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2012, Sep 10
Japan’s most radical photographer is 90 years old

This is a trailer for a documentary about the photographer Kikujiro Fukushima, who has a long history of politically-involved photography in Japan’s post-war period. Here is a rough translation of the text in the YouTube description:

Rebellious post-war photographer, Kikuji Fukushima, 90 years old. His career started in 1966, shooting photographs in Hiroshima, and he continued to point his lens towards the upheaval of the post-war period: the atomic bomb aftermath, Sanrizuka, Anpo Protests, Todai Protests, etc. His goal is to communicate the truth through his photographs. He once infiltrated and photographed Japan’s Self-Defense Forces; after the publication of these photos, he was beaten by thugs and his house was set on fire. Still, he continued to photograph. He estimates that he has taken around 250,000 photographs up until now. “The entirety of Japan is basically a lie,” he says. He refuses to accept a government pension, and lives together with his dog. In the middle of this quiet existence, he naturally continues to raise questions about modern Japan. Just at the time he was beginning to relate his “last testament” towards Japanese people (in the form of this documentary), the Tohoku Earthquake broke out. After the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Kikujiro Fukushima decided to make his last trip to demand the truth…

Here are some of Fukushima’s quotes from the trailer:

“For a photographer, it doesn’t matter if you are against the law” (0:10)

“I want to stir up what’s kept hidden.” (0:38)

“It’s our job to photograph, so, uh, sorry!” (1:26, my favorite)

It should not come as a surprise that the older generation is the leading the way with politically-concerned photographs in the wake of the 3/11 disaster. There are many reasons that the younger generation has avoided making this kind of work, and I can’t begin to tackle them seriously here. (I can’t say I know all the reasons, in any case…) Still, we can now pose the question that I can’t get out of my head: why is it that, after producing a generation of radical photographers in the 1960s, contemporary Japanese photographers have almost completely lost any sense of political responsibility in their work???

Tags (2)

3/11 Earthquake, Kikujiro Fukushima

Do you think this is a uniquely Japanese issue? How many politically radical contemporary photographers are there in the US or Europe?

Posted by Paul / September 11, 2012 at 8:39 pm:

generally speaking one could say that using a camera/lens or even found photographic objects can be divided in the mode of (political, social etc. etc.) inquiry or in making art.
At this moment in time the latter -trying to be an artist- seems to prevail, thanks to the artification of photography by the commercial art-world. 
But there always are outsiders of course.

Posted by Dan / September 11, 2012 at 11:47 pm:

Marc, that’s a good question, especially since you know I’m skeptical of calling anything “uniquely Japanese.” The short answer, I guess, is that it’s probably not, but I can’t say with total certainty what is or isn’t happening in the West. It does seem like no other country has quite the history of politically committed photography that Japan does, though, in terms of the sheer quantity if nothing else. (I could be wrong about this.) But what’s particularly interesting about these photographs to me is that they were not just radical as political statements, but also as photographs! In this sense they straddle the abyss that Paul describes–they are an inquiry, and art.

It’s possible that the protest photography in Japan was just a matter of catching lightning in a bottle, because perhaps what we now see as aesthetic genius was created inadvertently by some lucky amateurs. Certainly these photographers weren’t thinking about the white cube when they were out in the streets, and the context for photography is much different now. Still, I’m hoping for the photographers who want to hover over that abyss. They must be out there!

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