Tokyo, Fall of 1945 [Tokyo Senkyuhakuyonjugo-nen aki]
Ihei Kimura (Photographer) [Identified in Maggs B Tokyo, Japan: Bunka-Sha, Inc., 1946. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Unpaginated (approximately 70 pages). Format is approximately 10.25 inches by 7.25 inches. Black and White Illustrations. Cover has wear and soiling. Most of the text is in Japanese, but there is some English language narrative and photo captions. This is a photoessay on the immediate post-surrender situation in Tokyo and the initial recovery signs. During the war Kimura worked as photographic editor of magazine 'Front' which quickly renamed itself 'Company of Culture (Bunka-sha)' after the surrender. The present was it's first publication. The 'forward' is rich in metaphor: "The cause of the disease was deeper than expected and had laid hidden within the body for a long time. It was clear to anyone that this necessitated a big surgical operation. And then in the summer of 1945, a surgical operation of great proportion was effected in the presence of many witnesses... Tokyo today is still convalescent. She is still far from being called a metropolis, but has taken her first unsteady step after having undergone treatments such as continuous injections and blood tranfusions. The scars of her surgical operation is still fresh...". Black markets, GIs & Jeeps, queues, returning soldiers, cereals being grown at Nihonbashi, and scars everywhere... this is a superb document from beginning to end. Ihei Kimura (12 December 1901 – 31 May 1974) was one of the most celebrated Japanese photographers of the twentieth century, particularly known for his portrayal of Tokyo and Akita Prefecture. Born on 12 December 1901 in Shitaya-ku (now Tait -ku), Tokyo, Kimura started taking photographs when very young but his interest intensified when he was around 20 and living in Tainan, Taiwan, where he was working for a sugar wholesaler. He opened a photographic studio in Nippori, Tokyo in 1924. In 1930, he joined the advertising section of the soap and cosmetics company Ka , concentrating on informal photographs made with his Leica camera. In 1933, he joined Y nosuke Natori and others in forming the group Nippon K b ("Japan workshop"), which emphasized "realism" in photography using 35mm cameras; but this rapidly broke up and Kimura formed an alternative group, Ch K b ("central workshop") with Nobuo Ina and others. During the war, Kimura worked in Manchuria and for the publisher T h -sha. In 1950, Kimura was elected chairman of the newly formed Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS); together with Ken Domon he did much to encourage a documentary spirit in amateur photography. In the mid-fifties, Kimura made several trips to Europe, providing photographs for the camera magazines. His work was included by Edward Steichen in the world-touring 1955 MoMA exhibition The Family of Man. Pari, a collection of his color photographs of Paris, would only be published in 1974, but the use of color was ahead of its time. On his return to Japan, Kimura concentrated on photographing rural life in Akita. He also worked on portraits, particularly of writers. Kimura died at his home in Nippori on 31 May 1974; the Kimura Ihei Award for new photographers was promptly set up in his honor. His work was exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles festival in 2004. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Japan, Military Occupation, Tokyo, Yotsya-mitsuke, Ningyo-cho, Meiji-Seimei, Imperial Palace, MacArthur's Headquarters, Ginza, Kyobashi, Sukiya-bashi, Pictorial Works, Photoessay, Tea Ceremony, Asakusa Kwannon, Ueno Railway Station, Hibiya, Baseball
[Book #73283]
Price: $325.00