08. 11. 2016 – 26. 11. 2016
Usagi-jima (Rabbit Island), Saru-shima (Monkey Island), Iruka-jima (Dolphin Island)… there are a number of islands with animal names here in Japan. Whenever I encounter another one, I feel the urge to travel.
One of my earliest memories is a hazy one of having visited Penguin Island. Every now and then, during one of these expeditions to an island, I try to recall the scenery of that early trip; but they would only be conjured in the vaguest way, like the landscape of some fantastical picture.
From aboard the ship, the silhouette of the island is foggy and flickers in and out of sight among the waves. Appearing far in the distance and then seemingly nearer, it remains somehow beyond reach. Penguin Island, emitting faint signals in my memory, is a Phantom Island. It is there yet, wavering, drifting, in the far reaches of obscured memory.
CHIEKO SHIRAISHI