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“Kawauchi has the special privilege of being one of very few Japanese contemporary photographers to have published three books simultaneously: “Utatane,” “Hanabi” and “Hanako” were all released in 2001. “Utatane” and “Hanabi”, lead to her receiving the Kimura Ihei Award, one of Japan’s most prestigious awards for young up-and-coming photographers, bestowed shortly after their professional debuts.

Ametsuchi (heaven and earth) is a theme that Kawauchi has been contemplating as she searches for the origins of civilization and culture. By capturing the 1,000-year-old ritual of Mount Aso, she contemplates time-honored traditions of humanity. In the series, she includes photographs from three more sites — the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the view from a planetarium, and the Shiromi Shrine dance ritual in Miyazaki —and by mixing these images together, she turns her attention to ancient ceremonies here on Earth as a connection to the heavens.”

-Japan Times, June 4, 2012