Japan-Korea Life Mask 2002 was a project among the peoples of Japan and Korea to celebrate their shared hosting of the 2002 World Cup Soccer Games. More importantly, the project was aimed at creating bridges of understanding and friendship among the peoples of Japan and Korea.
During the three years of the project (January 2000 to December 2002), lectures, workshops and exhibitions were held in 27 sites in Japan and Korea – from large cities to small towns, at diverse locations, such as city halls, university campuses,peace museums, newspaper offices, etc.
This grassroots effort involved citizens as volunteers in the creating and modeling of the Life Masks and brought together a wide range of individuals, from very young children to elderly citizens, in both countries.
In the end, over 1,580 Life Masks were created.
During the project a special permanent installation of childrens’ Life Masks was created at the Himeji Children’s Center in Himeji City in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan in November of 2000.
Final exhibitions and ceremonies were held in Yokohama (June 2002) and Seoul (December 2002) as a celebration of the project’s successful completion.
