shashasha

“Nogata was a coal mining town in the Chikuho area of Kyushu. Ken Domon published a famous photobook about the closure of the mines and the effects on children living in that area called “Chikuho No Kodomotachi” in 1960. I was born in the town of Nogata that very same year. My family’s house was right behind Nogata station.
There were still many steam trains at the station in those days. My family moved to another prefecture when I was a 3rd grade elementary school student. Because of this, I can’t say that I really grew up in Nogata. And furthermore, I don't feel I really know anything about Nogata either. From 1983 onwards, I sometimes went back and visited Nogata with my camera, but at that time I didn't think I wanted to take documentary photos of them. These days, I have a little bit of regret that I didn't take an photos of the old station of the Onaka house as it was back then. I was looking for something like a hint of my childhood memories of the town in my photos.”

-Koji Onaka, afterword.