Our collaboration started with a wooden Dōsojin, a road spirit encountered in a museum in Osaka. Exploring both Dōsojin’s
historical role and contemporary significance led to this series of sculptures and photomontages presenting people of Nakano-
jo with their companions.

The wooden Dōsojins are made from branches and logs, discovered whenever we stopped to look at stone Dōsojins along the mountain roads. The tight embrace of these stone figures, how one squeezed the other’s shoulder firmly, showed clearly the profound connections we humans form with traditions, nature, and one another and still remind travellers of companionships
past, present, and future.