touch was Yoko Asakai’s first exhibition with the MUJIN-TO Production in six years. The show featured a new series of photographs produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period Asakai paid attention to phenomena in and around her home and created works while movement was restricted. For the exhibition the artist compared and contrasted the new works with a project she worked on before the pandemic in which she documented the daily lives of others. A video installation was shown in addition to the photographic works. This show aimed to create a bridge between life before and after the pandemic.

At the beginning of 2020 it became difficult for Asakai to continue an ongoing series titled wayfinding. Themed around mobility, this is a series she has been working on since 2016. The effects of the pandemic and its restrictions led to the creation of the series Higurashi; a series that documents from a fixed point of observation – Asakai’s home. Higurashi is a series of observations and records of people gathering to enjoy fireworks every night on the riverbed near Asakai’s home. The people who partake in looking at the fireworks look as if they are performing a ritual or trying to regain their lost daily life. Fireworks are a summer tradition in Japan, and at the same time, they have a history of being launched for the purpose of relieving souls and eliminating plagues. Through fireworks, people are regaining and sharing the enjoyment of their daily lives during the days of the pandemic, where extraordinary life became everyday life.

The exhibition also included a series of photographs titled Meals. These works share people’s daily lives and record their dinner tables. This is a series produced before the pandemic and was exhibited in Japan for the first time during this show. However, the completion of this series was disrupted by the pandemic.

The work Bubble connects the two photographic series. It is a recording of scenery from outside Asakai’s home: the environment, seasons, people, boundaries and sounds.