"Earth" is the third chapter of the「Kyoto Harmony」series. In this photography project, I aim to visually interpret the historical and atmospheric essence of Kyoto, Japan, through the five fundamental elements of Buddhist culture: wind, fire, water, earth and void.

In this chapter, I turn my gaze to the fixed, structured elements of Kyoto’s residential landscapes: the carefully trimmed shrubs—nature shaped by human hands—growing between functionalist buildings, concrete walls, and traffic cones. They resemble “sculptures of order” embedded in everyday life.

On the surface, these scenes appear to be examples of well-kept urban gardening. But beneath that tidy exterior lies a subtle tension and quietness—the unspoken equilibrium that underpins daily life. The trees, sculptural in form, stand silently in the in-between spaces.

The element of Earth, representing firmness and endurance, mirrors how the ground supports all things above it, just as bones support the human body. These independently growing, outward-reaching trees become a tangible manifestation of that silent support.

Here, “Earth” is not merely a symbol of the natural world, but also a vessel through which nature is brought into human order. It embodies the philosophical essence of Earth: ever-present, foundational, and wordless.