Making the Fourth Sunday of July "Oyako Day"

Oyako means parent and child in Japanese and was originally the name I gave to a photo series I have now been working on for many years. Way back in 1982, I had a magazine assignment to photograph punk musicians. This job came in just before the birth of my first child, so I was also thinking a lot about becoming a father. These two thoughts just naturally converged when I hit on the idea of photographing the rockers with their parents. I figured it would be an amusing way to bring out the differences in lifestyles and fashions between the two generations, but what came back was infinitely more. The pictures revealed so much about family relations that it made me want to take some more like them. Little did I know how big a story it was going to get to be. With the support of my wife, who manages the photo sessions, I have gone on to photograph over 1,400 Oyako and it has become a life long project.

In 2003 Yoshiko and I decided to take things one step farther. We wanted to make the fourth Sunday of July into Oyako Day. Since the second Sunday of May is Mother's Day and the third Sunday of June is Father's Day; we felt the fourth Sunday of July would be a fitting day. We'd been talking, thinking and even joking about it for years. But, more seriously, we hoped it would provide an opportunity for all of us to re-examine and reaffirm this bedrock relation all our lives are tied to. More than anything, we wanted to express our gratitude to all the families we had met through this project. July 27, 2003 was the first Oyako Day. We invited 100 families to have their photos taken. My wife and I were so thrilled by the response we got that we have continued to do this event every year since.

We appreciate the generous support we've gotten from sponsors and volunteers. With their assistance, along with encouragement from many others, this event is gaining greater recognition. We look forward to the next Oyako Day and hope you will join us to celebrate.