Second Spring

This is my first attempt at making a visual story, drawing on my PhD research in Japan. I wanted to create a character who could express the feelings that many women shared with me about their hopes and desires in later life. So the character is fictional but her voice is very real.

Last summer when starting fieldwork for my new project in Finland, I had the idea to create a graphic novel following the parallel lives of two middle-aged women - one in Japan and one in Finland. A narrative device took shape in my mind in the form of letters sent between penpals. My idea is that the letters would show the shared difficulties that face these two women, yet at the same time revealing the different societal and family expectations placed upon them.

The idea is still very much in the early stages, but this is an experiment showing what one letter could look like. I would love to hear your thoughts!