TOKYO

Before/Af ter

The Japan Foundation

Foreword

T he Japan Foundation is a specialized public agency, which was established in 1972 with
the goal of promoting international understanding through cultural exchange. The
foundation organizes a variety of projects in three primary areas of activity: arts and cultural
exchange, Japanese-language education abroad, and Japanese studies and intellectual exchange.
In the field of visual arts, part of our arts and cultural exchange program, we strive to introduce
art through reciprocal exchanges between Japan and other countries by organizing exhibitions
and projects to promote the activities of Japanese and foreign artists, and other art specialists.

As part of these activities, we have regularly organized traveling exhibitions, which tour foreign
countries. These events are made up of works from the foundation’s own collection and deal
with a diverse range of subjects including crafts, painting, photography, architecture, and
design. Some 20 exhibitions are constantly underway and are held at over 100 museums and
cultural facilities every year.

The traveling exhibition “TOKYO Before/After” features a selection of approximately 80

works, in which works by photographers who had captured images of Tokyo in the 1930–40s
are presented in juxtaposition with those taken after 2010.
The 1930–40s prior to World War II had been times in which the current framework of
Tokyo had began to take form, and photographers had effectively utilized highly developing
means of photographic expression to establish vibrant images of urban space where tradition
and modernity contended with one another.
On the other hand, Tokyo since the 2010s, while taking it upon itself to confront and
address the fluidizing social circumstances after the Great East Japan Earthquake, is further
undergoing a significant transformation towards the 2020 Olympic Games. Photographers are
also trying to emphasize their individual perspectives while incorporating the alternating and
ever-changing means of photographic expression brought about through rapid digitization.
Through comparing photographs for these two distinct periods, the past, present, and
future image of Tokyo comes to clearly emerge and reveal itself.

While interest in Tokyo continues to grow throughout the world in anticipation of the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, we hope that the works of the Japanese photographers in this
exhibition, through their specific imagery, will serve to encourage a deeper understanding of
Tokyo as a vast city of many different faces.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Kotaro
Iizawa who served as the exhibitions curator, as well as the photographers and to all those who
provided their generous support, assistance, and contribution in realizing this exhibition.

The Japan Foundation

TOKYO Before /Af ter
I t goes without saying that Tokyo is the de facto
capital of Japan, ser ving as the center of the
nation’s politics, economics and culture. The Tokyo
Metropolitan Area (Greater Tokyo Area) that includes
the Tokyo Metropolis, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa
prefectures is home to a population exceeding 30
million, and is recognized as one of the world’s largest
megalopolises. Nevertheless, if faced with the question,
“what kind of city is Tokyo?” all would no doubt be at
a loss for an answer. Tokyo appears to extend infinitely
with no distinct center or outline. Ueno, Shinjuku,
Shibuya, Ikebukuro, as well as Yokohama, Kawasaki,
Chiba, and Omiya that are located in their peripheries
are themselves equipped with both the scale and
functions of an independent city, and are moreover
connected to one another without the existence of any
clear boundaries between them.
Tokyo is not only discursive in terms of its space
but also in regards to time and history, and can indeed
be described as a city lacking in coherency. The city
of Edo that served as the headquarters of the reign of
the Tokugawa shogunate had come to change its name
to Tokyo as a result of the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Although Japan to some extent had begun to pursue
its path towards a modern state through political
and economic reforms implemented since the Meiji
era, remnants of the Edo period still continued to
persist within the city of Tokyo. Thereafter the streets
and cityscape of Tokyo would change dramatically
in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923,
followed by the air raids of the Pacific War between
1940 and 1945, and later the real estate investment
and developments during Japan’s postwar period of
high economic growth. Such changes however were
not brought about through means of strict urban
planning, yet so to speak, had occurred spontaneously.
As testimony to this, Tokyo even to this day presents
itself as a complex and chaotic intermingling of the
past, present and future.
Kotaro Iizawa
(photography critic, exhibition curator)
Tokyo is like a living thing in the way that it
constantly grows, sheds its skin, and transforms. In his
novel Sanshiro (1908), author Soseki Natsume writes
about Tokyo as it experienced rapid infrastructure
developments in becoming a modern city, stating that,
“Everything seemed to be undergoing destruction.
It seemed like everything was being built at the same
time.” Soseki’s sentiment towards Tokyo is also
relevant in today’s context in which the simultaneous
progression of destruction and construction seems to
be further accelerating. It is indeed extremely difficult
to fathom and depict the entirety of this expansive
chaos that seemingly nullifies all form of implication
and meaning. That being said, photography as a
medium that harbors both objectivity and subjectivity
could perhaps be considered a powerful tool in
capturing and understanding this city.
By the 1850s to 1860s, foreign photographers
living in Yokohama, as well as Japanese photographers
who had acquired their skills from them began to
photograph and record the transformations of Edo
to Tokyo. Ever since, Tokyo became an extremely
attractive subject for Japanese photographers, with
a profoundly rich body of photographs from various
different angles being formulated over a long course of
time. Through revisiting such “Tokyo photographs,”
one hopes to once again shed light upon Tokyo and
reveal its very nature as a city of many faces. For
that purpose this exhibition comprises two sections,
introducing the works of photographers who had
captured Tokyo in the 1930s and 1940s in contrast to
those from the 2010s and later.
The first section introduces photographs that
were featured in the photography magazine Koga, the
photobook NIPPON which had been organized by
Nippon Kobo led by Yonosuke Natori and published
by The Society for International Cultural Relations,
and a series of snapshots of downtown Tokyo taken
by Kineo Kuwabara who had been an amateur
photographer at the time.
Koga was first published in May of 1932 by a group
of photographers comprising Yasuzo Nojima, Iwata
Nakayama, and Ihei Kimura. Nobuo Ina joined the
magazine from its second installment, and a total of
18 issues were released up until December 1933.
Koga was a magazine that played a leading role in
transforming the styles of photographers working
at the time from that of “Geijutsu Shashin” (Fine
Art Photography ) with its picturesque qualities,
to the “Shinko Shashin” (New Photography) that
conveyed aspects of modernism. Asides from this
aforementioned group, other figures such a Koujiro
Iida, Hyoue Sakuma, and Masao Horino had presented
photographs that permeated with experimental spirit,
capturing Tokyo as it gradually transformed into a
“modern city” of iron, concrete, and glass in the wake
of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Nippon Kobo was founded in 1933 with Yonosuke
Natori as its central member. In 1934 the magazine
NIPPON was launched as a guide to introduce
Japanese culture overseas, in it attempting to put
into practice the philosophies and techniques of
photojournalism that Natori had acquired in Germany.
Published in 1938, the photobook NIPPON with its
unique design spanning over a total of 70 back-to-
front foldout pages, comprised of a photomontage
of images capturing the culture, nature, commerce
and industry, as well as the daily lives of people living
throughout of Japan. In addition to Natori, the Ihei
Kumura, Ken Domon, Shihachi Fujimoto amongst
others had taken the photographs featured, while
Nippon Kobo member Goro Kumada had been
responsible for the design. In the section of the book
that features photographs of Tokyo, traditional culture
and modern life appear to merge dynamically, creating
a remarkably striking visual effect.
Kineo Kuwabara had started photographing
the downtown areas of Tokyo’s Ueno and Asakusa
neighborhoods near his home from around 1931.
By 1934 he had acquired the Leica Type-C camera
that he had long yearned for, after which the scope
of his photography had widely expanded. Kuwabara’s
snapshots that had all the while focused on his
individual gaze, captured the social circumstances of
the times in which notions of militarism had gradually
began to deepen on the contrar y to the nation’s
superficial air of prosperity. This coalescence of light
and darkness could indeed be described as the very
archetype of Tokyo as it exists in the current.
The second section of the exhibition introduces
the works of Nobuyoshi Araki, Daido Moriyama, Mika
Ninagawa, Shintaro Sato, Shinya Arimoto, Natsumi
Hayashi, Motoyuki Daifu, and Kenta Cobayashi.
Although significantly different in both age and style,
each photographer has produced works with Tokyo as
their subject at large.
Nobuyoshi Araki is perhaps now recognized as
one of the most internationally renowned Japanese
photographers. His photographs that bring notions
of Eros to their forefront have been exhibited
throughout the world; with the number of photo
books published so far approaching over 500
volumes. On the other hand, Araki has also responded
sensitively to the presence of death (Thanatos) that
lies inherent within the city of Tokyo where he was
born and raised. The “Tombeau Tokyo” series (2016)
that is featured in this exhibition is precisely related
to this genealogy, presenting the idea of likening
Tokyo to a “graveyard” of sorts.
Along with Araki, Daido Moriyama has been a
leading figure in the context of Japanese photographic
expression since the 1960s. Moriyama has constantly
devoted himself to the style of taking photographs
through his entire body as a receptor while wandering
through city streets. This technique appears to reach
the height of sophistication in his 2015 photobook
Dog and Mesh Tights, which captures Tokyo as a
collection of textures as conveyed through various
things. This exhibition attempts to present an
installation comprising all the images featured in Dog
and Mesh Tights, which are reassembled in the manner
of a wallpaper pattern.
Mika Ninagawa is a photographer who represents
the generation that succeeds the likes of Araki and
Moriyama. Among the female photographers who
had at once emerged in the 1990's, Ninagawa’s
popularity is by far the most outstanding. She has
continued to produce a diverse array of works ranging
from commercial photographs to self-portraits,
and featured on this occasion is the series “Tokyo
Innocence” (2013) that places the spotlight on the
myriad of bizarre individuals who live within the
Tokyo metropolis. Through citing “Otaku” imagery
such as anime characters, Ninagawa captures the
various models that drift back and forth along the
boundaries between man and woman, artifice and
nature, fiction and reality in photographs reminiscent
of a tableau vivant.
Shintaro Sato and Shinya Arimoto, who are more
or less of the same generation, have each engaged in
producing works that approach the theme of Tokyo
from a unique angle. Sato’s work “Risen in the
East” (2011) is a series that follows the construction
process of Tokyo Skytree, a radio tower completed
in 2012 that stands in Tokyo’s Sumida ward. The
emergence of Skytree that at the time had been the
world's tallest tower rising at a height of 634 meters,
had significantly changed the view of downtown Tokyo
where traces of Japan’s traditional landscape had
remained. Through effectively utilizing the technique
of panoramic photography that serves to seamlessly
connect the screen in a horizontal manner, Sato
attempts to reorganize the memories of the city of
Tokyo with Skytree as a starting point.
Shinya Arimoto started publishing his “ariphoto”
series in the gallery that he has owned since 2006.
The series comprises snapshots and portraits taken
around the Kabukicho neighborhood in Shinjuku,
which known for its reputation as a dangerous and
seedy entertainment district. Such works were
brought together in the 2016 photobook TOKYO
CIRCULATION, which received high acclaim. The
intense presence of the people on the streets has been
captured in the form of monochrome prints that
harbor a rich and profound sense of depth.
Since January 1st 2011, Natsumi Hayashi began
posting works entitled “Today’s Levitation” in a diary-
like format on her own website. The series captures
images of Hayashi jumping in various locations, giving
the impression as if floating still in midair. “Today’s
Levitation” had not only gained interest within Japan
but also overseas, resulting in the publication of a
photobook in 2012. Through the accumulation of a
physically strenuous act that at times entails jumping
100 to 200 times in order to achieve the perfect pose,
our familiar view of Tokyo comes to emerge with a
refreshing sense of radiance that can only be described
as a miracle.
Motoyuki Daifu and Kenta Cobayashi belong to
a much younger generation of photographers. Daifu
came to receive interest for his work “Project Family”
(2013) that captured the everyday lives of his family
members from graphically up-close. In his “Still Life”
series (2014) presented in this exhibition, Daifu from
above photographs colorfully kitsch food products and
tools scattered across tabletops, almost as if scanning
the very surface of these objects. Such works can
indeed be considered as a microcosm of the chaotic
views overlooking Tokyo.
For Kenta Cobayashi who was born in 1992,
the real world is perhaps not that which embodies a
firmly established structure, but is instead something
that appears to be built up through a collection of
superficial and alterable images. The various images
processed in Photoshop or reedited as video works
are themselves fragments of Tokyo that have been
captured by means of Cobayashi’s tactile sensitivity,
through it vividly indicating the emergence of a new
generation of “photographers” who are freely able to
utilize digital tools from the very offset.
The works of photographers from the 1930s
to 1940s vibrantly disclose images of Tokyo in the
days when the basic framework of the city as we
know it was established. Photographers had utilized
the expressive abilities of photography in hopes
to convey the image of a lively urban space where
tradition and modernity are seemingly in conflict
with one another. On the other hand, Tokyo, while
concerning itself with the social conditions that
have become more and more lucrative since 2010,
is currently undergoing a major transformation in
anticipation of the 2020 Olympics. Photographers
are also attempting to strongly emphasize their unique
perspectives while simultaneously incorporating
changes in photographic expression as brought on
by rapid digitization. One hopes that comparing
these “Tokyo Photographs” from two respective time
periods will enable images of past, current and future
to distinctly emerge.
Koga (Light Pictures) Yasuzo Nojima, Woman, 1932 Ihei Kimura, Picture-story show, 1932
Koujiro Iida, Billboard Landscape, 1932
Ni ppon ( Japan) 1938
K i neo Ku w a ba r a Yurakucho, Kojimachi-Ku, 1936 Rokku, Asakusa Park, 1937
Nob u yo s h i Ara k i Tombeau Tokyo, 2016/2017
Daido Moriyama “Dog and Mesh Tights” Silkscreen, 2018
Mika Ninagawa TOKYO INNOCENCE, 2013 TOKYO INNOCENCE, 2015
Shintaro Sato “Risen in the East”, Asakusa, Taito Ward, April 10, 2011
Shinya Arimoto TOKYO CIRCULATION, 2016
Natsumi Hayashi Today’s Levitation 02/21/2011, 2011
Motoyuki Daifu Still Life, 2014 Still Life, 2016
Kenta C obayashi Untitled, #smudge #video, 2016 Moray, #smudge, 2016
Biographie
Be fore
Koga ( Light Pictures )
Koga was a monthly photography magazine first published
in May of 1932, financed by photographer Yasuzo Nojima
as a coterie with Iwata Nakayama and Ihei Kimura. The
art critic Nobuo Ina who published the essay “Return
to Photography” as manifesto of “Shinko Shashin” (New
Photography) in the magazine’s inaugural issue had joined
from its second installment. Although initially published by
Jyurakusha, the magazine changed its publisher to Kogasha
from issue 1 of volume 2 (January 1933), releasing a total of
18 issues up until December 1933 with issue 12 of volume
2 as its last. Asides from its founding members, other figures
had presented photographs in the magazine including the
likes of photographers Masao Horino, Koujiro Iida, Hyoe
Sakuma from Tokyo, and Kanbei Hanaya, Juzo Matsubara,
and Nakaji Yasui from the Kansai (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto) region.
Also featuring the essays of Soetsu Yanagi, Nyozekan
Hasegawa, and Takaho Itagaki, even by today’s standards,
the magazine had conveyed an excellent sense of quality. It is
indeed without doubt that a source of inspiration for these
photographers had been the environment of modern cities
including Tokyo that was gradually on a path of great change
in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Nippon ( Japan )
NIPPON is a foldout style photobook organized by
Nippon Kobo led by Yonosuke Natori, and published by
Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai (KBS, The Society for International
Cultural Relations ) that was the predecessor of the Japan
Foundation. Spanning a total of 70 back-to-front foldout
pages, it comprised of a photomontage of images capturing
the traditional culture, nature, sports, army and navy,
commerce and industry, and environments of modern cities
across Japan. In addition to the works of Yonosuke Natori,
Ken Domon, and Shihachi Fujimoto of Nippon Kobo,
photographs taken by Ihei Kumura, Yoshio Watanabe, and
Masao Horino in the collection of the KBS were featured in
the publication, while Nippon Kobo member Goro Kumada
had been responsible for the design. From the fact that
the book had featured captions in four different languages
of English, French, German (with Chinese printed on a separate
sheet), it is clearly evident that its purpose had been to widely
communicate Japan’s image overseas. The photographs of
Tokyo had amongst been used in the most important part
of the book, through them emphasizing a harmony between
the traditional and the modern.
Kineo Kuwabara
Born in Tokyo in 1913, Kineo Kuwabara graduated from
the Tokyo Shiritsu Daini Junior High School (current Ueno
High School) in 1931. In 1948 he became editor-in-chief
of Camera, and since had also been involved in the editing
of magazines including Sankei Camera , Camera Geijutsu ,
Kikan Shashin Eizou. Kuwabara held his first solo exhibition
“Tokyo 1930-40: The Lost City” (Nikon Salon, Ginza) in 1973,
followed by the publication of his photobook Tokyo Showa
juichinen in 1974, for which he came to gain recognition
and acclaim as a photographer. Thereafter he has published
numerous photobooks such as Manshu Showa jugonen
( Shobunsha, 1975 ) , Yume no machi ( Shobunsha, 1977 ) , Tokyo
chojitsu (Asahi Sonorama, 1978), Tokyo 1934-1993 (Shinchosha,
1995), also taking part in “Love You Tokyo” (Setagaya Art
Museum, 1993), a two-man exhibition with Nobuyoshi Araki,
as well as holding the solo exhibition “Kineo Kuwabara
Photograph Exhibition: Tokyo Modern” (Tokyo Station Gallery,
1995). Solo exhibitions of his works and publications of his
photobooks still continue today, even after his passing in
2007.
After
Nobuyoshi Araki
Born in Tokyo in 1940, Nobuyoshi Araki graduated with a
degree in Photography and Printing Technology from Chiba
University in 1963 before working at the Japanese advertising
company Dentsu. In 1964, he received the 1st Taiyo Prize
for “Satchin”, and in 1971 released his self-published photo-
diary Sentimental Journey. Since leaving his position at Dentsu
in 1972, Araki has developed a unique sense of expression that
convey both extremes of life and death within the context of his
subjects that range from nudes and flowers, food, skyscapes, to
his beloved cat. The city of Tokyo where he was born and raised,
is among them one of the most significant themes that permeate
his work. Even since 2010 and now into his 70s, Araki still
remains actively enthusiastic in his creative practice, holding a
succession of large-scale exhibitions including, “Nobuyoshi Araki
Photobook Exhibition: Ararchy” (IZU PHOTO MUSEUM, 2012),
¯
“O jō Shashū: Photography for the Afterlife –Faces, Syscapes,
Roads” (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, 2014), “Araki” (Musée
National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris, 2016), and “Photo-Crazy A”
(Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. 2017). Araki has released over 500
different publications and photobooks, understandably an
unprecedented number for any photographer.
Daido Moriyama
Born in Osaka in 1938, Daido Moriyama left his studies at
the Osaka Furitsu Daini Kogei High School in 1955. He
transferred from graphic design to photography, and started
his career as a freelance photographer in 1964 after studying
and serving as an assistant under Takeji Iwamiya and Eikoh
Hosoe. In 1967 he received the New Artist Award from
the Japan Photo-Critics Association for his series of work
“Nippon gekijo shashincho” featured in Camera Mainichi
magazine. From 1968 to 1969, Moriyama had joined the
group magazine PROVOKE along with its founders Takuma
Nakahira and Koji Taki, presenting a succession of ambitious
works and coming to be recognized as a standard-bearer of a
new generation of photographic expression. In recent years
Moriyama continues to receive high international acclaim,
with large-scale exhibitions of his works held in Japan and
overseas including shows at the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art (1999, traveled to The Metropolitan Museum and others), the
National Museum of Art, Osaka (2011), the two-person show
with William Klein at the Tate Modern (London, 2012–13),
the Foundation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris, 2016).
In 2012, Moriyama received the Infinity Award for Lifetime
Achievement from the International Center of Photography
(ICP).
Mika Ninagawa
Born in Tokyo in 1972, Mika Ninagawa made her debut
as a photographer upon receipt of the Grand Prize at
the 7th Photography Hitotsubo-ten and the Excellence
Award at the 13th Canon New Cosmos of Photography in
1996, while a student at the Graphic Design Department
at Tama Art University. Ninagawa gained popularity in
particular from the younger generation for her energetic
works characterized by their vivid use of primary colors,
and in 2001 received the 26th Kimura Ihei Photography
Award for her photobook Pink Rose Suite (Editions Treville)
and Sugar and Spice (Kawade Shobo Shinsha). In recent years
she has held numerous large-scale exhibitions including,
“Mika Ninagawa: Earthly Flowers, Heavenly Colors” (Tokyo
Opera City Art Gallery, traveled to other venues, 2008–2010), “Mika
Ninagawa: Self-image” (Hara Museum of Contemporar y Art,
Tokyo, 2015), and “Mika Ninagawa: The days were beautiful”
(Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2017). Also holding
solo shows in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, France, and the
UK, Ninagawa continues to strengthen her presence as a
photographer across the globe. She has also directed the
fims Sakuran (2007) and Helter Skelter (2012).
Shintaro Sato
Born in 1969, Shintaro Sato graduated from the Tokyo
College of Photography in 1992. Sato joined the Kyodo
News in 1995 after graduating from the First Department
of Literature at Waseda University, and since 2002
has worked as a freelance photographer. Receiving the
Photographic Society of Japan’s New Artist Award in
2009 and the Tadahiko Hayashi Award in 2012, Sato has
received high acclaim for his series of works that present a
unique perspective in interpreting and understanding city
landscapes through their respective histories and memories.
He has published photobooks including, Tokyo Twilight Zone
(Seigensha, 2008), Risen in the East (Seigensha, 2011), Night Lights
(Seigensha, 2014), and has held solo exhibitions in numerous
venues such as Photo Gallery International (PGI, Tokyo).
Shinya Arimoto
Born in Osaka in 1971, Shinya Arimoto graduated from the
Visual Arts College Osaka in 1994. In 1998 he received the
35th Taiyo Award for his series “Portrait of Tibet.” In 2000
he moved to Tokyo, and served as a lecturer at Visual Arts
College Tokyo while administering the Lotus Root Gallery
(2006–2008) and Totem Pole Photo Gallery (2008–) in Yotsuya,
Tokyo. Since 2006 he began presenting his “ariphoto”
series comprising snapshots and portraits he had taken in
Shinjuku, also commencing to publish photobooks under
the same title. In 2012 Arimoto took part in the group
exhibition, “Photography Today 4” (The National Museum
of Modern Art, Tokyo), and in 2016 held his solo exhibition
“Tibet/Grassland-Tokyo/Streets” (Irie Taikichi Memorial Museum
of Photography Nara City), thus continuing to actively engage in
his practice. In 2016 he published his photobook TOKYO
CIRCULATION (Zen Foto Gallery), and was awarded the 26th
Tadahiko Hayashi Award, and the Photographic Society of
Japan’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Natsumi Hayashi
Born in the Saitama Prefecture in 1982, Natsumi Hayashi
graduated from the College of Arts at Saint Paul’s University
in 2005, and studied child psychology at the university’s
graduate school. In 2009 she began working as an assistant
for Hisaji Hara, and in 2011 started her “Today’s Levitation”
series on her blog comprising photographs that capture
moments of her jumping. In 2012 she published her
photobook Today’s Levitation (Seigensha), and held a solo
exhibition of the series at MEM (Tokyo). In 2013 she held
a solo exhibition at Spiral Garden Aoyama, and took part
in “Every Stroller Can Change the World: Contemporary
Japanese Photography vol.12” (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum).
In 2014 she participated in the “JAPON” exhibition at
the Centre d’art contemporain de Meymac in France, and
received the Newcomer Professionals Award from Photo City
Sagamihara. In September of the same year she moved from
Tokyo to the Oita Prefecture where she currently continues
to live and work. Since 2013 she has also worked as the
photographer unit “Hisaji Hara and Natsumi Hayashi.”
Motoyuki Daifu
Born in Tokyo in 1985, Motoyuki Daifu graduated from
the Visual Arts College Tokyo in 2007. Ever since he has
presented works that directly capture the daily life of his
family through the lens, with solo exhibitions such as
“Family” (Nikon Salon bis, 2008), “Project Family” (Tsutaya
Daikanyama, 2013), “My Family is a Pubis, so I cover it in
Pretty Panties” (Little Big Man Gallery, Los Angeles, 2014), “Still
Life” ( MISAKO & ROSEN, 2014), “Peaceful Day’ ( Guardian
Garden, 2016). His photobooks include, Lovesody (Litte Big Man
Books, 2012), Project Family (Dashwood Books, 2013), and Still Life
(Newfave, 2016). Daifu currently lives and works in Tokyo.
© mika ninagawa / Courtesy of TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY (p. 18, 26-27)
Kenta Cobayashi
Born in the Kanagawa Prefecture in 1992, Kenta Cobayashi
graduated from Tokyo Zokei University in 2015. In
addition to photographic works that make use of digital
tools, Cobayashi draws attention for his diverse activities
that range from a project for exhibiting a giant life-sized
ZINE made in collaboration with artists and creators from
his same generation, to live performances, and installations
that appropriate VR. His main solo exhibitions include,
“#photo” (G/P gallery, 2016) and “Insectautomobilogy” (G/P
gallery, 2017), as well as participating group exhibitions in the
US, the Netherlands, Italy and China. In 2016, he released
his photobook Everything_1 (Newfave).
TOKYO
Before /Af ter
Published on the occasion of worldwide traveling exhibition,
TOKYO Before/After, which is organized by the Japan Foundation.
Curated by: Kotaro Iizawa
Book Design by: Satoshi Machiguchi
Assistant Book Design by: Minori Asada
(MATCH and Company Co., Ltd.)
Edited by: Yukihiro Ohira (The Japan Foundation)
Translations by: Kei Benger
Printed by: TOSHO Printing Co., Ltd.
Published by: The Japan Foundation
Copyright © 2018 The Japan Foundation
Photo Credits
© Nobuyoshi Araki / Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery (p. 1, 22-23)
© Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation (p. 8, 24-25)
© Motoyuki Daifu / Courtesy of MISAKO & ROSEN (p. 21, 42-43)
© SATO Shintaro, Courtesy of PGI (p. 28, 32-33)
© Shinya Arimoto (p. 31, 34-35)
© Natsumi Hayashi (p. 36-38)
© Kenta Cobayashi / Courtesy of GP Gallery (p. 41, 44-45)