Hiroh Kikai Exhibition
Nanzuka Underground
Starts 4/4
SHARE
Artists
Hiroh Kikai
NANZUKA is pleased to present a solo exhibition with Hiroh Kikai. This marks the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery in five years since his previous showing in 2020, and features a series of “portrait” photographs consisting of both landscapes and human subjects taken between the 1980s and 2010s.
Kikai was born in 1945 in the Yamagata Prefecture. After graduating with a degree in philosophy from the Faculty of Letters, Hosei University, he underwent various professions including a truck driver, a crewmember of an ocean-going tuna fishing boat, and a photographic developer before making his decision to pursue a career as a photographer. Since 1973, Kikai has continued to photograph people he encountered in Asakusa. Numerous publications have been released featuring the series of portraits spanning over 45 years that he had taken there such as, Otachi no shozo: Senso-ji keidai / Ecce homo: Portraits of kings (1987), Ya-Chimata: Otachi no kairo / Ya-Chimata: A gallery of kings (1996), Persona (2004), and PERSONA: Saishusho / PERSONA: The Final Chapter (2019). In 2004, he received the 23rd Domon Ken Award for his published collection of photographs PERSONA. Kikai’s selected solo exhibitions include, “Persona” (Domon Ken Photography Museum, Yamagata Prefecture, 2004), “Tokyo Portraits” (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2011), “Persona: The Final Chapter” (Irie Taikichi Memorial Museum of Photography Nara City, 2019), and “Hiroh Kikai Retrospective Exhibition” (Sagae City Museum of Art, Yamataga Prefecture, 2024) in his hometown of Sagae. His works are also housed in the permanent collection of the International Center of Photography in New York.
Kikai is widely known for his photographs of human subjects, or portraits as seen in his photobooks Otachi no shozo: Senso-ji keidai / Ecce homo: Portraits of kings and Persona. The most important point of Kikai’s works is the way in which he captures the lives and human nature of the people who serve as their subjects. Since 1973, Kikai has stood within the grounds of Senso-ji in Asakusa with his cherished Hasselblad SLR camera in hand, spending the most part of his day continuously gazing at the people passing by. He would photograph one to two, or a maximum of three people in a single day. He would stop and ask only those who attracted his attention in some way or another, in each instance taking portraits of them against the same plain red walls within the temple precinct. The people to whom Kikai turns his viewfinder are the anonymous and unnamed, from artisans to those in unemployment, those in the entertainment business, elderly people, students, housewives, yakuza, or even people whose occupation remain unknown. Kikai refers to all such subjects as “kings” and captures them in all their dignity.
Meanwhile, his landscape photographs, which are a series on par with his portrait works, are completely devoid of human subjects. Examples include scenes such as laundry hanging out to dry in the home, the entrance to an empty shopping street, and store signs. Kikai refers to these as “portraits of space,” and by eliminating the presence of people, he paradoxically brings to light the “ambience” that lies embedded within the everyday, as well as the traces of human life that had unfolded there. This series has also been photographed since 1973, and has been published in his collections Tokyo meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth (1999) and Tokyo mutan / Tokyo Dreams (2007).
Photographers are often spoken of as possessing a voyeuristic gaze, but in Kikai’s case, he seems to transcend this through the logos of his unique captions. Kikai does not view his relationship with his subjects as that which is special, objective, or derogatory, but as being on the same level as the photographer himself. He mentions choosing the words for his captions as carefully as he takes the photographs, and furthermore, states that his work is born from “developing a fondness for people”—a phrase which in itself reflects the photographer’s sincerity, love, and curiosity in his pursuit of an ideal society.
“I believe that if people were more thoughtful and interested in others, the inclination towards utilitarianism in society would be alleviated, making life just a little bit easier.”
(Persona, Soshisha, 2005)
We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition.
A limited number of copies of Kikai’s book Asakusa Portraits, will be available to purchase at the gallery and on the NANZUKA Online Store from April 4, 2025.
There are no age restrictions for the Hiroh Kikai exhibition, which is held on the first floor of the gallery, and all visitors are welcome. However, the Toshio Saeki exhibition held concurrently on the second floor contains sexually explicit and violent content, and thus visitors under 16 years of age are not permitted entry to the second floor. We also recommend that visitors who are sensitive or feel at unease with these themes to refrain from viewing the exhibition.
Kikai was born in 1945 in the Yamagata Prefecture. After graduating with a degree in philosophy from the Faculty of Letters, Hosei University, he underwent various professions including a truck driver, a crewmember of an ocean-going tuna fishing boat, and a photographic developer before making his decision to pursue a career as a photographer. Since 1973, Kikai has continued to photograph people he encountered in Asakusa. Numerous publications have been released featuring the series of portraits spanning over 45 years that he had taken there such as, Otachi no shozo: Senso-ji keidai / Ecce homo: Portraits of kings (1987), Ya-Chimata: Otachi no kairo / Ya-Chimata: A gallery of kings (1996), Persona (2004), and PERSONA: Saishusho / PERSONA: The Final Chapter (2019). In 2004, he received the 23rd Domon Ken Award for his published collection of photographs PERSONA. Kikai’s selected solo exhibitions include, “Persona” (Domon Ken Photography Museum, Yamagata Prefecture, 2004), “Tokyo Portraits” (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2011), “Persona: The Final Chapter” (Irie Taikichi Memorial Museum of Photography Nara City, 2019), and “Hiroh Kikai Retrospective Exhibition” (Sagae City Museum of Art, Yamataga Prefecture, 2024) in his hometown of Sagae. His works are also housed in the permanent collection of the International Center of Photography in New York.
Kikai is widely known for his photographs of human subjects, or portraits as seen in his photobooks Otachi no shozo: Senso-ji keidai / Ecce homo: Portraits of kings and Persona. The most important point of Kikai’s works is the way in which he captures the lives and human nature of the people who serve as their subjects. Since 1973, Kikai has stood within the grounds of Senso-ji in Asakusa with his cherished Hasselblad SLR camera in hand, spending the most part of his day continuously gazing at the people passing by. He would photograph one to two, or a maximum of three people in a single day. He would stop and ask only those who attracted his attention in some way or another, in each instance taking portraits of them against the same plain red walls within the temple precinct. The people to whom Kikai turns his viewfinder are the anonymous and unnamed, from artisans to those in unemployment, those in the entertainment business, elderly people, students, housewives, yakuza, or even people whose occupation remain unknown. Kikai refers to all such subjects as “kings” and captures them in all their dignity.
Meanwhile, his landscape photographs, which are a series on par with his portrait works, are completely devoid of human subjects. Examples include scenes such as laundry hanging out to dry in the home, the entrance to an empty shopping street, and store signs. Kikai refers to these as “portraits of space,” and by eliminating the presence of people, he paradoxically brings to light the “ambience” that lies embedded within the everyday, as well as the traces of human life that had unfolded there. This series has also been photographed since 1973, and has been published in his collections Tokyo meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth (1999) and Tokyo mutan / Tokyo Dreams (2007).
Photographers are often spoken of as possessing a voyeuristic gaze, but in Kikai’s case, he seems to transcend this through the logos of his unique captions. Kikai does not view his relationship with his subjects as that which is special, objective, or derogatory, but as being on the same level as the photographer himself. He mentions choosing the words for his captions as carefully as he takes the photographs, and furthermore, states that his work is born from “developing a fondness for people”—a phrase which in itself reflects the photographer’s sincerity, love, and curiosity in his pursuit of an ideal society.
“I believe that if people were more thoughtful and interested in others, the inclination towards utilitarianism in society would be alleviated, making life just a little bit easier.”
(Persona, Soshisha, 2005)
We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition.
A limited number of copies of Kikai’s book Asakusa Portraits, will be available to purchase at the gallery and on the NANZUKA Online Store from April 4, 2025.
There are no age restrictions for the Hiroh Kikai exhibition, which is held on the first floor of the gallery, and all visitors are welcome. However, the Toshio Saeki exhibition held concurrently on the second floor contains sexually explicit and violent content, and thus visitors under 16 years of age are not permitted entry to the second floor. We also recommend that visitors who are sensitive or feel at unease with these themes to refrain from viewing the exhibition.
Schedule | Apr 4 (Fri) 2025-May 2 (Fri) 2025 Opening Hours Information
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://nanzuka.com/en/exhibitions/hiroh-kikai/press-release | ||||
| Venue | Nanzuka Underground http://www.nug.jp | ||||
| Location | 3-30-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from exit 5 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines, 10 minute walk from the Takeshita exit of Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-5422-3877 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it  |
Back to Articles
SHARE
Recommended for those interested in this events
Other ongoing events in the venue
Nearby Events
Loading.................................................
No comments yet