Tokio Matsubara was born in 1940 in Wakaura in Wakayama Prefecture. The place used to be a mecca for waka poetry composed in the Manyoshu, and the town is filled with the lingering aesthetic sense of the ancient people. His photographic works, which resonate with the aesthetic spirit, continue to develop in a variety of ways while expanding his unique artistry. Living with the Waters, the starting point of the photographer Tokio Matsubara's career, is a collection of portraits of people in Wakaura, Tanoura, and Saikazaki during the period 1955-1969.

This is the first collection of works by Kyoko Vendome, a woodblock print artist based in a mountainside of Kumano. The works she carves out are filled with an excessively dense and bewitching atmosphere of mother nature. Its yokiness is an eroticism that unites with primordial nature, evoking the courageous power of destruction and rebirth that all living things have possessed. Her works may represent the gods that primitive people witnessed in ancient Kumano. The generous, humorous, undignified gods appear in their merry dance... “You there, do you want a big fortune?”

The third photo book in the trilogy of Tokio Matsubara, a photographer who has mainly shot in black and white, is a rare collection of color works. This book was compiled from a series of photographs of Okinoshima, an uninhabited island seen from the Kataonami, taken from almost the same spot. A wide variety of colors are expressed as if drifting in a haze of colors, magically changing from day to day and second to second. Printed with pigment inks on washi paper, which has excellent color reproduction and archival quality. Limited edition of 50 copies with the cover in five different colors.

The second photobook by Tokio Matsubara consists of photographs taken between 2016 and 2021, when Matsubara was 76 to 81 years old. As part of his daily routine, he goes to Katanami Beach in the early morning, feeds wild birds, and takes photographs. The texture of the sand created by the seawater and wind is a perfect canvas for Matsubara, who has a rich knowledge of painting. He may have found the matière, the shading of colors, and other forms of painting. Delicate photographic expressions were reproduced with ultra-high resolution printing.

Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture is in the northernmost reaches of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, and covered with snow during most of the year. The photographer Sho Shibata was born in Tsugaru and has been living in this place. He rejects superficial beauty and his photographs depict Tsugaru beyond it. His works, which record ever-changing scenery and cultures of his homeland, can also be seen as records of his existence.

Essays and photos by Sho Shibata to be pair with photo book.
*This title is only available in Japanese.

Sohei Terui has been taking photography of mainly Kumano, Omine, and Koyasan, one of the holiest mountains in Japan. With the different perspective from urban viewpoints on images of these regions, he keeps shooting in mountains and fields as if he seeks for the origin of the holy place. His works depict the depths of nature, which he describes as a bottomless swamp. Noroshi consists of instantly frightening photographs coupled with some essays.