In 1967-68, I spent a year in Japan as part of college. It was by far the most inspirational year of my life in part because I spent much of the year taking photographs. 18 years later, when Toyota announced it would build a factory 20 miles north of my home in Lexington, KY, I became friends with some of the Japanese families who moved to Kentucky. In 1987, I made the first of five trips to rural Japan to explore the countryside and take photographs. This portfolio of images became a book and exhibition titled, "Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary."