Three girls having fun in a car. In the snap shots taken of that scene, the fun atmosphere and their laughs can be heard.

In an enclosed space, in this case the car seat, the existence of humans is brought closer to bear. Even though that's the only thing going on, for the three girls, it's probably the best thing to ignite their innocent excitement. For the three girls hanging out in an unusual space, a moment of secretive fun emerges.

A collection of photographs published last year, 'Merry' by Koji Mizutani, expresses the emotion of small spaces. By being enclosed, the girls' excitement grows exponentially. By being enclosed, the distance between them is lessened to a degree not usual for them. This closeness leaves the girls no choice but to actually look at each other. The tense distance between the girls brings forth a nervous intimacy; because they find each other in this type of space, a spark is ignited causing the girls to explode with smiles.

While the first photography collection "Merry" depicts the atmosphere of a moment in a car, this collection uses the same theme but rather than focusing on space, tries to explore a more time-related context. For this book, Koji Mizutani chooses Harajuku as the stage and photographs over 500 smiling young girls. Unlike his previous collection, he doesn't photograph in a continuous fashion in an enclosed space, nor does he capture individual movement with the girls in the snapshots.

In stiff postures, the only thing that the girls have in common is their occasionally perverted and overwhelming smiles. Then, you have the clothes, hairstyles, and a short, cute sentence about being 'merry' underneath the photographs. With Harajuku as the canvas, over 500 variations are created.

So, that's what it's all about...young girls and Harajuku.

In a way, both are understandably transitory and energetic...motifs sensitive to time.

Harajuku is not Shibuya, Shinjuku or Kichijoji. The context is symbolic. Harajuku is more than youth culture, representing an area where street culture and high fashion shops overlap and strangely coexist in harmony. Harajuku's appeal of open mindedness creates a place where youth, trends and elegance prevails, where the obvious sudden change of times is always brought to our consciousness.

Sensitivity to the passage of time and an ephemeral feeling fill all the streets of Harajuku. That is why Harajuku gives the impression of being an open-minded place where anybody can display themselves freely and bring forth a delusional set off.

The Harajuku girls wear what they like and do as they please as they enjoy the times. The girls' appearance can be conservative and charming or radical; in other words, they directly express the very concept of youth, namely radicalism. With spirits high, the dressed up girls write a sentence about their interests: personal relations, their hopes for the future, what they love the most, etcetera, etcetera...

The elements of each individual's culture, no matter which photograph, reveals and emits countless stories. From each girl's photograph, her present point in life is clearly described through a number of stories. Nevertheless, their actual lives are not necessarily very deep, their unreserved smiles casting a seeming pallor of fluff and fantasy in their depictions. They don't live their lives in the mold but adapt to fit the mold. In these photographs, they stray away from the mold and relax to let loose and show us their freedom. The imagination of the streets of Harajuku, more now than ever, serve as a liberated ward for the imaginary creature called 'young girl'.

If Harajuku has ephemerally susceptible streets, then to begin with, the lives of these frozen young girls are indeed short-lived. Young girls represent a time in a woman's life...stagnant realities may be captured but in reality, a timely growth period lies on the horizon and while a snapshot is fixed, the moment itself cannot be captured.

In actuality, young girls themselves are difficult to figure out. For example, even to a woman who has spent a part of her life as one, the young girl has difficulty expressing true feelings. Even though women already carry part of a system called 'young girl' within them, when a woman is a young girl, she herself is not conscious of the fact. Far from that, she is even under the impression that she is not a young girl. Being conscious of their own identity might be an outlandish point for young girls. It isn't that they are awakening to their identity as young girls but as objects.

However, contrary to this seeming vagueness, the concept of a young girl is totally ubiquitous as we head towards the end of the century. It seems as if decadent Japan is already engrossed with all things relating to the girl. Being susceptible to young girls gives the impression of a transitory sensitivity. Because we are oblivious to the calendar's transition to a new century devised by man, young girls reign supreme.

There probably isn't a concept that can match the artificiality of young girls. Young girls are not always substantial...their individuality consumed by their image within a group.

The young girls of today are capable of changing anytime, without realizing that the new 'young girl' can easily be replaced. In this continuous saga, we are led to believe that young girls have one existence. There's a long history of women being called 'young girl' at a certain moment in their lives. However, in reality, we can probably say that a young girl is but an illusion, making the intangible tangible.

'Young girls' appear from various girl qualities, existing like mirrors. We probably see the individualistic young girl and her radicalism through the mirror that she creates.

It's not a coincidence that Koji Mizutani began to photograph these young women to communicate an inquiry of process. Rather I think that it is a logical conclusion.

Over 500 girls are presented and several individuals from diverse cultures with a great variety of differences rise to the surface. One physical theme is already decided upon through the photographing of countless subjects.

We know well the importance of details. Human beings - men, women, the elderly, the obese - are categorized for convenience sake. The simpler the concept of each person's subtle cultural differences may seem, the more surprisingly complex is the actual impression gets. While belonging to the same type, variations created by each individual can't help but emerge. When the greatest common ground are stereotypes which rise to the surface, between stereotypes and individualism countless tactics are opened out.

While over 500 young girls create an infinite variety of appearances and desires, the range of culture of their unconscious are not worth describing; the girls themselves transmit that information. In ephemeral Harajuku, ephemeral young girls vividly appear in our current emotional times.

The mediums called young girls reflect the ephemeral streets and a generation of 'emotion'. In other words, it is the 'atmosphere' that is difficult to grasp.

Mizutani, in focusing on young women and using their form, probably makes their emotions tangible. Through media, in this case the young women, their feelings are brought forth. What's even more important is that illusions surrounding the imagination are stimulated.

Everybody possesses or gets possessed with illusionary images of young girls. Everybody has a 'young girl' in his or her mind. Young girls are mirrors and even those who are engrained in the minds of men are clearly depicted. Young girls are mediums who make various desires tangible.

TV, radio, audio-visual equipment, phones, movies, photographs, internet, cell phones....

There was a time when individuals would exchange words directly. Now, this is achieved by the specialization of informational phases. Each tool of communication creates a different temporary feeling of reality. They are muddled and complicated and in a way spread out too thin. The truth about the media is that the omnipresent young girl and the young girl image as a medium overlap.

Perhaps an examination of this book will provide a feeling of the young girls' emotions and true characters.