Hot spring cure resort

Tōjiba (Hot Spring Cures) by Norio Osaki. Based on the series "Burari Tōjiba-gyō" (Wandering Through Hot Spring Cures) serialized in Asahi Graph from June 1978 to March 1979, this book documents, through text and photographs, the landscapes and lives of people at various hot spring cures from Hokkaido to Kagoshima. It was published by Asahi Shimbun Company in 1979.

The book covers hot spring cures across Japan, including Futamata Radium Onsen, Osorezan Onsen, Goshogake Onsen, the Nyuto Onsenkyo (Magoroku Onsen, Kuroyu Onsen, Tsurunoyu Onsen), Doroyu Onsen, Ginzan Onsen, Ubayu Onsen, Tokusa Onsen, Kita Onsen, Hoshi Onsen, Tochiomata Onsen, Otari Onsen, Kuronagi Onsen, Kabe-yu Onsen, Manganji Onsen, and others. It captures people staying for extended periods for therapeutic purposes, cooking for themselves while visiting the baths, as well as inns, public baths, and the surrounding hamlets.

In his afterword, Osaki connects the "nostalgia" he feels for hot spring cures with the fading memory of villages. He also notes that, during his取材, he witnessed many hot spring cures rapidly transforming into tourist hot spring resorts. This book preserves the image of hot spring cures in the late 1970s, a period of such change.

Photographs by Matao Ogata, Shinichi Owada, Akihiko Okada, Eizo Toshikage, Kazunari Higuchi, and Shoko Hashimoto. Book design by Fumio Shibaike and Takayoshi Nakasone. More than just a photobook, it can be read as a record tracing the hot spring cure culture that remained in various parts of Japan and the lives of the people who spent time there.

[Title] 湯治場 (Tōjiba)
[Publisher] Asahi Shimbun Company
[Publication Date] September 20, 1979 (First Edition)
[Page Count] 121 pages
[Dimensions] Approx. 210 x 230mm / 586g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] トウジバ (Tōjiba)
[Author/Editor] Norio Osaki / Author, Matao Ogata, Shinichi Owada, Akihiko Okada, Eizo Toshikage, Kazunari Higuchi, Shoko Hashimoto / Photography, Fumio Shibaike, Takayoshi Nakasone / Book Design
[Printing/Binding] Toppan Printing / Printing
[ISBN] 0026254682
[Condition] Used [5] Good (Slight scuffing/scratches on cover, slight sunning/stains on edges)
[Accessories] -
[Featured In] -
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Norio Osaki (Osaki, Norio)

A writer who authored works on travelogues, fishing, and local life. He traveled extensively, documenting people and their local lives through his work.

In the 1970s, he published works such as Watashibune (Ferry Boats) with photographs by Kazuo Kitai and Hisashi Wada, and this book, Tōjiba. He continued to produce works on travel, local areas, and people's lives, including Burari Tsuri-gyō (Wandering Fishing Trips) and Nobura Shūyū-gyō (Cruising Through Wild Herds).

< Related Figures >

Shoko Hashimoto
Matao Ogata
Shinichi Owada
Akihiko Okada
Eizo Toshikage
Kazunari Higuchi
Asahi Shimbun Company
Asahi Graph