Sweeping Trash to the Front of Prime Minister’s Office

2012 Performance Document Video 8’36min

Early on a Sunday afternoon, Niwa walks from Shinjuku station to the front of the Prime Minister’s office, sweeping dirt and dust on the street along his way. His step-by-step walk, gathering even a tiny amount of dust that no one else take notice of, somehow reminds us of the heated urge to participate anti-nuclear power protests, though no protestors were remaining when Niwa arrived at the Prime Minister’s Official residence. The days when hundreds of people thronged in front of the Prime Minister’s Office every Friday night are gone, and now only policemen busy themselves as they queue up for the guard. It can be taken as an ironic gesture in relation to the antinuclear-power-movement that was at one time all the rage, while at the same time we are afforded a glimpse of the actual nature of Japanese citizen’s who are "easily warmed up but just as easily cooled down".

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