KAZ Yamaguchi

I was born in "atomic bomb city" Nagasaki in 1963 and grew up there.
My blood type is B, my sign is Taurus.
At the age of 13 I started thinking deeply about life.
What is the meaning of life?
Where does a person come from?
What happens when you die?
I glad you are here at my website and hope you get something out of it.
My short history
I was born in Nagasaki in April 1963.
When I was three years old I almost drowned in the sea but was miraculously saved.
After this happened I was taught how to swim by my Father and came to like the sea very much.
I enjoy the water now and like to go skin diving. I can dive to the dpth of 17m.

I began listening to music when I was a baby hearing the 50's rock'n'roll my Father listened to.
I would play his guitar like it was a toy. When I was 10 years old in 1973 I had a mind blowing experience.
I heard music like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Jais Joplin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Cream, Deep Purple, Jeff Beck and more.
I would listen to and play their music every day. I started my first band at the age of 11 and since then music has been a very important thing in my life.
Many great bands made their debut since that time. Aerosmith, Queen, Kiss, Sex Pistols, AC/DC, Stray Cats, The Clash, Stevie Ray Vaughn and more.
I love all music nowadays, from classic to opera to ethnic music.

When I was 13 years old I began to ride motorcycles when I borrowed a neighbors little motorcycle.
Harleys are a special bike to me because when I was a boy a man in my neighborhood owned a Panhead.

I learned interior design and drawing in high school.
Then I learned graphic design in Tokyo after high school. The work of DTP was done after that until now.
Now I am free!

Post script from ZERO CHOPPER SPIRIT
I initially came up with the idea to write this book 15 years ago when I was met with culture shock the first time I traveled to Europe.
The modern and ancient landscapes balanced together in complete harmony were enough to open my eyes to the beauty of my beloved homeland. Lying quietly at the edge of the Far East, Japan's 2000 year long history has seen its civilizations built and rebuilt to blend into its unique present day culture. Its inhabitants have always felt an intimacy with artistic beauty, demonstrated in its craftsmen and artists contending for ultimate expression through technique and sensitivity.

What has happened to my modernized homeland?

Rushing to build its internationally established economy, it seems we have sacrificed much. While politics have strayed, the once proud culture has now been metamorphosed into a mere formality.
Feeling discouraged, I continuously reexamined our 'modern' country and searched for something I could do.
Curiously, this is when I first encountered the ZERO motorcycle. ZERO provided an opportunity to open my eyes to the sensations that had been once forgotten. The idea to write this book came to me in that moment, to share ZERO with those people in the world in which these sensations are still sleeping.

I, who had never even touched a camera up to that point, lost no time in buying a NIKON and a MAMIYA, and traveled to ZERO Engineering's small workshop 250km outside Tokyo.
From there, I scattered around the country to capture the various bikes on film.
Thus I was able to give birth to this book. Aside from the printing, from DTP to publishing, everything was done with my amateur hands, which may account for some of the imperfect facets of this book.
Still, my hope is to convey the sensation I felt when I first encountered ZERO to the people who graciously take the time to read through it.