insects flew in front of my eyes. ‘These insects were the things that I was closest to and most familiar with. In spring there were the butterflies, in summer, the cicadas, dragonflies, and fireflies then came the grasshoppers, crickets and long-horned beetles… I used to catch all kinds of insects and play with them. ‘I would look at the tiny insects moving beneath my eyes and ask myself if that was me, if I had become an insect, experiencing a fulfilling sense of confusion. ‘I still feel a fraternity with the undifferentiated life that stirs in the depths of my heart and comes rushing out.’ (Taro Okamoto)