Most of the photographs featured in this 26th volume of “Record” were taken in the streets of Ikebukuro and adjacent areas.
It is more than ten years ago that I moved into a flat in an old apartment building in what is now Nishi (West) Ikebukuro. Up to that point, I’d been devoting myself first and foremost to the Shinjuku neighborhood, so I had little connection to Ikebukuro. I rarely ever went there even during the half year that I once spent in Shiinamachi, one stop from Ikebukuro station.
...However, during a walk in the spring of 2013 I happened to take one particular picture that I really liked, and that somehow sparked my interest. Or better perhaps, that belatedly made me aware that it would be a waste if I didn’t go out shooting on my home turf so to speak. I eventually spent more than a year on the prowl with my camera in the Ikebukuro neighborhood.
As a result, I realized that although Shinjuku and Ikebukuro are both major terminal stations, the air in the streets is different. The impression I’m getting from the people —their body temperature, or their constitution if you will— is just different. After all, I found out that the temperature in the streets of Ikebukuro again suit that of my own body.
In a nutshell, “lovable Ikebukuro, redoubtable Ikebukuro” is how I would describe the feelings I am harboring toward Ikebukuro these days.
– from afterwords by Daido (a part)