Asahi Camera July Special Issue: Viewing the City

Toshi o Miru (Viewing the City), a special issue published in 1983 as a supplement to Asahi Camera.

This single volume compiles works and critiques by photographers who represent the history of Japanese photography, all centered on the theme of "the city." It begins with William Klein's New York and unfolds into images of Tokyo by Daido Moriyama, Shomei Tomatsu, Yutaka Takanashi, Nobuyoshi Araki, Issei Suda, Seiji Kurata, Masahisa Fukase, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, and Kichijiro Kuwabara.

In the early 1980s, Japanese urban photography was reaching a period of maturity. This book densely captures the passion, loneliness, and unease pervading the city, such as the underground culture of the 1960s and 70s, rapid economic growth, consumer society, street culture, Shinjuku, Shibuya, the Yamanote Line, chimneys, and entertainment districts.

One of its charms is its structure, which allows readers to see each photographer's representative series compiled together, including Daido Moriyama's "Farewell Photography," Seiji Kurata's "Flash Up," Issei Suda's "Landscape with a Chimney," and Yasuhiro Ishimoto's "Yamanote Line - 29."

Furthermore, this book is not merely a photography anthology; it is a highly significant work as a treatise on urban culture in the 1980s. It addresses the questions "What is the city?" and "How does photography view the city?" by traversing photography, criticism, literature, theater, music, and theories of manners and customs.

It also includes essays by Toshiharu Ito, Akira Hasegawa, Iwao Matsuyama, Midori Nakano, Kyoji Asakura, Satoshi Kamata, and Juro Kara. The very atmosphere of Tokyo culture at the time is encapsulated within its pages.

Featured Photographers:
William Klein, Yutaka Takanashi, Shin Yanagisawa, Masatoshi Naito, Haruo Tomiyama, Shomei Tomatsu, Toshihiro Asakura, Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Seiji Kurata, Issei Suda, Masahisa Fukase, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kichijiro Kuwabara

Featured Critiques/Texts:
Ryuichi Kaneko, Naoki Yanagimoto, Akira Hasegawa, Akio Nakanishi, Toshiharu Ito, Masato Inagawa, Juro Kara, Satoshi Kamata, Kyoji Asakura, Ritsu Tagawa, Midori Nakano, Iwao Matsuyama

Cover photography by Shinya Fujiwara, layout by Akiko Izutsu and Kazuo Oishi.

This book is not only a historical document of photography but also a volume that allows one to experience the intensity of the concept of "the city" in 1980s Japan.

[Title] Asahi Camera July Supplement: Toshi o Miru
[Publisher] Asahi Shimbun
[Publication Date] 1983
[Page Count] 322 pages
[Dimensions] Approx. 180 x 258 x 15mm / 744g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Asahi Kamera Shichigatsu Zokan Toshi o Miru
[Author/Editor, etc.] Hiroshi Tani / Editor-in-Chief, Akiko Izutsu and Kazuo Oishi / Layout, Shinya Fujiwara / Cover Photography
[Printing] -
[ISBN] -
[Condition] Used [6] Good to Fair (Main body: rubbing on edges, stamp on top edge, slight stains on top fore-edge)
[Accessories] None
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibitions] -

Hiroshi Tani -

Photography editor. Active primarily in the editorial department of Asahi Camera, he served as editor-in-chief for about a year and a half.

< Related Figures >

William Klein, Yutaka Takanashi, Shin Yanagisawa, Masatoshi Naito, Haruo Tomiyama, Shomei Tomatsu, Toshihiro Asakura, Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Seiji Kurata, Issei Suda, Masahisa Fukase, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kichijiro Kuwabara, Ryuichi Kaneko, Naoki Yanagimoto, Akira Hasegawa, Akio Nakanishi, Toshiharu Ito, Masato Inagawa, Juro Kara, Satoshi Kamata, Kyoji Asakura, Ritsu Tagawa, Midori Nakano, Iwao Matsuyama