Other than the imagery which makes me feel like I’m learning about them first hand, it’s the elusive nature of the business that makes it all that more appealing.

As opposed to the endless movies made about the cosa nostra, the Yakuza are still a huge enigma to the West.

Very much looking forward to more instalments.

thanks again for all your kind words… it gives me more strength to keep on going and to learn more and more about their world. i’m working hard on the next chapter, which will be about a covert training camp for new recruits; i hope to have images on that soon

cheers!

a

I like the look of these images and dont agree with the idea that who cares because they’re Yakuza. Your capturing an essence here.

I agree with BOB in his observations.

Well done for getting in and persisting on with this project. Hope you spend as much time on it as you can.

take care.
peter.

I think there’s just one word to describe your series, perfection. Thanks for letting me see a world that otherwise would be impossible to view.

I can tell you that i haven`t been a huge fan of your previous projects, but the kind of dedication you`re giving to this is truly beautiful by itself, and the photos and texts are the most astounding company for it.

I lived in Japan for a year, and the subject you`re exploring is so “untouchable” in that country that i feel really honored you share your experience with us.

i’m still in the process of finding out both of your questions. i have some info about the “how”, but the “why” is not known to me yet. it has to do with new allegiances, but i will know more soon.

as for the “removing” part: Soichiro said he had been “made completely white again”, and i’m led to believe this was done with moxa, a plant root used in ancient tattoo removal techniques (and acupuncture and more) where they not only heat but also blister the top layers of the skin. i have no idea how they prevent tissue scarring while doing this, but i can imagine that a full body suit would be quite painful to remove in this way. As soon as i find out more i will let you know!

cheers

jim –
no worries mate, you don’t need to care

bob –
great words, thanks… indeed, the boss, everytime i met him, struck me as a quiet, contemplative man

lisa, patricia -
thanks for the words

john –
thanks… as long as you’re driving the mercedes, mate… :-) i’ll definitely shout

hope i didn’t forget anyone…

John

Very strong images and text. You have found a style of shooting that suits this story to a T. I love seeing this book unfold, chapter by chapter.

HERVE

When you take a person’s words out of one context and apply them to another, it does them a disservice.

JIM

You don’t need to be “on the same page” as the rest of us. You see things through your own lens and that’s cool.

Patricia

Super work…

AND

I LOVE THE TEXT!

I think the ….. awe, nevermind.

anton, what i have always loved about pictures and about photographers involved in personal journeys, are always the small details, for it is always the small, almost prescient, details that speak the most universally….

i love the small bead of blue in the lamp in the first picture (a parent) overseeing the light in the man’s eyes (being tatto’d)…eyes of a child loosing a parent, recalling the past, as he himself sets forth toward a journey of ending: commisseration….in the 2nd picture, the man by the window (a wise man), his look of forlorn and indifference in stark contrast to the young, strong, bald man (well-attired) behind him….

a look forward to your book and completion of this project….

and what i look forward to most of all is all you have been transformed, more so than the story of the Yakuza themselves…for in truth, for me, it is the personal journey that matters infinitely more than our attempt to document another, and that act itself, if we are most open, yields something new about, not the other, but ourselves….

a sailor or a soldier, i’ll take a sailor, as wong kar-wei once suggested, because a sailor moves toward that line in the distance, not commands barked upon….

looking forward to the book….

hugs
running
b

anton TG rocking the bells.. a piece of quality in the making..