Title: Japan 日本
Authors: Tina Bagué, Toru Morimoto
Texts: Carlos Rubio, Tina Bagué, Toru Morimoto
Size: 33,4x23,4 cm
Pages: 240
Binding: Japanese binding with hardcover
First edition: 500 copies
Languages: Catalan, English, Spanish and Japanese
Japan 日本 holds 181 photographs by the authors, Tina Bagué (Barcelona, 1974) and Toru Morimoto (Akashi, Japan, 1972), in color and black and white respectively. The book has two covers: the readers can read from both sides. The book also includes text in four languages by Carlos Rubio, translator of classical Japanese literature and winner of the Japanese Government’s culture award in 2010.
THE JAPAN PHOTO PROJECT
The Japan Photo Project is a photographic reportage that demonstrates perspectives of a Japanese native photographer and a western photographer on the modern Japanese society. The authors traveled 42,000km in Japan during 12 months thanks to the cooperation of sponsor, and took 60,000 images.
MORE INTERESTING INFORMATIONS
The photographers show the identity of Japan through their perspectives, leaving aside far from them the classical images of geisha and Mount Fuji that foreign media often insist. The authors captured through their cameras the real spirit of Japan, and showed that the most stereotypical images are just a part of the character of the country.
Only 10% of the population lives in Tokyo. The photographers decided to look for the rest, 90% of Japanese people as well. They believed that they also had to see rural places of Japan to understand Japan deeply. They traveled all prefectures, visiting remote villages and islands that are rarely documented as Japan by foreigners. Documenting the daily life of these places in Japan, they could see environmental and cultural diversity that exists within Japan and among the Japanese people.
In this photography book, they show that Japanese culture and values still exist in today’s modern society.
“The sensational international media coverage of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant after May 11, 2011, left strongly shocking and disastrous images to the foreign audiences, and scared away many foreigners from Japan unnecessarily,” say the photographers. “We hope this photography book will make many readers interested and attracted to Japan again, and this book would serve as a cultural bridge between Japan and foreign countries.”
Toru Morimoto (Akashi, Japan 1972) started working as a photographer for the Daily Nation, a Kenyan newspaper in Nairobi while he was a master student of the photojournalism department in the School of Journalism, University of Missouri. After doing internship in Magnum Photos and The New York Times in New York, he moved to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and started freelancing to cover the whole West Africa. Since 2004, he has been based in Barcelona, Spain, and has been working on photographic documentary projects. He won a prize from POYi in 2007, and Ueno Hikoma Award in 2009.
Tina Bagué (Barcelona, Spain 1974) since 1998 she works as a freelance photographer for various publications. Shortly thereafter, she also began to travel around the world with her camera. For the last nine years, she has traveled more than 20 countries, producing travel reportages that have appeared in many magazines such as El País Semanal, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet Magazine, etc. Since 2002 she is also the editor in chief of Digitalfoto published in Spain. Currently she works in color and digital.
