Tomoki Sukenaga | #shot-13 A record of my childhood... *snicker*.
Tomoki Sukema | #shot-13
A Record of My Childhood... Pfft.
Please view this photo as if it were a time-traveling artifact. These are pictures of me between the ages of three and four, meaning they were taken around 1968 to 1969. My father loved photography and always carried a camera with him wherever we went. I don't remember the brand, but he always held it with great care.
This first black-and-white photo, featuring me in a hat, was taken on the rooftop of the Daimaru department store on Shijo Street in Kyoto, which is still there today. I'm not sure if the rooftop amusement park still exists, but I loved coming up here when we visited Daimaru back then.
I think I'm riding a toy police car here. My hairstyle is quite something, isn't it? And my expression—for some reason, I look rather grumpy. I must have been three years old, but I remember I was fond of this long-sleeved red polo shirt and had decided I would wear this hat everywhere I went.
The shot on the lower right was taken at the zoo near Keage in Kyoto. I had turned four by then. I recall my father being very supportive in helping me get these boots with buckles. He searched for them with me.
I've forgotten what influenced me, but I was adamant about having boots with buckles. My father, possessing a certain old-school dandyism from the Taisho era, understood my insistence on particular hats and shoes.
The sleeveless shirt on the lower left is a two-shot with my older brother at the botanical garden in Kitayama, Kyoto. It was a short walk from our house, so we went often. This photo, again, was taken when I was three. I'm already wearing a Giants cap. I wouldn't have known about professional baseball then, only the manga 'Star of the Giants,' yet it was an era where wearing a Giants cap was the thing to do! I was clearly already heavily influenced by the work of Kazuki Kajiwara. All these photos were taken by my father, Kazuo Sukema.