On 15 July 2015 my wife Nobuko's condition haddeteriorated to the point where she had to be caredfor at home and it was there in our house in Kyotothat we had shared for sixteen years that she diedon 29 July 2015 at the age of sixty-eight, havingovercome various significant challenges anddifficulties during her life and survived.

Once I had come to terms with my sorrow at Nobuko'sdeath I decided that I wanted there to be a recordof her life. A photograph on its own merely capturesa particular moment but if enough photographs areput together they become more than just a personalchronological record. So I set about consideringways of creating a volume that would be quitedifferent from conventional retrospective accounts.In addition to the photographic ‘story’ of her life,I decided that the other important elements of sucha volume would be the essays that Nobuko beganwriting in earnest once she had discovered howserious her cancer was, as well as the calligraphicworks that she had produced since taking up the artsome twenty years earlier .

It is also true to say that the purpose of the projectwas in part for my own personal benefit because thechallenges of putting it together were to prove asource of strength that enabled me to carry on. Iwas hugely encouraged in this endeavour by thesupport I received from people here at home whosympathised with what I was doing, as was theencouragement from friends overseas who understoodwhat I needed to do.

And so on 23 November the following year – the date ofour wedding anniversary – I published Collected Moments – the Life ofNobuko. To mark the event I staged anexhibition entitled ‘A Couple's Story – Calligraphyand Photographs’ that consisted of Nobuko'scalligraphic works and photographs of her that hadappeared in the book with the addition of some ofthe photographs that I used in my Isabella Birdexhibitions.

Here, in this English edition, I have reduced thenumber of photographs by about a half and rearrangedthe calligraphy exhibits, to make it a book that ismore than just a personal record by adding some newelements, as can be seen below.