Ibasyo | Kosuke Okahara | Kousakusha 2018 [SIGNED]

"The Ibasyo project is a photographic project that documents the lives of six young Japanese girls who suffer from self-harm. In Japanese, ibasyo refers to the physical and emotional space where one can exist.

Domestic violence, rape, and bullying are some of the reasons behind self-harm. For better or for worse, the “culture of shame”, inherent in Japanese society, has prevented these stories from being told. Domestic violence seems to be prevalent in many families and rape is quite commonplace, yet self-harm victims choose to remain silent.

Deep emotional wounds have robbed these girls of their self-esteem. Faced with depression and panic attack disorders, they are unable to live a normal existence. They cannot appreciate their own value, and therefore, believe they are worthless. For these girls, harming themselves is a form of self-punishment for perceived notions of worthlessness, while also easing their anxiety and stress. And so, such destructive behavior has become the way for these girls to reaffirm their own existence. However, when they see their scars, the girls despise themselves more for what they have done. Like the Möbius strip, the cycle is endless.

The girls have found it difficult to feel their ibasyo. While the girls don’t justify their acts, the existence of self-harm reflects one of the darker side of Japan’s modern society." - Kosuke Okahara

Ibasyo has been also a "travelling book" project. Six copies of the book traveled across the world gathering messages from partecipants. The printed book has 88 pages of photographs and 272 pages of text, in Japanese language, containing the girls interviews and excerpts from the travelling books messages. Brief introduction in English language.