Slaughterhouse

Tojo (Slaughterhouse) is a photobook by photographer Seiichi Motohashi (1940–). It is a collection of works that re-examines the relationship between eating and life, capturing the people involved in cattle slaughter and their work over many years. Published by Heibonsha in 2011.

Motohashi visited a slaughterhouse in Matsubara, Osaka, to record the labor carried out by human hands, from the arrival of the cattle to slaughtering, dismantling, and processing the offal. Through the figures of the technicians facing the cattle, the artisans handling the blades, and the people working in the offal processing plant, he captures the rarely seen scene of meat production and the skills and daily lives accumulated there.

This book contains photographs of both the old and new slaughterhouse facilities. By contrasting the work environments changed by facility modernization and rationalization, it highlights how a society is emerging where the life and death of humans and animals are becoming increasingly obscured.

In the concluding essay, Motohashi reflects on his own experience of chicken slaughter in postwar life and his interactions with the people he met at the Matsubara slaughterhouse. Through the images of artisans facing the life of cattle and the casual conversations held away from the workplace, he contemplates the connection between eating and taking the life of another.

This volume, which focuses on food, life, and labor, is by Seiichi Motohashi, who has spent many years documenting the lives and labor of people in coal mines, circuses, train stations, and villages. Signed by the author; comes with an obi strip.

[Title] Tojo (Slaughterhouse)
[Publisher] Heibonsha
[Publication Date] 2011 (First edition, 1st printing: March 25; First edition, 2nd printing: June 14 / Exact printing not verified)
[Page Count] 128 pages
[Dimensions] Approx. 200 * 264 * 18 mm / 786 g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Tojo
[Author/Editor, etc.] Seiichi Motohashi/Photography and Text, Junichi Ishikawa/Publisher, Koji Ise/Book Design, Noboru Takayanagi/Plate Making
[Printing/Binding] Tokyo Inshokan/Printing, Oguchi Seihon Insatsu/Binding
[ISBN] 978-4-582-27783-8
[Condition] Used [8] Excellent to Very Good (Signed by author, obi: slight scratches)
[Accessories] Obi
[Included in] -
[Related Exhibition] -

Seiichi Motohashi (1940–)

Born in Tokyo in 1940. Photographer and film director. Graduated from Jiyu Gakuen in 1963.

In 1968, he received the 5th Taiyo Award for his photobook Tanko (Coal Mine) (Gendai Shokan). In 1980, he published Circus Time (Chikuma Shobo), and in 1983, Ueno Eki no Makuma (Intermission at Ueno Station) (Gendai Shokan). He has spent many years recording the labor and lives of people set in coal mines, circuses, and train stations.

In 1995, he received the Photographic Society of Japan Annual Award and the Shashin no Kai Award for his photobook Mugen Hōyō (Infinite Embrace) (Little More). In 1998, he received the 17th Domon Ken Award for his photobook Nadya no Mura (Nadya's Village) (Heibonsha), and also produced a documentary film of the same name.

In 2002, his documentary film Alexei and the Spring won the Berliner Zeitung Readers' Jury Award and the International Cineclub Award at the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival. It also won the Grand Prix at the 12th St. Petersburg International Film Festival.

Major photobooks include Alexei and the Spring (2002), Baobab no Kioku (Memories of Baobab) (2009), and Tojo (Slaughterhouse) (2011). Directorial film works include Nami to Utaeba (If You Sing, Nami) (2006) and Baobab no Kioku (Memories of Baobab) (2009).

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Seiichi Motohashi
Heibonsha
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