Photographs from the Okuizumo region of Shimane, where tatara iron smelting, pouring iron sand and charcoal into a furnace to make the steel for Japanese swords, has been handed down for more than a thousand years. Starting from that technique, Seido Kino widens his view to the wind and earth of the place, to see how the nature and culture of the land and the lives of its people act on each other: skies and weather that change so often they seem alive, rainbows every half hour, moss on huge rocks deep in the forest, straw snakes returning to the soil, festivals kept up because it is fun. The text side of the double jacket includes a Sri Lankan immigrant at the tourist association who is frank about depopulation, and asks whether the diversity and resilience born where wind meets earth can shape the future of the region. Winner of the 49th Ina Nobuo Award (2024).