Putting an end to the work I had been continuously pursuing since 1978, the very day after deciding on the book design for Tokyojin 1973-1983, I set off for the north. It began in Aomori, in the height of summer.
I had no clear aim or vision; I was simply consumed by an overwhelming desire to leave Tokyo. Was this perhaps that “intense desire, the very opposite of nostalgia” (as M. Butor put it) that drives city dwellers into endless journeys?
