Hiroh Kikai
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
photographer best known within Japan
for three series of monochrome
photographs: scenes of buildings in and close to Tokyo
, portraits of people in the Asakusa
area of Tokyo, and rural and town life in India
. He has pursued each of these for over two decades, and each has led to two or more book-length collections.
Although previously a respected name in Japanese photography, Kikai was not widely known until 2003, when the first edition of his book Persona, a collection of Asakusa portraits, won both the Domon Ken Award
and Annual Award of the PSJ
. In 2009, the ICP
and Steidl
copublished Asakusa Portraits for an international market.
, Yamagata Prefecture
) on 18 March 1945 as the seventh and last child (and fifth son) of the family. He had a happy childhood, from the age of 11 or so preferring to play by himself in the nature that surrounded the village. He graduated from high school in 1963 and worked in Yamagata for a year, and then went to Hosei University
in Tokyo
to study philosophy. As a student he was keen on the cinema — he particularly enjoyed the films of Andrzej Wajda
, who would later contribute essays to some of his books, and Satyajit Ray
— and has said that he would have worked in film production if it did not require writing, a task he has never enjoyed, and money, which he lacked.
Immediately after his graduation in 1968, Kikai worked for two years as a truck driver and for two in a shipyard. Meanwhile he stayed in touch with his philosophy professor from his university days, Sadayoshi Fukuda
, whose interests extended to writing a regular column for the magazine Camera Mainichi
; he introduced Kikai to its editor, Shōji Yamagishi
, who showed him photographs by Diane Arbus
that made a great impact on Kikai. Kikai started to take photographs in 1969. At that time (when somebody fresh out of university could expect to earn ¥40,000 per month), a Hasselblad
SLR
camera normally cost ¥600,000; Kikai heard of an opportunity to buy one for ¥320,000 and mentioned this to Fukuda, who immediately lent him the money, with no interest, and no date or pressure for repayment. (The loan was eventually repaid.) This Hasselblad 500CM, with its 80mm lens, is what Kikai has used for his portraits ever since.
Kikai thought that work on a boat might be photogenic, but, having no experience, could not get a job on one. He was eventually accepted on a boat fishing for tuna
when he displayed the scar from an unneeded appendectomy
as evidence of one risk fewer that his presence might force the boat into port. He worked on the boat in the Pacific from 6 April until 9 November 1972, with a stop in Manzanillo
(Mexico) for provisions. It was during this time that he took his first photographs to be published, in the May 1973 issue of Camera Mainichi
. In 1973 he won a prize for his submission to the 14th exhibition of the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association
. But Kikai decided that in order to be a photographer he needed darkroom
skills, and he returned to Tokyo to work at Doi Technical Photo
(1973–6). He became a freelance photographer in 1984, a year after his first solo exhibition and the same year as his second.
Living close to Asakusa
(Tokyo
), Kikai often went there on his days off, taking photographs of visitors. He stepped up his visits in 1985; a number of collections of his portraits taken there have been published.
Kikai’s other long-term photographic projects are of working and residential neighborhoods in and near Tokyo, and of people and scenes in India
and Turkey
. All these are black and white
. However, his occasional diversions have included color photographs of the Gotō Islands
and even of nudes.
Unusually in Japan, where photographers tend to join or form groups, Kikai has never been in any group, preferring to work by himself. When not setting out to take photographs, Kikai does not carry a camera with him. He leaves photographing his own family to his wife Noriko, and it is she who has the camera if they go on a trip together.
In the early part of his career, Kikai often had to earn money in other ways: after three years’ work in the darkroom, he returned to manual labor.
Kikai taught for some time at Musashino Art University
, but he was disappointed by the students’ lack of sustained effort and therefore quit.
Kikai had started his Asakusa
series of square, monochrome
portraits as early as 1973, but after this there was a hiatus until 1985, when he realized that an ideal backdrop would be the plain red walls of Sensō-ji
. At that time, the great majority of his Asakusa portraits adopted further constraints: the single subject stands directly in front of the camera (originally a Minolta
Autocord TLR
, later the Hasselblad), looking directly at it, and is shown from around the knees upwards. Kikai may wait at the temple for four or five hours, hoping to see somebody he wants to photograph, and three or four days may pass without a single photograph; but he may photograph three people in a single day, and he has photographed over six hundred people in this way. He believes that to have a plain backdrop and a direct confrontation with the subject allows the viewer to see the subject as a whole, and as somebody on whom time is marked, without any distracting or limiting specificity.
Though Kikai started to photograph in Asakusa simply because it was near where he then lived, he has continued because of the nature of the place and its visitors. Once a bustling and fashionable area, Asakusa long ago lost this status. If it were as popular and crowded as it was before the war, Kikai says, he would go somewhere else.
Published in 1987, Ōtachi no shōzō / Ecce Homo was the first collection of these portraits. It is a large-format book with portraits made in Asakusa in 1985–6. Kikai won the 1988 Newcomer’s Award of the Photographic Society of Japan
(PSJ) for this book and the third Ina Nobuo Award
for the accompanying exhibition.
In 1995, a number of portraits from the series were shown together with the works of eleven other photographers in “Tokyo/City of Photos”, one of a pair of opening exhibitions for the purpose-made building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
.
Ya-Chimata, published a year later, has a greater number of portraits printed more cheaply on smaller pages.
Persona (2003) is a further collection of portraits made in Asakusa. A few are from Kikai’s earliest work, but most postdate anything in the earlier books. Several of the subjects appear twice or more often, so the reader sees the effect of time. The book format is unusually large for a photograph collection in Japan, and the plates were printed via quadtone. The book won the 23rd Domon Ken Award
and 2004 Annual Award of the PSJ. A smaller-format edition with additional photographs followed two years later.
Asakusa Portraits (2008) is a large collection edited by the International Center of Photography
(New York), published in conjunction with the ICP’s exhibition of recent Japanese photography and art “Heavy Light”. Kikai’s contribution to this exhibition was well received, and Asakusa Portraits won praise for its photography and also (from Paul Smith
) for the vernacular fashion of those photographed.
Kikai has said that people and scenery are two sides of the same coin. When tired of waiting (or photographing) in Asakusa
, he walks as far as 20 km looking for urban scenes of interest where he can make “portraits of spaces”. A day’s walk might take two or three hours for less than a single roll of 120 film
. He generally photographs between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and avoids photographing when people are outside as their presence would transform the photographs into mere snapshots, easily understood; even without people, they are the images or reflections of life. Kikai may find a scene that he wants to photograph and then wait there and only photograph it when something unexpected occurs in the frame. After development
, he does not bother with contact print
s, instead judging a photograph by the negative alone.
Samples from this series have appeared in various magazines from at least as early as 1976. Each photograph is simply captioned with the approximate address (in Japanese script
) and year.
Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth (1999) presents portraits of unpeopled spaces in Tokyo (and occasionally the adjacent town of Kawasaki
). There are individual shopfronts, rows of shops and residential streets. Most of the buildings are unpretentious. Like the Asakusa series, these portraits are monochrome and square, taken via a standard lens
on 120 film
.
Tōkyō mutan / Labyrinthos (2007) — based on an essay/photograph series that ran in the monthly Sōshi from March 2004 to July 2005 and then in the web series “Tokyo Polka” — presents more of the same. Between a single nude in a shopfront display from 1978 and a very young boy photographed in December 2006 (the latter appearing to share the Sensō-ji
backdrop of Persona), are square monochrome views of Tokyo and Kawasaki, compositions that seem casual and rather disorderly, mostly of unpeopled scenes showing signs of intensive and recent use. The book also has Kikai’s essays from “Tokyo Polka”, essays that dwell on the inhabitants of Tokyo as observed during walks or on the train.
Kikai has said that going to India
feels like a return to the Yamagata
of his youth, and a release from life in Tokyo. His photography there is much less planned or formal than his portraits of people or places in Tokyo: after an early start with color 120 film
, he uses black and white 35mm
film in India — and has laughingly said that he would use 35mm in Tokyo if the city were more interesting and didn’t make him feel unhappy.
India, a large-format book published in 1992, presents photographs taken in India (and to a much lesser extent Bangladesh
) over a period totalling rather more than a year and ranging from 1982 to 1990. It won high praise from the critic Kazuo Nishii
, who commented that the India of Kikai’s work seems perpetually overcast, and that in their ambiguity his photographs seem to benefit from the work done in the Asakusa portrait series. The book won Kikai the 1993 Society of Photography Award
.
Indo ya Gassan (“India and Gassan”, 1999) is a collection of essays about and photographs of India. Gassan is a mountain in central Yamagata close to where Kikai was brought up; in his essays, Kikai muses on India and compares it with the Yamagata of his youth.
Shiawase / Shanti (2001) is a collection of photographs that concentrates on children, most of which were taken in Allahabad
, Benares
, Calcutta
, Puri and Delhi
in 2000. It won the Grand Prix of the second Photo City Sagamihara
Festival.
, where he has stayed for a total of nine months. His monochrome photographs of Turkey appeared in the magazine Asahi Camera
, and his colour photographs on its website, before the publication in January 2011 of his large book Anatolia, a compilation of his monochrome work.
to photograph the twenty-six nations of the European Union
; he spent twenty-one days in Malta
in September 2005 and a short period in Portugal
in October 2004, travelling widely in both countries. In color, these photographs are a departure from his earlier work. Most are more or less candid photographs of people. A collection was published as the eighth in a series of fourteen volumes, In-between.
In 2007 Kikai visited Havana
; a series of color photographs appeared in Asahi Camera
.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
photographer best known within Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for three series of monochrome
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
photographs: scenes of buildings in and close to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, portraits of people in the Asakusa
Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
area of Tokyo, and rural and town life in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He has pursued each of these for over two decades, and each has led to two or more book-length collections.
Although previously a respected name in Japanese photography, Kikai was not widely known until 2003, when the first edition of his book Persona, a collection of Asakusa portraits, won both the Domon Ken Award
Domon Ken Award
The Domon Ken Award is one of Japan's most celebrated photographic awards.The award was started in 1981 by the Mainichi Newspapers to mark the 110th birthday of the Mainichi Shimbun, its daily newspaper and main publication, in honor of the photographer Ken Domon...
and Annual Award of the PSJ
Photographic Society of Japan
Since its inception, the Photographic Society of Japan has annually presented a large number of awards.-1952–1956:-1957–1984:-1985–1993:-1994–2003:-2004–2008:-2009–2010:...
. In 2009, the ICP
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
and Steidl
Steidl
Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany.The company was started by Gerhard Steidl...
copublished Asakusa Portraits for an international market.
Early years
Kikai was born in the village of Daigo (now part of SagaeSagae, Yamagata
is a city in Yamagata prefecture, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 43,233 and the population density of 311 persons per km². The total area is 139.08 km².The city was founded on August 1, 1954....
, Yamagata Prefecture
Yamagata Prefecture
-Fruit:Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.- Demographics :...
) on 18 March 1945 as the seventh and last child (and fifth son) of the family. He had a happy childhood, from the age of 11 or so preferring to play by himself in the nature that surrounded the village. He graduated from high school in 1963 and worked in Yamagata for a year, and then went to Hosei University
Hosei University
is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
to study philosophy. As a student he was keen on the cinema — he particularly enjoyed the films of Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
, who would later contribute essays to some of his books, and Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
— and has said that he would have worked in film production if it did not require writing, a task he has never enjoyed, and money, which he lacked.
Immediately after his graduation in 1968, Kikai worked for two years as a truck driver and for two in a shipyard. Meanwhile he stayed in touch with his philosophy professor from his university days, Sadayoshi Fukuda
Sadayoshi Fukuda
was a Japanese social philosopher and critic.-Biography:Fukuda was the pseudonym of , born on 6 April 1917. He studied philosophy at Hosei University , graduating in 1940. In 1944 he was sent to Halmahera; he returned to Japan in 1946. Two years later he started teaching philosophy at his old...
, whose interests extended to writing a regular column for the magazine Camera Mainichi
Camera Mainichi
is a Japanese monthly magazine of photography that started in June 1954 and ceased publication in April 1985.As in most mass-market photography magazines, much of the editorial content of Camera Mainichi was devoted to news and reviews of cameras, lenses, and other equipment...
; he introduced Kikai to its editor, Shōji Yamagishi
Shoji Yamagishi
was a photography critic, curator, and magazine editor.Yamagishi entered Mainichi Shinbunsha in 1950. He started as a photographer, but was less successful at taking than at selecting photographs....
, who showed him photographs by Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
that made a great impact on Kikai. Kikai started to take photographs in 1969. At that time (when somebody fresh out of university could expect to earn ¥40,000 per month), a Hasselblad
Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium-format cameras and photographic equipment based in Gothenburg, Sweden.The company is best known for the medium-format cameras it has produced since World War II....
SLR
Single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
camera normally cost ¥600,000; Kikai heard of an opportunity to buy one for ¥320,000 and mentioned this to Fukuda, who immediately lent him the money, with no interest, and no date or pressure for repayment. (The loan was eventually repaid.) This Hasselblad 500CM, with its 80mm lens, is what Kikai has used for his portraits ever since.
Photographic career
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
when he displayed the scar from an unneeded appendectomy
Appendicectomy
An appendectomy is the surgical removal of the vermiform appendix. This procedure is normally performed as an emergency procedure, when the patient is suffering from acute appendicitis...
as evidence of one risk fewer that his presence might force the boat into port. He worked on the boat in the Pacific from 6 April until 9 November 1972, with a stop in Manzanillo
Manzanillo, Colima
The name Manzanillo refers to the city as well as its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Pacific during the New Spain period...
(Mexico) for provisions. It was during this time that he took his first photographs to be published, in the May 1973 issue of Camera Mainichi
Camera Mainichi
is a Japanese monthly magazine of photography that started in June 1954 and ceased publication in April 1985.As in most mass-market photography magazines, much of the editorial content of Camera Mainichi was devoted to news and reviews of cameras, lenses, and other equipment...
. In 1973 he won a prize for his submission to the 14th exhibition of the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association
Japan Advertising Photographers' Association
The , within Japan commonly called APA, was founded in 1958. It has held exhibitions since 1959 and publishes an annual survey of the most interesting work....
. But Kikai decided that in order to be a photographer he needed darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
skills, and he returned to Tokyo to work at Doi Technical Photo
Doi (retailer)
was a large Japanese retailer and distributor, best known outside Japan as the company that revived the Plaubel Makina 67 camera in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
(1973–6). He became a freelance photographer in 1984, a year after his first solo exhibition and the same year as his second.
Living close to Asakusa
Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
(Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), Kikai often went there on his days off, taking photographs of visitors. He stepped up his visits in 1985; a number of collections of his portraits taken there have been published.
Kikai’s other long-term photographic projects are of working and residential neighborhoods in and near Tokyo, and of people and scenes in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. All these are black and white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
. However, his occasional diversions have included color photographs of the Gotō Islands
Goto Islands
The are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. The islands are a part of Nagasaki Prefecture.- Geography :There are 140 islands in total, including five main islands:,,,, and....
and even of nudes.
Unusually in Japan, where photographers tend to join or form groups, Kikai has never been in any group, preferring to work by himself. When not setting out to take photographs, Kikai does not carry a camera with him. He leaves photographing his own family to his wife Noriko, and it is she who has the camera if they go on a trip together.
In the early part of his career, Kikai often had to earn money in other ways: after three years’ work in the darkroom, he returned to manual labor.
Kikai taught for some time at Musashino Art University
Musashino Art University
is a university in Kodaira, western Tokyo founded in 1962 and has roots going back to 1929.Teikoku Art School was founded in 1929; in 1948 it became Musashino Art School , and in 1962 it became Musashino Art University...
, but he was disappointed by the students’ lack of sustained effort and therefore quit.
Asakusa portraits
Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
series of square, monochrome
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
portraits as early as 1973, but after this there was a hiatus until 1985, when he realized that an ideal backdrop would be the plain red walls of Sensō-ji
Senso-ji
is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine.- History :The temple is...
. At that time, the great majority of his Asakusa portraits adopted further constraints: the single subject stands directly in front of the camera (originally a Minolta
Minolta
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system...
Autocord TLR
Twin-lens reflex camera
A twin-lens reflex camera is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" , while the other is used for the viewfinder system, which is usually viewed from above at waist level...
, later the Hasselblad), looking directly at it, and is shown from around the knees upwards. Kikai may wait at the temple for four or five hours, hoping to see somebody he wants to photograph, and three or four days may pass without a single photograph; but he may photograph three people in a single day, and he has photographed over six hundred people in this way. He believes that to have a plain backdrop and a direct confrontation with the subject allows the viewer to see the subject as a whole, and as somebody on whom time is marked, without any distracting or limiting specificity.
Though Kikai started to photograph in Asakusa simply because it was near where he then lived, he has continued because of the nature of the place and its visitors. Once a bustling and fashionable area, Asakusa long ago lost this status. If it were as popular and crowded as it was before the war, Kikai says, he would go somewhere else.
Published in 1987, Ōtachi no shōzō / Ecce Homo was the first collection of these portraits. It is a large-format book with portraits made in Asakusa in 1985–6. Kikai won the 1988 Newcomer’s Award of the Photographic Society of Japan
Photographic Society of Japan
Since its inception, the Photographic Society of Japan has annually presented a large number of awards.-1952–1956:-1957–1984:-1985–1993:-1994–2003:-2004–2008:-2009–2010:...
(PSJ) for this book and the third Ina Nobuo Award
Ina Nobuo Award
The is given annually by the Nikon Salon, an organization of exhibition spaces in Japan that is sponsored by Nikon Corporation.The award was started in 1976; it is named in honor of Nobuo Ina, a photography critic who headed the Nikon Salon from 1968 until his death in 1978.The award is given to...
for the accompanying exhibition.
In 1995, a number of portraits from the series were shown together with the works of eleven other photographers in “Tokyo/City of Photos”, one of a pair of opening exhibitions for the purpose-made building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
The is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
.
Ya-Chimata, published a year later, has a greater number of portraits printed more cheaply on smaller pages.
Persona (2003) is a further collection of portraits made in Asakusa. A few are from Kikai’s earliest work, but most postdate anything in the earlier books. Several of the subjects appear twice or more often, so the reader sees the effect of time. The book format is unusually large for a photograph collection in Japan, and the plates were printed via quadtone. The book won the 23rd Domon Ken Award
Domon Ken Award
The Domon Ken Award is one of Japan's most celebrated photographic awards.The award was started in 1981 by the Mainichi Newspapers to mark the 110th birthday of the Mainichi Shimbun, its daily newspaper and main publication, in honor of the photographer Ken Domon...
and 2004 Annual Award of the PSJ. A smaller-format edition with additional photographs followed two years later.
Asakusa Portraits (2008) is a large collection edited by the International Center of Photography
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
(New York), published in conjunction with the ICP’s exhibition of recent Japanese photography and art “Heavy Light”. Kikai’s contribution to this exhibition was well received, and Asakusa Portraits won praise for its photography and also (from Paul Smith
Paul Smith (fashion designer)
Sir Paul Smith jr, RDI, is an English fashion designer, whose business and reputation is founded upon his menswear. He is both commercially successful and highly respected within the fashion industry....
) for the vernacular fashion of those photographed.
Portraits of spaces
Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.- History :...
, he walks as far as 20 km looking for urban scenes of interest where he can make “portraits of spaces”. A day’s walk might take two or three hours for less than a single roll of 120 film
120 film
120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their Brownie No. 2 in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film...
. He generally photographs between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and avoids photographing when people are outside as their presence would transform the photographs into mere snapshots, easily understood; even without people, they are the images or reflections of life. Kikai may find a scene that he wants to photograph and then wait there and only photograph it when something unexpected occurs in the frame. After development
Photographic processing
Photographic processing is the chemical means by which photographic film and paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image...
, he does not bother with contact print
Contact print
A contact print is a photographic image produced from film; sometimes from a film negative, and sometimes from a film positive. The defining characteristic of a contact print is that the photographic result is made by exposing through the film negative or positive, onto a light sensitive material...
s, instead judging a photograph by the negative alone.
Samples from this series have appeared in various magazines from at least as early as 1976. Each photograph is simply captioned with the approximate address (in Japanese script
Japanese writing system
The modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:*Kanji, adopted Chinese characters*Kana, a pair of syllabaries , consisting of:...
) and year.
Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth (1999) presents portraits of unpeopled spaces in Tokyo (and occasionally the adjacent town of Kawasaki
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....
). There are individual shopfronts, rows of shops and residential streets. Most of the buildings are unpretentious. Like the Asakusa series, these portraits are monochrome and square, taken via a standard lens
Normal lens
In photography and cinematography a normal lens, also called a standard lens, is a lens that reproduces perspective that generally looks "natural" to a human observer under normal viewing conditions, as compared with lenses with longer or shorter focal lengths which produce an expanded or...
on 120 film
120 film
120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their Brownie No. 2 in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film...
.
Tōkyō mutan / Labyrinthos (2007) — based on an essay/photograph series that ran in the monthly Sōshi from March 2004 to July 2005 and then in the web series “Tokyo Polka” — presents more of the same. Between a single nude in a shopfront display from 1978 and a very young boy photographed in December 2006 (the latter appearing to share the Sensō-ji
Senso-ji
is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine.- History :The temple is...
backdrop of Persona), are square monochrome views of Tokyo and Kawasaki, compositions that seem casual and rather disorderly, mostly of unpeopled scenes showing signs of intensive and recent use. The book also has Kikai’s essays from “Tokyo Polka”, essays that dwell on the inhabitants of Tokyo as observed during walks or on the train.
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
feels like a return to the Yamagata
Yamagata Prefecture
-Fruit:Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.- Demographics :...
of his youth, and a release from life in Tokyo. His photography there is much less planned or formal than his portraits of people or places in Tokyo: after an early start with color 120 film
120 film
120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their Brownie No. 2 in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film...
, he uses black and white 35mm
135 film
The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
film in India — and has laughingly said that he would use 35mm in Tokyo if the city were more interesting and didn’t make him feel unhappy.
India, a large-format book published in 1992, presents photographs taken in India (and to a much lesser extent Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
) over a period totalling rather more than a year and ranging from 1982 to 1990. It won high praise from the critic Kazuo Nishii
Kazuo Nishii
was a Japanese magazine editor and photography critic.Nishii was born in Tokyo in 1946. He graduated in economics from Keio University in 1968, and shortly after this moved to the company publishing Mainichi Shimbun, rising via stints at Sunday Mainichi and Mainich Graph to become editor in chief...
, who commented that the India of Kikai’s work seems perpetually overcast, and that in their ambiguity his photographs seem to benefit from the work done in the Asakusa portrait series. The book won Kikai the 1993 Society of Photography Award
Society of Photography Award
The Society of Photography Award is an award presented annually since 1989 by the Society of Photography for outstanding work in photography....
.
Indo ya Gassan (“India and Gassan”, 1999) is a collection of essays about and photographs of India. Gassan is a mountain in central Yamagata close to where Kikai was brought up; in his essays, Kikai muses on India and compares it with the Yamagata of his youth.
Shiawase / Shanti (2001) is a collection of photographs that concentrates on children, most of which were taken in Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
, Benares
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Puri and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in 2000. It won the Grand Prix of the second Photo City Sagamihara
Photo City Sagamihara
is a photographic award that has been sponsored annually by the city of Sagamihara since 2001.There are four kinds of awards: the main prize for professionals , prizes for newcomer professionals , one prize for Asian photographers , and various awards for amateurs...
Festival.
Turkey
Wanting to explore somewhere that (in contrast to India) was cold, as well as a Muslim land where Asian and European cultures meet, in 1994 Kikai made the first of six visits to TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where he has stayed for a total of nine months. His monochrome photographs of Turkey appeared in the magazine Asahi Camera
Asahi Camera
is a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....
, and his colour photographs on its website, before the publication in January 2011 of his large book Anatolia, a compilation of his monochrome work.
Photography elsewhere
Kikai was one of thirteen Japanese photographers invited by EU-Japan FestEU-Japan Fest
The is the cultural exchange between the European Union and Japan that is arranged with the help of the , a Japanese organization that since 1992 has worked to create such exchanges between the year's Cultural Capital of Europe and Japan...
to photograph the twenty-six nations of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
; he spent twenty-one days in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
in September 2005 and a short period in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in October 2004, travelling widely in both countries. In color, these photographs are a departure from his earlier work. Most are more or less candid photographs of people. A collection was published as the eighth in a series of fourteen volumes, In-between.
In 2007 Kikai visited Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
; a series of color photographs appeared in Asahi Camera
Asahi Camera
is a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....
.
Exhibitions
Supplementary English titles in parentheses are nonce translations for this article; those outside parentheses and in quotation marks were used at the time.- [A]: Asakusa portraits
- [I]: India
- [S]: Portraits of spaces
- [T]: Turkey
Selected solo exhibitions
- “Nagi: Machinaka no kōkei” . [S] Konishiroku Photo Gallery (ShinjukuShinjuku, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
, TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), August–September 1983. - “Indo kikō” . [I] Doi Photo Plaza ShibuyaDoi (retailer)was a large Japanese retailer and distributor, best known outside Japan as the company that revived the Plaubel Makina 67 camera in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
(ShibuyaShibuya, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, Tokyo), August 1984; Art Plaza (FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuokais the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
), August 1984; Gallery Antomeru (Sendai), September 1984; YamagataYamagata, Yamagatais the capital city of Yamagata Prefecture in Japan.As of July 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 253,951 with 97,457 households and a population density of 665.94 persons per km². The total area is 381.34 km². The city was founded on April 1, 1889.-Culture:The , one of Tōhoku's...
, 1984. - “Ōtachi no shōzō (Sensōji keidai)” . [A] Ginza Nikon SalonNikon Salonis the name given to exhibition spaces and activities run by Nikon in Japan.The Ginza Nikon Salon opened in January 1968 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nippon Kōgaku . This was later augmented by the Shinjuku Nikon Salon and the Osaka Nikon Salon...
(GinzaGinzais a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
, Tokyo), September 1988. - “Dai-13 Ina Nobuo shō jushō sakuhinten: Kikai Hiroo ‘Ōtachi no shōzō (Sensōji keidai)’” . [A] Ginza Nikon SalonNikon Salonis the name given to exhibition spaces and activities run by Nikon in Japan.The Ginza Nikon Salon opened in January 1968 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nippon Kōgaku . This was later augmented by the Shinjuku Nikon Salon and the Osaka Nikon Salon...
(GinzaGinzais a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
, Tokyo); OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
; KyotoKyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
; etc., 1988–89. - The Hitachi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Photography, Center for Creative PhotographyCenter for Creative PhotographyThe Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
, TucsonTucson, ArizonaTucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Arizona. 1989. - “Dai-13-kai Ina Nobuo shō jushō sakuhinten: Kikai Hiroo ‘Kanshō: Machi no katachi’” . [S] Osaka Nikon Salon, February 1990; Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), March 1990; Kyoto; etc., 1990.
- “Ecce Homo”. [A] Robert Koch Gallery (San Francisco), 1993.
- “Indo kikō” . [I] Shōmeidō Gallery (KodairaKodaira, TokyoKodaira redirects here. For the mathematician, see Kunihiko Kodaira. is a city located in the western region of Tokyo, Japan.The city has an estimated population of 180,049 with 82,179 households and a population density of 8,800.05 persons per km² as of July 1, 2011...
), 1998. - “Persona (1)”. [A] Centrum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej “Manggha”MangghaManggha is a division of Poland's main branch of National Museum in Kraków.-History:...
(KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
), 1999. - “Shashin to insatsu hyōgen” . [S] Mitsumura Art Plaza (ŌsakiOsaki, Tokyois a primarily commercial district in the northern part of Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. By today, this district has completed several urban renewal programs around Ōsaki Station of Yamanote Line, which include Ohsaki New City , Gate City Ohsaki , Art Village Osaki , Oval Court Ohsaki , and ThinkPark...
, Tokyo), February–March 2000. - “Persona (2)”. [A] Centrum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej “Manggha” (Kraków), November–December 2002.
- “Persona”. [A] The Third Gallery Aya (Osaka), October 2003.
- “Persona”. [A] Domon Ken Photography MuseumDomon Ken Photography MuseumThe was opened in 1983 in Sakata, Yamagata , the birthplace of the photographer Ken Domon.On the occasion of becoming the first honorary citizen of Sakata in 1974, Domon donated his entire collection of works to the town. This prompted the decision to build a museum in his honour.The museum has...
(SakataSakata, Yamagatais a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.As of 2006, the city has an estimated population of 116,883 and the population density of 193.92 persons per km². The total area is 602.74 km².-History:The city was founded on April 1, 1933...
), September–November 2004. - “Persona”. [A] Ginza Nikon Salon (Tokyo); Osaka, 2004.
- “Persona”. [A] Galeria Fotografii PF, Centrum Kultury “Zamek”Imperial Castle in PoznanThe Imperial Castle in Poznań, popularly called Zamek , is a palace in Poznań, Poland. It was constructed in 1910 by Franz Schwechten for William II, German Emperor, with significant input from William himself...
(PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
), February–March 2005. - “Persona”. [A] Shōmeidō Gallery (Kodaira) January 2005.
- “Perusona” . [A] Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), February–March 2006; Osaka Nikon Salon (Osaka), April 2006.
- “Tōkyō mutan” . [S] Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), September 2007; Osaka Nikon Salon (Osaka), October 2007.
- “Tokyo Labyrinth”. [S] Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York City), September–October 2008.
- “Jinsei gekijō” . [A] Gallery Raku, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto, March 2009.
- “Persona”. [A] Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York City), May–July 2009.
- “Anatoria e no purosesu” . [T] Aoyama Book Center (Omotesandō, Tokyo), January 2011.
- “Tōkyō pōtoreito” / “Tokyo portraits”. [A, S] Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyThe is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
(Ebisu, Tokyo), August–October 2011. - “Anatoria” . [T] M2 (ShinjukuShinjuku, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
, Tokyo), August 2011.
Selected group exhibitions
- “The Hitachi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Photography”. Center for Creative PhotographyCenter for Creative PhotographyThe Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
, University of Arizona, 1988. - “Nyū dokyumentsu 1990” / “New Documents 1990”. Museum of Modern Art, ToyamaMuseum of Modern Art, ToyamaThe is a prefectural museum in Toyama, Toyama.The museum, which opened in 1981, stands within Jōnan Park in central Toyama. It displays a permanent collection and also temporary exhibitions.-External links:* * *...
(ToyamaToyama, Toyamais the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, Japan, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the Chūbu region on central Honshū, about 200 km north of the city of Nagoya and 300 km northwest of Tokyo....
), 1990. - “Shashin toshi Tōkyō” / “Tokyo/City of Photos”. [A] (Other photographers exhibited were Takanobu HayashiTakanobu Hayashiis a Japanese photographer.Hayashi was born in Dalian, China, in 1946, but his family then quickly moved to Japan, first to Beppu and then to Kyoto. He worked in a darkroom for a year after graduating from high school, and in 1965 moved to Tokyo, where he studied at the Tokyo College of Photography...
, Ryūji MiyamotoRyuji Miyamotois a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
, Daidō MoriyamaDaido Moriyamais a Japanese photographer noted for his images depicting the breakdown of traditional values in post-war Japan.- Life and career :Born in Ikeda, Osaka, Daidō Moriyama studied photography under Takeji Iwamiya before moving to Tokyo in 1961 to work as an assistant to Eikoh Hosoe...
, Shigeichi NaganoShigeichi NaganoBorn on 30 March 1925 in Ōita City, Nagano studied economics at Keio University . On graduating, he joined a trading company, but soon resigned. He was recruited by Natori Yōnosuke for Weekly Sun News ; and in 1949 moved to Iwanami Shoten where, again under Natori, he did the photography for about...
, Ikkō NaraharaIkko Naraharais a Japanese photographer. Born in Fukuoka, Narahara studied law at Chuo University and, influenced by statues of Buddha at Nara, art history at the graduate school of Waseda University ....
, Mitsugu ŌnishiMitsugu OnishiMitsugu Ōnishi is a Japanese photographer.Born in Tokyo, Ōnishi graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1974, rejoining a year later as a teacher, and staying there in that capacity until 1994....
, Masato SetoMasato Seto-Biography:Seto was born in Udon Thani, Thailand, to a Japanese father and a Vietnamese Thai mother. He moved to Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in 1961, and studied photography at Tōkyō Shashin Senmon Gakkō , graduating in 1973. After further study under Daidō Moriyama, Seto became an assistant to...
, Issei SudaIssei Sudais a Japanese photographer.Born in Tokyo in 1940, Suda graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1962. From 1967 to 1970 he worked as the cameraman of the theatrical group Tenjo Sajiki, under Shūji Terayama. He has worked as a freelance photographer since 1971. Suda is a professor at Osaka...
, Akihide TamuraAkihide Tamurais a Japanese photographer. He was born in Tokyo on 13 March 1947 as Shigeru Tamura . He studied at Tokyo College of Photography, graduating first in 1967 and then from a more advanced course two years later....
, Tokuko Ushioda, and Hiroshi Yamazaki.) Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyThe is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
, 1995. - “Shashin wa nani o katareru ka” . [I] Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyThe is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
, June; Osaka UmedaUmedaUmeda is the main commercial and central business district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, best known as the city's main northern railway terminus .Umeda is a large traffic hub, as well as the principal office and hotel district...
Canon Salon, July; FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuokais the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
Canon Salon, August; Nagoya Canon Salon, September; Sapporo Canon Salon, October; Sendai Canon Salon, November 1997. - “Berlin–Tokyo”. Neue NationalgalerieNeue NationalgalerieNeue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin...
, Berlin, 2006. - “Tōkyō meiro / Andesu Kuero” / “Tokyo Labyrinth / Andes Qero”. [S] (With Yoshiharu SekinoYoshiharu Sekinois a Japanese explorer, travel writer and photographer, anthropologist, and doctor.Sekino was born in Tokyo. In 1971, while still a student at Hitotsubashi University , he cofounded and participated in a university team that descended the entire length of the Amazon, thereafter travelling around...
, who exhibited photographs taken of the Q’eroQ'eroQ'ero is a Quechua community or ethnic group in the province of Paucartambo, in the Cusco Region of Peru.The Q'ero became more widely known due to the 1955 ethnological expedition of Dr...
.) Shōmeidō Gallery (KodairaKodaira, TokyoKodaira redirects here. For the mathematician, see Kunihiko Kodaira. is a city located in the western region of Tokyo, Japan.The city has an estimated population of 180,049 with 82,179 households and a population density of 8,800.05 persons per km² as of July 1, 2011...
), July 2007. - “Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan”. [A] International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
(New York), May–September 2008. - “Sander’s Children”. [A] Danziger Projects, New York, 2008.
Permanent collections
- Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyThe is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
- Museum of Modern Art, ToyamaMuseum of Modern Art, ToyamaThe is a prefectural museum in Toyama, Toyama.The museum, which opened in 1981, stands within Jōnan Park in central Toyama. It displays a permanent collection and also temporary exhibitions.-External links:* * *...
(Japan) - Domon Ken Photography MuseumDomon Ken Photography MuseumThe was opened in 1983 in Sakata, Yamagata , the birthplace of the photographer Ken Domon.On the occasion of becoming the first honorary citizen of Sakata in 1974, Domon donated his entire collection of works to the town. This prompted the decision to build a museum in his honour.The museum has...
(SakataSakata, Yamagatais a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.As of 2006, the city has an estimated population of 116,883 and the population density of 193.92 persons per km². The total area is 602.74 km².-History:The city was founded on April 1, 1933...
, Yamagata, Japan) - Neue NationalgalerieNeue NationalgalerieNeue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin...
(Berlin) - Center for Creative PhotographyCenter for Creative PhotographyThe Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
(University of ArizonaUniversity of ArizonaThe University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, Tucson) - Hood Museum of ArtHood Museum of ArtThe Hood Museum of Art is a museum in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Dating back to 1772, the museum is owned and operated by Dartmouth College and is connected to the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The current building, designed by Charles Willard Moore and Chad Flloyd, opened in the fall of 1985. It...
(Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, Hanover, New Hampshire) - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Texas)
- Museum of the International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
(New York)
Books by Kikai
- Ōtachi no shōzō: Sensō-ji keidai / Ecce homo: Portraits of kings. Yokohama: Yatate, 1987. Photograph collection, with captions in Japanese and English, and an essay by Sadayoshi FukudaSadayoshi Fukudawas a Japanese social philosopher and critic.-Biography:Fukuda was the pseudonym of , born on 6 April 1917. He studied philosophy at Hosei University , graduating in 1940. In 1944 he was sent to Halmahera; he returned to Japan in 1946. Two years later he started teaching philosophy at his old...
. There are forty-one monochrome plates. - India. Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1992. ISBN 4-622-04385-8. Photograph collection, with text (by Kikai and Munesuke MitaMunesuke Mita-Biography:After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1960, Mita entered that university's graduate school where he completed the coursework for a doctorate....
) in Japanese and English, and captions in English. There are 106 monochrome plates (all “landscape” format). - Ya-Chimata: Ōtachi no kairō . Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1996. ISBN 4-622-04409-9. Photograph collection, with text (by Kikai and ten other writers) in Japanese only. There are 183 monochrome plates.
- Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1999. ISBN 4-09-681241-2. Photograph collection, with text (by Andrzej WajdaAndrzej WajdaAndrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
, Genpei Akasegawa, and Suehiro TanemuraSuehiro Tanemurawas a translator and critic.Tanemura was born in Toshima, Tokyo in 1933. His mother died in 1946. He became interested in German while still a teenager, and entered the University of Tokyo in 1951...
) in Japanese only. There are 108 monochrome plates. - Indo ya Gassan . Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 1999. ISBN 4-560-04928-9. Thirty essays and forty-one photographs; text in Japanese only. The monochrome photographs are a mixture of “landscape” (across two pages) and “portrait” (on single pages).
- Shiawase: Indo daichi no kodomo-tachi / Shanti: Children of India. Tokyo: Fukuinkan, 2001. ISBN 4-8340-1779-6. Photograph collection (all monochrome): thirteen “landscape” photographs across both pages; and ninety-four “portrait”. There are no captions, and the text is in Japanese only.
- Persona. Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2003. ISBN 4-7942-1240-2. Photograph collection, with captions and text (by Andrzej WajdaAndrzej WajdaAndrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
, Suehiro TanemuraSuehiro Tanemurawas a translator and critic.Tanemura was born in Toshima, Tokyo in 1933. His mother died in 1946. He became interested in German while still a teenager, and entered the University of Tokyo in 1951...
, and Kikai) in both Japanese and English. Between an additional plate at the front and back, there are twelve plates in a prefatory section (photographs taken well before the others), and in the body of the book twenty-eight plates four to a page and 138 plates on their own pages. - Perusona / Persona. Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2005. ISBN 4-7942-1450-2. Second, popular edition of the 2003 Persona in a smaller format. There are additional essays and photographs by Kikai; captions in both Japanese and English, other text in Japanese only. The twelve prefatory plates of the first edition and 191 plates of the main series are each presented on a separate page; there are also three more plates of photographs outside the series.
- In-between 8: Kikai Hiroo Porutogaru, Maruta / In-between, 8: Hiroh Kikai, Portugal, Malta. Tokyo: EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee, 2005. ISBN 4-903152-07-3. Photograph collection; captions and text in both Japanese and English. There are twenty-eight colour photographs of Portugal and twenty-seven of Malta.
- Tōkyō mutan / Labyrinthos. Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2007. ISBN 4-7942-1572-X. Collection of 118 monochrome photographs and essays; captions (for each, the approximate address and the year) and essays are in Japanese only.
- Asakusa Portraits. New York: International Center of Photography; Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86521-601-4. Collection of monochrome photographs; captions and texts in English only. With an interview of Kikai by Noriko Fuku, essays by Kikai (translated from Perusona) and an essay on Asakusa by Hiromichi Hosoma .
- Anatoria / Anatolia. Tokyo: Crevis, 2011. ISBN 978-4-904845-10-3. Collection of 140 monochrome photographs (all “landscape” format) of Turkey (not only AnatoliaAnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
). With afterwords by Toshiyuki HorieToshiyuki Horieis a Japanese author and translator.Horie was born in Gifu Prefecture, and studied at Waseda University. He teaches French Literature at Meiji University, where he is a critic and translator of authors including Michel Foucault, Hervé Guibert, Michel Rio, and Jacques Réda.-Prizes:* 1999 Mishima...
and Kikai. - Tōkyō pōtoreito / Tokyo Portraits. Tokyo: Crevis, 2011. ISBN 978-4-904845-14-1. Exhibition catalogue of over 150 monochrome photographs of the “Asakusa portraits” and “portraits of spaces” series. Afterwords (by Shinji Ishii [], Iwao Matsuyama [], and Nobuyuki Okabe []) in Japanese only; captions in Japanese and English.
Other books with contributions by Kikai
- Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan. New York: International Center of Photography; Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86521-623-6. Captions and texts in English only.
- Higashi-Nihon dai-jishin: Shashinka 17-nin no shiten . Special compilation by Asahi CameraAsahi Camerais a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....
. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2011. ISBN 978-4-02-330996-8. A collection of photographs of the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunamiThe 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
. Text in Japanese only. Kikai contributes six pages: SōmaSoma, Fukushimais a coastal city located in Fukushima, Japan, approximately 30 kilometers South of Sendai. Japan National Route 6 runs through Sōma, since 2001 augmented by the Route 6 Sōma Bypass, which runs up to 2 km East of the original route, around the city center....
in early June, and three towns in MiyagiMiyagi Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...
in late August. - In-between: 13-nin no shashinka 25-kakoku / In-between: 13 photographers, 25 nations. Tokyo: EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee, 2005. ISBN 4-903152-13-8. Kikai is one of the thirteen in this supplementary collection of photographs in six themes (“Stones and walls”, “Words”, etc.); captions and text in both Japanese and English.
- Literatura na świecie (Warsaw, ISSN 0324-8305) number 1–3, 2002. This special issue on Japanese literature, Japonia, is illustrated with photographs by Kikai, taken from Ya-Chimata and Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth. Text in Polish.
- Miyako Harumi. Messēji / The Message. Tokyo: Juritsusha, 2006. ISBN 4-901769-41-3. A book of which about half consists of quotations from interviews with the enkaEnkais a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
singer Harumi MiyakoHarumi Miyakois a Japanese singer of enka.Born Harumi Kitamura in Kyoto, she made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: She makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen and has acted in a number of films....
, and the other half of color photographs by Kikai. The photographs are not described or identified; a handful are of Miyako but most are of sea and provincial views. (In many, the scenes are recognizably of the Kumano area just west of KumanogawaKumanogawa, Wakayamawas an enclave town that belongs to Higashimuro District, Wakayama, Japan, but was located on the border between Mie and Nara prefectures.On October 1, 2005 Kumanogawa was merged into the city of Shingū....
, Wakayama.) The text is all in Japanese. - Shashin toshi Tōkyō / Tokyo/City of Photos. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1995. Catalogue of an exhibition held in 1995. Plates 113–29, admirably printed, are from Kikai’s series of Asakusa portraits. Captions and texts in both Japanese and English.
- Ueda Makoto. Shūgō jūtaku monogatari . Tokyo: Misuzu, 2004. ISBN 4-622-07086-3. A book about collective housing in Japan from the DōjunkaiDojunkaiDōjunkai was a corporation set up a year after the 1923 Kantō earthquake to provide reinforced concrete collective housing in the Tokyo area. Its formal name was Zaidan-hōjin Dōjunkai , i.e. the Dōjunkai corporation...
buildings onward, with 165 illustrative color photographs, all by Kikai. (Some monochrome photographs are older and are by other photographers.) The text, by UedaMakoto Ueda (architecture critic)is an editor and architecture critic.After graduating in French literature from Waseda University, Ueda worked as an editor of architectural magazines, notably as chief editor of Toshi Jūtaku.- Books by Ueda :...
, is in Japanese only. Content previously (1997–2001) published in TokyojinTokyojinis a Japanese-language monthly magazine about the history and culture of Tokyo, and culture and leisure in the city. The title is a little-used term, almost a neologism, for somebody from, in or of Tokyo....
.
External links
- Fallis, Greg. “Hiroh Kikai”. Sunday Salon. Utata Tribal Photography.
- Feustel, Marc. “Hiroh Kikai talks about photography”. Lens Culture. 2008. Interview, with 10 sample photographs.
- Feustel, Marc. “Hiroh Kikai: A man in the cosmos”. Eyecurious. 10 February 2010. Interview, with sample photographs.
- “Hiroh Kikai”. Studio Equis. Short biography with a set of images whose display requires Flash Player 8.
- “Hiroh Kikai”. Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York). Photographs from the “Persona” (“Asakusa Portraits”) series.
- In-between 8 (publisher’s page): with two sample photographs.
- Kikai Hiroh. “Yurari-yurayura-ki” . A series of essays, each illustrated with photographs.
- “Kikai Hiroo”, Shashin shika dekinai koto , The Photographer 2007. Fujifilm. Samples of Kikai's work.
- Mirapaul, Evan. “Musings from a Trip to Japan (III) Kikai.” Fugitive Vision, 13 November 2007. Mirapaul comments on the Asakusa portrait series.
- Persona (publisher’s page for the second edition): with twenty-four sample photographs.
- Shanti (publisher’s page): with two sample photographs.
- Tokyo Labyrinth (publisher’s page): with three sample photographs.