Performance
This research explores how societal norms in Japan shape conversations around taboos and politics, drawing from personal experiences as a long-term Singapore-raised Japanese trying to fit into the norms of Japanese culture.
Navigating identity and self-expression within these cultural frameworks has often felt like a struggle, and this kanji “awa” is used symbolically to reflect that sense of dissonance within the Japanese community.
– Awa – 泡
I see the Japanese kanji 「泡」”awa” (meaning “bubble”) as a reflection of myself.
It’s made up of three parts: at its center is the symbol for “self,” and it’s surrounded by the symbol for “water.” On the right, two symbols come together to mean “to be wrapped.” When I look at this kanji, I see myself – and all of us on this earth, bathed in the blue light from our phones and screens, different opinions, materials, egos … each of us enclosed in our own little bubble, rising slowly to the surface from the depths of the sea.
To me, this kanji mirrors life itself: a delicate bubble, layered in filters, wrapped up, drifting along.
