In her dystopian short story «不死の島 / The Island of Eternal Life» (2012), Yoko Tawada describes a country beset by disasters and cut off from the outside world, one that is easily identified as Japan.
Following the triple disaster in 2011, the country in Tawada’s story met with further disasters and was consequently isolated from the outside world. Bereft of energy sources and any form of industry, the inhabitants live as they did in the Edo period; their lives are made even more difficult by a younger generation that is very weak, almost incapable of living. The elders, on the other hand, do not die but keep growing older, and they are forced to care for the sick children.
Three photos from Special newspaper editions handed out on the streets on March 11, 2011 are the basis for the book. Each page of text alternates with a cut-out section of the photos, overprinted in gray, that also has the name of one of the twenty Japanese nuclear power plants printed on it in black. The opposite text page features the corresponding geodata, which becomes visible under the light of the UV lamp included with the book.
The book is wrapped in an aluminum-coated, fireproof «bousaizukin,» a pillow-like hood for children that is designed to protect them from injury in the event of an earthquake. These padded hoods are a standard disaster preparedness item, hanging from every elementary-school child’s chair.
Idea, design, and execution: Veronika Schäpers
English translation: Margaret Mitsutani
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Offset printing and polymer plate printing in silver, gray, and light-green fluorescent safety ink.
Cover made from Enduro-Ice paper with an acrylic spine.
Hand-sewn cover in the shape of a «bousaizukin,» a head covering for children in the event of a disaster.
The pillow was created by three seamstresses whose kimono school was destroyed in March 2011, who then founded a cooperative to support women affected by the earthquake.
UV flashlight in a hand-sewn pouch.
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42 pages, 15.5 x 39 cm
Edition includes 35 copies with Arabic numerals and 6 copies with Roman numerals
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Karlsruhe, 2024