Born 1960 in Saitama. Started his career after studying photography under Seiryu Inoue while still enrolled at Osaka University of Arts. While having numerous devoted fans, he doesn’t present new works very often, as his extremely persistent approach is reflected in every single print that he finishes in up to one month of highly concentrated work. Charged with astonishing density and intensity, his works have been awarded a New Photographer Prize at the Higashikawa International Photo Festival in 1993. Photo books include deja-vu #11: Inose Kou (’93) and Inose Kou Visions of Japan (‘98). Solo exhibitions include the “Inose Kou Photo Exhibition” at Space Kobo & Tomo in 2001. He also participated in the group exhibition “Lonely Planet” at Art Tower Mito in 2004, and is presently one of those artists whose exhibitions are most anticipated.

Born 1936 in Tokyo. After learning photographic techniques at Nihon University College of Art, joined the photography department at Bungeishunju Ltd. He left the company in ’65 to work as a freelance photographer and cameraman for magazines, advertisements and TV commercials. His series of photos shot in New York between 1967 and ’68 has been named “New York Is” by his close friend, photographer Robert Frank. While adopting a documentary style, Ogawa portrays the streets of New York from a personal, subjective point of view, in a somewhat stylish fashion that explicitly suggests his unique aesthetic. After returning to Japan, Camera Mainichi magazine dedicated the first 41 pages of their September ’68 issue to the photographer who went on to win a Newcomer Award from the Japan Photo Critics Association in the same year. Collections of Ogawa’s works are being kept at George Eastman House (USA), Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Kawasaki City Museum and Nihon University among others. He died of emphysema in 2008.

Born 1920 in California, USA. Worked in advertising photography at Light Publicity Co., Ltd. after studying under photographer Shoji Ueda, and has been operating in a broad range of fields since establishing Kijima Studio in 1956. His activities revolving around nude photography in postwar Japan took place mainly outdoors and in a guerilla style, resulting in such controversial series as Sakuradamon, photographed right in front of Sakurada gate (1958). Composed in an “art photography” style of nudes placed in environments like objects, his works sparked controversy with an emphasis on political aspects in the social environment at the time. Even before that, he had produced a number of critical works with clear political messages, such as 8.6 Pica-don Hiroshima (1945) and Kuroi ame ga futta (“black rain fell”) (’46). He won numerous prizes including an Annual Award from the Photographic Society of Japan, and an Order of the Sacred Treasure. Photo books include The Orchid (1975) and Yoshitsune Senbonzakura – Keys to the Japanese Mind (‘81). He died of septic poisoning in 2011.

Born 1941 in Tokyo. After graduating from the Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University, he joined Light Publicity Co., Ltd for one year, before going to the USA to study under Richard Avedon. He subsequently published Chumon no ooi shashinkan (The photo studio of many orders), Talking Faces, and a string of other ambitious works that up to that point were unthinkable in Japanese portrait photography. Sakata has been shooting portraits for the covers of Aera magazine since its launch in 1988, and as a result of his relentless work, the number of people he portrayed so far amount to more than 1,000. In 2004, the exhibition ”Piercing The Sky” at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography attracted much attention. Sakata received a Domon Ken Award and a Photographer Award from The Photographic Society of Japan in 2005. In 2013, the “Enoshima” series focusing on “portraits without people” was shown at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, and caused quite a stir as a groundbreaking new venture.

Born 1940 in Tokyo. Began to publish his works in photography magazines and elsewhere while still enrolled at the Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University. After working for Nippon Design Center, he became a freelance photographer in 1966. While working mainly as a fashion photographer, he has been publishing his works in numerous magazines such as Camera Mainichi. He produced a large number of masterful works including Alice, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and Nadia, containing photos of an Italian fashion model (both 1973), and has since been continuously operating in the front lines of his field. Photo books include Nadia: Forest Sprite, Alice (both 1973), Taste of Honey ('90), 60's and 60's 2 (2001), and kinky ('09) and Nadia('16).

Born 1949 in Tokyo. Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a BA and MFA, and received a fellowship from the Belgian Ministry of Education to study photography at the Royal Academy in Gent, Belgium, in 1975. Commenced his activities as a photographer around 1980. His photographs shot with a large-format camera are precisely composed and charged with a sense of tension, whereas the formative beauty built from artificial and organic elements is illustrated in picturesque ways. Dynamically capturing mysterious sceneries of artificial objects in natural environments, Shibata employs his uniquely formative sense to depict landscapes that keep changing with the development of civilization, and thereby reflect social and political aspects. His works have been shown at numerous solo exhibitions in Japan and abroad, including ”Toshio Shibata” at The Art Institute of Chicago, “Landscape” at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and “Given Forms – Tatsuno Toeko / Shibata Toshio” at The National Art Center, Tokyo. He received the 17th Kimura Ihei Award in ’92, and in 2009, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Photographic Society of Japan, and the 25th Higashikawa Award. Photo books include Landscape (1996), Dam (2004), A View and For Grey (both 2009) and Concrete Abstraction(2015).

Born 1940 in Tokyo. Graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1962. Was hired as house photographer for Shuji Terayama’s experimental theater troupe Tenjo Sajiki in ’67, before commencing his work as a freelance photographer in ‘71. A Newcomer's Award from the Photographic Society of Japan for Fushi Kaden catapulted him into the limelight in 1976. He further received the Photographic Society of Japan’s Annual Award for the exhibition of the “Monogusa Syui” series in 1983, followed in ’85 by the 1st Domestic Photography Award at Higashikawa for “Nichijo no danpen”. In 1997, his book Human Memory received several awards including the Domon Ken Prize. In 2013, his large-scale retrospective exhibition “Nagi no hira – fragments of calm” was shown at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. His works capturing moments between reality and non-reality have lately earned a high reputation also outside Japan. Main photo collections include Fushi Kaden (’78), Waga Tokyo 100 (’79), Akai hana – scarlet bloom (2000), Fushi Kaden (definitive edition, 2012), Anonymous Men and Women (’13) and Rei (’15)

Born 1953 in Thailand. After graduating from the Tokyo School of Photography (now Tokyo Visual Arts), he became Masahisa Fukase’s assistant, and in 1981 went independent as a freelance photographer. In ’87, Seto and Michio Yamauchi opened the gallery PLACE M in Shinjuku. Received the 21st Kimura Ihei Award for Silent Mode (’95) and Living Room, Tokyo (’96), and the Shincho Gakugei Award for his autobiographical essay Tooi to Masato (’99). Other photo collections include Bangkok, Hanoi 1982 -1987 (’90), and binran (‘08), a series of photographs of Taiwanese women selling betel nuts in glass cases with electric spectaculars by the roadside, for which he received the Photographic Society of Japan’s Annual Award. In addition to being a photographer, his wide-ranging work in the field of photography includes functioning as a judge at the Kimura Ihei Award.

Born 1937 in Tokushima. Graduated from the Tokyo Professional School of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) in 1958. Joined Adcenter as a photographer when the agency was first established, and went freelance in 1969. He has since been active in a wide range of areas such as advertising, magazines and publishing. In 1965, Camera Mainichi ran his Shitadashi tenshi (Angels with Tongues Sticking Out) series as a 56-page photo story. Composed by Makoto Wada, and with poems by Shuji Terayama and explanatory notes by Shinichi Kusamori, it was a bold editorial that received a great response, and came to be known as a “phenomenon in the history of postwar photography” still today. Photo books include Girl (1970), Private, Actress Mariko Kaga (’71), Momoe Yamaguchi’s autobiography Aoi Toki (Blue Time) (’80), My America (’82), Kazoku no shozo (Portrait of the Family) (’90), and Arifureta Keshiki / Paysages ordinaires (’07).

Born 1938 in Tokyo. An encounter with the remains of a self-mummified monk while photo shooting at Mount Yudono deepened his interest in Shugendo, and in 1966 he eventually joined the Haguro mountain priets’ ascetic practices. While acquiring his own unique style as a photographer, he began to engage in studies focusing on folk beliefs of the Tohoku region. Published books include Ba-Ba-Bakuhatsu (1979), Dewa Sanzan and Shugen (’82; winner of the 2nd Domon Ken Award), Tono monogatari (Legends of Tono) (’83), and Tokyo: 1970-1985 (Hallucinating on the Darkness of the City) (’85; Photographic Society of Japan Annual Award). He attracted attention with his unique style pointing his camera’s flash into the darkness, the results of which have been published in Japan and abroad. Naito also published numerous books reflecting his diverse perspectives and unconventional ideas as a folklorist on such contrasts as “Tohoku and Edo/Tokyo,” “natural and urban environments,” and “science and religion,” including Miira shinko no kenkyu (Study of the Mummy Faith) (’74), Shugendo no seishin uchu (The spiritual cosmos Of Shugendo) (’91), Tono monogatari no genfukei (’94), and Nihon no miira shinko (’99).

Born 1967 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. Graduated from Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Photography and Imaging Arts, and became Nobuyoshi Araki's disciple in ’91. Following her first solo exhibition “Clock Without Hand” in ’93, she participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions mainly in Tokyo but also at locations across Asia and Europe and received high acclaim. After winning a New Figure Encouragement Prize at Photo City Sagamihara 2013, she is currently one of the most watched photographers. Photo books include “Hadaka no jikan (Naked Time)” (1997), “Kuroneko (Black Cat)” (’02), “Yakan Hikou (Night Flight)”, “Kuroyami (Black Darkness)” (both ’08), “Nude / A Room / Flowers” (’12), “Tamano” (’14), “Gun” and “Another Black Darkness” (both ’16), “Ango” and “Ai Ni Tsuite (About Love)” (both ’17) etc.

Born 1938 in Osaka. After working as an assistant for photographers Takeji Iwamiya and Eikoh Hosoe, he went independent in 1964. He has been publishing his works in photography magazines among others, and received a New Artist Award from the Japan Photo Critics Association for Japan: A Photo Theater in 1967. Between 1968 and ’70 he was involved in the photo fanzine Provoke, and his style of grainy, high-contrast images that came to be referred to as “are, bure, boke” (grainy, blurry, out-of-focus) made an impact on the realm of photography. Solo shows at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris solidified Moriyama’s worldwide reputation, and in 2012, he became the first Japanese to be awarded in the category of Lifetime Achievement at the 28th Annual Infinity Awards hosted by the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. The “William Klein + Daido Moriyama” exhibition together with William Klein at London’s Tate Modern in 2012-13 was a showdown of two immensely popular photographers that took the world by storm.

Born 1933 in Yamagata. Entered the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) in 1952. Developed his own artistic concept while deepening exchange with Ei-Q, leader of the Democratic Artists Association dismissing the existing art system. The solo exhibition ”An American Girl in Tokyo” was held in 1956. In ’59, he established the self-managed photo agency VIVO with the likes of Kikuji Kawada, Shomei Tomatsu and Ikko Narahara, and became a driving force of Japanese photography with his personal creative work. In 1960, he won the Japan Photo Critics Association Newcomer's Award for Man and Woman, and continued to produce a number of outstanding works including his depiction of the aesthetic world of Yukio Mishima in Barakei (Ordeal by Roses), and Kamaitachi, containing photos of Butoh dancer Tatsumi Hijikata shot in rural Akita. In addition to his works as a photographer, Hosoe has been contributing to the popularization and development of photography, and received several awards including the Arts Encouragement Prize from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture in 1970; the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1998; and in 2008, the Mainichi Art Award. His most well-known books are Barakei (‘63), Kamaitachi (‘69), Eikoh Hosoe (’86) and Simon: A Private Landscape (’12).

Masayuki Yoshinaga
Born 1964 in Osaka. Became a photographer after having worked in the nightclub, street-stall and transportation businesses. He continues to shoot people belonging to minority groups such as biker and other gangs, kogal, foreigners, etc., while at once also contributing to the education of younger generations by hosting the photo workshop “resist”. In 2002, he instantly received attention when his photo book Bosozoku was published by the UK-based Trolley Books, after which he went on to participate in numerous group exhibitions outside Japan. He also took part in the exhibition “GOTH: Reality of the Departed World” at Yokohama Museum of Art in 2007. Photo books include Nippon Takaine (Nippon Expensive!) (1999), Moshiwake Gozaimasen (For These Naked Apologies) (2000), Gothic and Lolita (’07), the semi-autobiographical Hetare (’05) about his life in Osaka’s Juso district, and I’m Sorry (’13).

Born 1939 in Tokyo. Started writing poems as a student of Japanese Literature at Keio University, from where he developed in various directions while continuously creating groundbreaking works at the frontline of contemporary poetry, and staging performances incorporating poetry recitals at locations around the globe. Since the 1980s, he has been producing photographs and copper plate engravings on a full scale, which have been exhibited at solo shows in Japan and abroad. Published collections of poems include Ogon shihen (Anthology of Golden Age Poetry) (’70), A thousand steps (’79), Osiris, The God of Stone (’84), Rasenka (’90), At the Entrance to the House of Fireworks (’01), and Gorogoro (’04), as well as the video DVD gozoCinè (’09). He received the Mainichi Art Award for omote-gami in 2009, and in 2013, the Order of the Rising Sun. Designated as Person of Cultural Merits, and honorary citizen of Fussa City.

Born 1946 in Hiroshima. Caused a stir with infrared photographs of couples and voyeurs gathering in parks at night, published as a series in Weekly Shincho in 1972. He started working as a house photographer for a British news agency in ’74, and eventually went freelance in ’78, working mainly for magazines such as Focus and Shashin Gendai. His solo exhibition “Kōen (Park)” was held at Komai Gallery in 1979. In 2007, the exhibition “The Park” at New York’s Yossi Milo Gallery, featuring new prints of photos contained in the book Dokyumento: Kōen (Document: Park), kicked off a string of further solo shows around the world. Collections of his works are being kept at numerous museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo books include Dokyumento: Kōen (1980), Sekigai Kosen (Infrared Light) (’92), and The Park (2007).

Born 1928 in New York. His career as a fashion photographer began in 1955, followed in 1956 by the publication of New York. Breaking taboos in photography, he introduced a new style of audaciously blurry and out-of-focus pictures that went on to influence numerous photographers up to the present day. After New York, the series continued with Roma (‘59), Moscow (’64), and Tokyo (’64). In addition to working as a photographer, he also produced the fashion-related movie Qui etes-vous Polly Maggoo? A solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1995 established his reputation, which he had mainly earned in Europe, also back home in America. In Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography showed the “Paris+Klein” exhibition in 2004, and in 2005, the “William Klein Retrospective” exhibition was held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The exhibition “William Klein + Daido Moriyama” with Daido Moriyama at London’s Tate Modern in 2012-13 created a buzz not only in the realm of photography, but in the fashion and film worlds alike.

Born 1941 in France. Started taking photographs while working as a model, and eventually embarked on her career as a photographer in 1970. Her activities range from editorials for fashion magazines and advertisements for fashion brands to the creation of commercials and videos. She won a Grand Prix (Lion d'Or) for her films for Cacharel at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival (now Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity) in 1979, and in ’84, the Premio Grafico at the Bologna Children's Book Fair for her interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood. In 1995, she showcased her work in a retrospective exhibition at the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris, and received the Paris Photo Prize. Exhibitions in Japan include shows at Kahitsukan – Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art in 2002 and 2004. She was awarded the Premio Nadar for Sarah Moon 12345, published in 2008. Her dream-like photographs have been fascinating hordes of fanatical fans around the world. She is one photographer whose exhibition in Tokyo is long overdue.