***** 1
Ihee Kimura
1901 - 1974
Born in 1901 in Tokyo. Learns retail photography at the Endo Portrait Studio in Taiwan. Returns to
Japan, and opens a photo studio in 1924. Fascinated by the Leica owned by the captain of the
German Zeppelin dirigible that comes to Japan in 1929. Buys a Leica Model A the following year,
marking a new start in his photography. Hired the same year as a part-timer in the advertising
department of cosmetics company Kao Sekken Nagase Shokai Co., Ltd. Starts publishing a
monthly photo magazine Koga with Yasuzo Nojima, Iwata Nakayama, and Nobuo Ina in 1932.
Establishes Chuo Kobo with Nobuo Ina and Hiromu Hara in 1934. Becomes one of the central
figures in Japanese photojournalism, together with Yonosuke Natori. After the war, continues to be
active in photography as a snapshot virtuoso. Elected chairman of newly formed Japan
Professional Photographers Society in 1950. Takes up the theme of Akita prefecture farming
villages in his photography in 1952. Wins the Minister of Education's Art Encouragement Prize in
1956.
***** 2
Ken Domon
1909 - 1990
Born in 1909 in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture. Moves to Tokyo in 1916. Studies as a live-in
apprentice at Kotaro Miyauchi Photo Studio in Ueno Ikenohata in 1933. Develops doubts about
retail photography and studies on his own with the aim of getting into photojournalism. Joins
Yonosuke Natori's Nippon Kobo in 1935, working mainly on the photo magazine Nippon. Between
1936 and 1938, develops friendships with Yusaku Kamekura, Shigeru Tamura, Shihachi Fujimoto,
and Hiroshi Hamaya. Starting in 1940, spends three years photographing Buddhist statues, from as
far north as Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture to the Usuki Stone Buddhas in Oita
Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu. From 1941 to 1942, photographs the golden age of
ningyo joruri bunraku, Japan's traditional puppet theater. After the war, promotes the photo-realism
movement and pursues projects grappling with societal issues, such as Hiroshima, which deals
with survivors of the atomic bomb, and Chikuho no Kodomotachi, which captures the lives of
poverty-stricken children in the Chikuho coalfields. In later years, receives the Minister of
Education's Art Encouragement Prize, the Kikuchi Kan Prize, and, in 1974, the Medal with Purple
Ribbon.
***** 3
Tadahiko Hayashi
1918 - 1990
Born in 1918 in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Becomes familiar with photography as a small
child due to his family running a retail photo business from his grandfather's generation. After
graduating from Tokuyama Commercial School, goes to work at a photo studio in Osaka run by
Shoichi Nakayama in 1935. Contracts tuberculosis and returns to his hometown for treatment.
Goes to Tokyo in 1937 and enters the Oriental School of Photography. After working for Tokyo
Kogeisha, forms the North China News Photography Association in 1942 and goes to Beijing. After
the war, publishes works featuring lively depictions of Japanese people as they begin the recovery
against a backdrop of the burned out ruins of Tokyo and the black market. Works on photography
for the Bunshi ("Literati") series in 1948. Appointed vice-chairman of Japan Professional
Photographers Society in 1961. Receives Annual Award and Distinguished Contributions Award
from the Photographic Society of Japan, as well as the Mainichi Art Award. Also receives the Medal
with Purple Ribbon in 1983 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1988.
***** 4
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
1921 - present
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Born in 1921 in San Francisco, California. Moves to parents' hometown in Kochi Prefecture, Japan
in 1924. After graduating from an agricultural high school, returns to America in 1939 to study
modern agriculture at the University of California. Interned at Japanese American internment camp
in Colorado after the outbreak of World War II. Studies under Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at
the photography department of Chicago's Institute of Design in 1948. The sense of artistic form
developed here eventually gives birth to a unique form of photographic expression when he returns
to Japan in 1953 and works on photography of the Katsura Imperial Villa and his Someday
Somewhere series, which breathe new life into the world of Japanese photography. Receives the
Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1983. Named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1996.
***** 5
Hiroshi Hamaya
1915 – 1999
Born in 1915 in Tokyo. After graduating from the Kanto Shogyo Gakko ("Kanto Commercial
School") in 1933, works for aerial photography specialist Practical Aeronautical Research Institute
and Oriental Photo Corporation. Becomes freelancer in 1937, contributing to various photo
magazines. Begins covering folk customs and events of Kuwadoridani, Niigata Prefecture in 1940.
After ten years working as a photographer during and after the war, begins his life's work of
studying the relationship between people and their climate through the medium of photographic
expression. Publishes numerous pictorials, including Yukiguni ("Snow Land"), Ura Nihon ("Japan’s
Back Coast"), Henkyo no machi ("The Remoto City"), Hamaya Hiroshi Shashin Shusei ("Hiroshi
Hamaya Pictorial Compilation"), and Gakugei shoka ("Japanese scholars and Artists"). Becomes
first Japanese photographer to contribute to the Magnum Photos cooperative in 1960. Receives the
Photographic Society of Japan's Distinguished Contributions Award, The Japan Art Vrand Prix,
ICP's Master of Photography Award, and Hasselblad Foundation International Award in
Photography.
***** 6
Ikko Narahara
1931 - present
Born in 1931 in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture. Stuns the world of photography in 1956 while still a
graduate student at Waseda University with his solo exhibition Human Land, which features the
industrial island of Hashima Island (known as Gunkanjima, or "Battleship Island") and a village on
Sakurajima Island. Takes part in The Eyes of Ten exhibition in 1957. Holds solo exhibition Okoku
("Domains") in 1958 and wins The Newcomer's Award of the Japan Photo Critics Association.
Forms Vivo with Eikoh Hosoe, Shomei Tomatsu, Kikuji Kawada, and others in 1959. Active
internationally, spending three years in Europe from 1962 to 1965 and five years in America from
1970 to 1975 based out of New York producing beautiful works of pioneering photographic art—
Where Time Has Stopped and Where Time Has Vanished. Receives the Minister of Education's Art
Encouragement Prize and the Mainichi Art Award. Also receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon in
1996.
***** 7
Shomei Tomatsu
1930 - present
Born in 1930 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. After graduating from Aichi University, becomes member
of production staff for the pictorial publication Iwanami Shashin Bunko. Becomes freelancer in 1956.
Arranges Nagasaki photo series into solo exhibition Nagasaki 11:02. Forms Vivo with Ikko
Narahara, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, and others in 1959. Continues to publish a series of
pieces that reveal a profound understanding of his day with regard to social issues such as the
occupation and house. Receives the Mainichi Art Award, the Minister of Education's Art
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Encouragement Prize, and The Japan Art Grand Prix. Receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon in
1995.
***** 8
Kikuji Kawada
1933 - present
Born in 1933 in Ibaraki Prefecture. Graduates from Rikkyo University in 1955 and joins Shinchosha
publishing house. Works on the first issue of weekly magazine Shukan Shincho, handling glamour
and portrait photos. Becomes freelancer in 1959. Forms Vivo with Eikoh Hosoe, Ikko Narahara,
and others in 1959. His Chizu ("Map") series depicting images symbolizing the scars of war
receives acclaim. Receives the Photographic Society of Japan's Annual Award for The Last
Cosmology in 1996 and the Minister of Education's Art Encouragement Prize in 2004.
***** 9
Shigeichi Nagano
1925 - present
Born in 1925 in Oita City, Oita Prefecture. After graduating from Keio University in 1947, joins
Shukan Sun News weekly as an editor. Hired as member of production staff for the pictorial
publication Iwanami Shashin Bunko in 1950. Becomes freelancer in 1955, and receives high
acclaim for Japan's Dream Age and other works. Goes on to work in movies and television
commercials. Takes part in the cinematography of director Kon Ichikawa's Tokyo Olympiad.
Receives Award from Camera Geijutu, Ina Nobuo Award, and The Annual Award from the
photographic Society of Japsn. Also awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1993. Receives the
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1998.
***** 10
Takeyoshi Tanuma
1929 - present
Born in 1929 in Asakusa, Tokyo. Graduates from Tokyo Professional School of Photographic
Industry in 1949, and joins Sun News Photos, working under Ihee Kimura. Involved in founding the
Japan Professional Photographers Society in 1950. Takes portraits of numerous artists and literati
(bunshi) for the Geijutsu Shincho and Shincho magazines as a contract photographer for the
Shinchosha publishing house. Signs a contract with Time-Life of America in 1965. Becomes
freelancer in 1972. Publishes numerous pictorials, such as Musashino, Bunshi ("Literati"), and
Andes Sanka ("Andes Hymn"). Works with UNICEF taking pictures of children throughout the world.
Receives the Mobil Children's Culture Award, Kikuchi Kan Prize, and the Photographic Society of
Japan's Annual Award. Receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1990. Named a Person of
Cultural Merit in 2003.
***** 11
Eikoh Hosoe
1933 - present
Born in 1933 in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture. Studies at Tokyo Junior College of Photography.
Joins Demokrato avant-garde artist group in 1953. Forms Vivo with Shomei Tomatsu, Ikko
Narahara, and others in 1959. His work photographing the body engaged in artistic expression,
such as Man and Woman and Kamaitachi, in which dancer Tatsumi Hijikata is the main subject,
and Barakei (“Ordeal by Roses”), which features author Yukio Mishima, wins international acclaim
as a new form of photographic expression. Receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1998. Named
a Person of Cultural Merit in 2010.
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