Living as a non-european in a so called civilized society, everyday I face a kind of ritual to play a role to be an another person in some way, although I do it naturally and have never recognized it as a ritual. For example, I wear clothes which had been historically not my custom but something adopted to our daily life through the process of modernization.

In the case of japanese society, my ancestor were too impatient when they saw power of the occident for the first time after hundreds years of international seclusion. Those in power wanted to gain western power to emulate them and one of the first thing they did was trying to dress like them.

The ritual happened, is happening and will be happening again and again as long as there is economical and political hierarchy among cultures.

This work is made for a group show "Les Maîtres Fous (Bad masters)" titled after a film which is made by a french film maker and anthropologist Jean Rouch. Artists developed the exhibition under a theme of ritual. It was exhibited at Freies Museum Berlin untill 5. March.

Video version of this project is under Video section.