Pictures of the Day: Japan and Elsewhere

Given the amount of media coverage of Japan in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami, I feel it only appropriate to include this image by Shiho Fukada. I recently read an article about the mass graves developing out of the devastation Japan had to endure. This image, along with the article, brought me to tears, hearing and seeing what is currently happening halfway across the globe. A funeral is meant to be intimate, and private with family and friends who provide each other condolences. Unfortunately for Japan, such solace can not be had. The people of Japan do not bury their dead as we do, but rather cremate the deceased which is a tradition deep-rooted in Buddhism.

My eye follows the image from the bottom of the frame, up to the soldiers and to the left of the frame; in the direction the soldiers walking. The weeds at the bottom of the frame reach out towards the display of shovels and the walking soldiers. One can only imagine that beyond these weeds is more destruction and sadness. Each individual grave, which acts as a compartment in one massive grave, cuts through the top portion of the frame; moving my eye from right to left.

Fukada chose to take this image on a higher vantage point than the soldiers who appear taciturn. This gives an overall layout of the mass grave where soldiers bury the dead. Their modesty is further enhanced by the masks they wear over their faces. Also, the monotony expressed through the pristine, symmetrical graves give no identity to the people who died. The organized layout of the shovels means that Japan, as a society, is trying to stay civilized and resolute through the aftermath of such a catastrophe. However, the weeds that reach out towards the shovels symbolizes the destruction that is still ever present, trying to break Japan's reserve.

What was once a tradition for family and friends, has turned into a makeshift solution to deal with the large number of the dead. Nothing clearly defines this than Fukada's photograph. A father, mother, son, or daughter is buried in this mass grave. Their families could not follow with tradition has they had hoped. This gives us something that we can not fathom; the amount of devastation which greatly affects traditions that a people value highly. Their normal day to day routines and rituals have been disrupted.