華厳滝 Kegon Falls

Kegon Falls is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. In 1903, a Japanese student Fujimura Misao jumped into the waterfall after writing the famous farewell poem ‘巌頭之感’. His suicide was considered as the first “metaphysical suicide” in Japan. In the four years following his death, 185 people attempted to jump from the waterfall. Kegon Falls became a famous suicide spot.

The story behind the beauty of the natural scene is what interests me. Through the Kegon Falls, the death of Fujimura can be seen. But death is not an Event, and we cannot authentically experience another’s death. Rather, the death of others shows us that we are alive. Seeing through appearances and facing death, knowing that we are all as Heidegger says, ‘being towards death’, accepting our death and projecting our life constitutes authentic being in the world.

Date: 2018