Fukase almost exclusively photographed his wife, Yoko, for 13 years until their breakup, afterwards obsessively photographing ravens,as symbols of his grief.
Fukase died in 2012,  having been in a coma for 20 years following a near-fatal fall down the stairs of his favorite bar in 1992. Yoko visited him twice a month throughout his long limbo – though, heartbreakingly, he would have been unaware of her presence.