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12 years ago, Miyoko Ihara started taking photographs of her grandmother, Misao. Miyoko wanted to leave a living proof of her. One day, her grandmother found an odd-eyed kitten in the shed. She named the cat “Fukumaru” in hope that the God of “fuku (good fortune)” would come and everything would be smoothed over like “maru (circle)”.
Even though she is 87 years old, Misao still goes out into the fields everyday and Fukumaru always accompanies her. It has been 8 years since they first met. The grandmother whose hearing become weak and Fukumaru, who also has hearing disabilities, are always looking into each other’s eyes and feeling warmth from each other.
In 2011, Ihara released, Misao the Big Mama and Fukumaru the Cat, a 68-page hardcover book published by Little More Books. Below you will find some of the images from the beautifully shot book capturing the preciousness and beauty of daily life and companionship.
