Loneliness, roaming youths, violence and predators.

We were wild nocturnal in the dark, warm nights.

Summer left quickly and before my 15th birthday, I got my hair cut short.

Strangely, that was something that hurt me the most.

In one of my hot summer dreams, I was in a Fatboy Slim’s video clip.

Christopher Walken and I danced along.

All summer long I felt like I had no control of my life.

But at that moment, I felt invincible.

So I packed my suitcase and left my home country

because in that dream I scored Weapon of Choice.

Luck and strength to run away and make my life my own.

Weapon of Choice challenges the systematic abuse of women in Japanese society through revisiting a summer of violence that I experienced at the age of fourteen. The images within this series border the present as well as the past. They are visual representations of living with trauma; of moving between consciousness and subconsciousness, resisting and remembering.

These representations question and confront patriarchalism in Japanese society, often said to be one of the safest societies in the world. While the subject is haunting and at times difficult to represent, Weapon of Choice also celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, acting as a vehicle for protest.

My nightmares are more frequent, I feel more vulnerable, but I stay strong and break the silence, so our voices can be heard because in these circumstances, silence is not golden. My current weapon of choice is my voice through photography. I wonder what your weapon of choice can be.