Yoshiro Koseki Photobook: Kujukuri Beach – People Living by the Sea / Mokujisha

Yoshiro Koseki's photo book, "Kujukurihama," is a representative work that captures the lives of people rooted in Chiba's Kujukuri for half a century. Born and raised there in 1935, Koseki began photographing in the 1950s, meticulously documenting the daily life, local customs, and festivals. This work was published in 1972 and received the Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award the following year.

The photographs depict the unique fishing scenes of Kujukurihama, which lacks a harbor. They vividly capture "funagada" (men who go out to sea) and "oppeshi" (women who push boats from the shore and support them), working vigorously amidst the rough waves. The images of bodies, naked or half-naked, challenging the waves, and the women shouting against the cold wind, convey the raw reality of life intertwined with arduous labor.

What emerges is not merely an ethnographic record but fundamental questions such as "What is work?", "What is family?", and "What is life?". It simultaneously highlights Japan's original landscape, which was being lost amidst the surge of rapid economic growth, and the resilience of human beings.

Another major appeal of this book is the rich tonal expression achieved through gravure printing of the time, which vividly conveys the texture of powerful bodies and rough seas.

It is an important document that captures the memory and physicality of Japan from a perspective deeply connected to the Kujukuri region, and it remains a powerful work that transcends time.

● 1973 Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award winning work

[Title] Kujukurihama: People Living by the Sea
[Publisher] Mokujisha
[Publication Date] 1972
[Number of Pages] 160 pages
[Size] Approx. 222*320*32mm / 1,333g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Kujukurihama Umi ni Ikiru Hitobito
[Author/Editor, etc.] Yoshiro Koseki/Author, Sotaro Sato/Production Supervision, Harue Yahagi/Calligraphy
[Printing] Nippon Shashin Insatsu/Gravure Printing, Domi Insatsu/Text Printing, Nakamura Seihon/Binding
[ISBN] -
[Condition] Used 【5】Good (Case faded/slightly damaged, slight stains on top edge)
[Accessories] Case, 1 photo catalog
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibitions] -

Yoshiro Koseki (1935-)

Born in 1935 in Sakae Village, Sōsa District, Chiba Prefecture (now Sōsa City).

Grew up in Kujukurihama. After graduating from junior high school, he worked at a bicycle shop while self-studying photography and winning numerous contests. In 1962, he won the annual award for "Oppeshi Warming Themselves," published in "Camera Mainichi," marking the beginning of his professional photography career.

In 1967, he opened a photo shop in Yokoshiba Town and has since continuously documented life and customs in Chiba. He pursued the people living by fishing in Kujukurihama, meticulously capturing the forms of labor symbolized by "funagada" (men going out to fish) and "oppeshi" (women pushing boats and unloading cargo). His 1972 photo book "Kujukurihama" earned him the Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award the following year.

Since then, he has published "Narita International Airport" (1982), "Kujukuri Ujo" (1993), "Record of JNR Steam Locomotive Sheds" (2007), and "Whale Dissection" (2011). In 2004, a new edition of "Kujukurihama" was published. In 2017, he received the Kazue Hidanoyaward (Domestic Artist Award) from the Higashikawa Award.

His work, rooted in his hometown and continuously documenting people's lives, is highly regarded as an important document that conveys Japanese cultural life.

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