The Blue Rose - A Prayer for the Impossible, Blooming in Kabukicho (2010s-2020s)

The Blue Rose - A Prayer for the Impossible, Blooming in Kabukicho (2010s-2020s)

For a long time, the blue rose was regarded as a "flower that does not exist" and a symbol of the impossible. However, in 2009, Suntory commercialized the world's first blue rose, "Applause," and the language of the flower was changed to "make the impossible possible. An anonymous hostess, at a low point in her career, tattooed a blue rose on her body in order not to lose herself in the numbers-driven world of the night. In cabarets, sales, nominations, and rankings are visualized on a daily basis, and competition intensifies with the spread of social networking sites. In the days when she could not sleep, had to fake a smile, and was exhausted by comparisons with others, the blue rose was for her a "sign of rebirth" and a prayer to protect her unquantifiable self. Kabukicho, which has become a tourist destination after the Riot Ordinance and redevelopment, is glamorous on the surface, but behind the scenes, a false image of the economy lives and breathes. The tattoo of a blu
e rose continues to shine in the night of 2022 as proof of the will to resist this fiction and the quiet hope that "with effort, we can rebuild our lives.