I, Oblomov is an ode to the novel Oblomov, written in the mid-19th century by the Russian writer Ivan Goncharov. More than 150 years later, it still remains a key to deciphering the Russian mentality, which for centuries has both perplexed and captivated foreign travelers in the region.

In this book, I offer my own interpretation of this distinctly Russian phenomenon through a series of self-portraits and interior photographs taken over the course of my travels in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. As the images show, I often found myself lying down for long periods, overcome by depression, laziness, bad weather or hangover – evidence that after nine years of living in the former USSR, Oblomovshchina can also become the reality of a Japanese photographer. All the notes to the photographs were quoted from the novel Oblomov. (Ikuru Kuwajima)

Edition of 500, Russian, English language, 144 pages, 21x18 cm

Oblomov was written be Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov and originally published in 1859/ Marian Schwartz's translation of Oblomov was last published byYale University Press in 2010.