Burning Love

From the early Meiji era, the city of Yubari in Hokkaido flourished as a coal mining town. Some miners who were clever with their hands and had time to spare started to carve coal during their work breaks. When the mine was closed in the late 1980s, this pastime spread among a large group of mine workers. The carvings displayed at shops or at people’s front doors used to be the symbols of a glorious time, but nowadays they illustrate the state of the town, which many people have since left. Graphic designer Mariko Kuwahara visited Yubari in the winter of 2017. There she was given two ball-shaped objects by a couple who owned a local restaurant, prompting her to seek out more of these unusual carved coal totems. This book documents her journey.