Remembering Kazutoyo Tanabe: A Memorial Fundraiser

ハワイの美しい自然や、街並み、人々に魅了され、ハワイの魅力を写真に収めてきたハワイ在住の写真家、田辺かずとよ君が2023年12月23日午後6時30分に息を引き取りました。享年60歳でした。

写真集や書籍、雑誌、広告など、様々なメディアのカメラマンとしても活躍してきた彼は、2021年後半に筋萎縮性側索硬化症（ALS）が発症し、治療のために2022年4月末にハワイから日本に生活の場を移しました。徐々に体が動かなくなりながらも、最後まで希望を捨てずに常に前向きに病と闘ってきましたが、2023年12月22日午後4時過ぎに突然意識を失い、その後目を覚ます事なく26時間眠り続け、翌23日午後6時30分に静かに旅立ちました。

「ホノルル空港に始めて降り立った時に喜びとともに感じた爽やかなトレードウインドと南国特有の甘い花の香りが漂うような写真を撮り続けていきたいと思っている。」と志ながら、理不尽な不治の病のために叶えることができなかった彼の思い出を残すために、メモリーファンドを立ち上げました。

このファンドは、どんどん体が動かなくなっていく不治の病を献身的な介護で最後まで支えられた、奥様の明美さんに送られます。どんな時でも常に微笑んでいた彼の笑顔と思い出を胸に、ご協力いただけますようお願いいたします。

Kazutoyo Tanabe, a Hawaii-based photographer fascinated by Hawaii's beautiful nature, cityscapes, and people, and who captured the charm of Hawaii in his photographs, passed away at 6:30 p.m. on December 23, 2023. He was 60 years old.

He worked as a photographer for various media outlets, including photo collections, books, magazines, and advertisements. But late in 2021, he developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and decided to move from Hawaii to Japan for treatment in late April 2022. Although his body gradually became immobile, he never gave up hope and fought the disease in a positive way until the very end.

On December 22, 2023, he suddenly lost consciousness a little after 4:00 p.m. and then quietly departed at 6:30 p.m. the following day, December 23, after sleeping for 26 hours without waking up.

He once said, "I hope to continue to take pictures reminiscent of the fresh trade winds and sweet floral scents unique to the tropics which I felt when I first landed at the Honolulu airport." Unfortunately that ambition was cut short in the middle of its story. In order to preserve his memory and his vision, which he was unable to fulfill due to such an irrational illness, we have established a memorial fund for him.

This fund will actually go to his wife, Akemi, who supported him until the end with her devoted care for this incurable disease that made him increasingly incapacitated. We hope that you will support this fund in memory of a man who always had a smile on his face, no matter what the circumstances.