2024/4/1

TOP Collection
A Traveler from 1200 Months in the Past
Apr. 7, 2023－Jul. 7, 2024

Kuroiwa Yasuyoshi

D51 488 Yamate Freight Line (Ebisu)
1953
Gelatine Silver Print
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

This exhibition of works from the collection of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum has the themeof time travel.
The science-fictional fantasy of people freely traversing all the eras of history has existed since
time immemorial. However, in the world of the imagination and the realm of art, it is no fantasy, andanyone can break free of the conventional bounds of time and space.
In 1924, the poet and author of children’s literature Miyazawa Kenji published Spring and Asura,
poetically describing the inner landscape of “the phenomenon called I” and envisioning “the fourthdimensional continuum” in which all things overlap at a cosmic time-scale. Miyazawa Kenji’s
imagination was sparked by the latest developments in science and thought of his day, but although
he set his vision down in words a hundred years ago, there is something about it that still resonatesin our hearts in this fragmented current era.
This exhibition begins its journey through time in the year 1924, exactly a century ago, and presents
photographic and film works and materials primarily drawn from our collection of over 37,000 items.
With the theme of “a traveler from 1,200 months in the past,” it enables visitors to encounter
narratives woven in various times and places. It is also a trip through time and space that connects
the pre-World War II, postwar, and contemporary periods through the power of imagination, with thewords of the poetic preface to Miyazawa’s Spring and Asura serving as a guide. We invite you toenjoy this journey through a wealth of still and moving images.

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ROOM 1 : 1924 - Taisho 13
This journey through time begins in the year 1924, exactly a century ago. As the Taisho era (19121926) drew to a close in Japan, modernist art movements were beginning to flourishing overseas. In
these rapidly changing times, artists were in search of new modes of expression. Examples ofPictorialism and avant-garde works from abroad from this time reveal the phase of the time, withnostalgia and old-world charm intermingling with a modern sensibility. It was in 1924 that the poetand author of children’s literature Miyazawa Kenji published the only collection of poetry released
during his lifetime, Spring and Asura.
Artist: Ogawa Gesshu, Takayama Masataka, Fukumori Hakuyo, László Moholy-Nagy, Miyazawa Kenji,
Man Ray, and more
01_01
Yoshikawa Tomizo, Face of Woman,
1924, Gum-bichromate Print,
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art
Museum01_02
Jaroslav Rössler, Still-life with Bowl,

Prague, 1924, Gelatine Silver Print,
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art
Museum
01_01

01_02

ROOM 2 : The Modern City in the Showa Era
Welcome to Tokyo in the 1930s, early in the Showa era. The city was buzzing with the energy of
Asakusa, Ginza, Shinjuku, department stores, businessmen, cafés, stylish young moga (modern girls)
and mobo (modern boys), the Leica compact camera, the cinema, art exhibitions, the opening of thesubway, flashing neon signs, modern design, advertising photography, the magazine Asahi Graph…
One highlight of this section is a fascinating series of advertising posters that adorned the streets in
those days, from the collections of the National Crafts Museum and the Edo Tokyo Museum,complemented by photographs from our own collection.
Artist: Okubo Koroku, Kuwabara Kineo, Sugiura Hisui, Nakayama Iwata, Hukuhara Roso,
Horino Masao, KIMURA Senichi and more

02_01
Kuwabara Kineo, (Subway Entrance), 1930-39,
Gelatine Silver Print,
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
02_02
Sugiura Hisui, The Reconstruction of the Imperial

Capital and Tokyo Subway, c.1929,
Lithograph, Offset,
Collection of National Crafts Museum
02_01

02_02

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ROOM 3: What Was Once Here: Memories of Yebisu Beer
Searching the memory of the area where the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is now located, wejourney back in time to a beer brewery that once stood on the site of what is now the Yebisu Garden
Place complex. Yebisu Beer was brewed there from the late 19th century onward, and the beer
became the area’s namesake. Where the museum now stands, there was formerly a local landmark,the brewery’s malt house with its four smokestacks. In this section, we explore the way things once
looked and the history of Yebisu Beer through photographs and posters from the Sapporo Breweries
collection. Alongside these, we present works from our collection that narrate the history of the area.
Artist: Kuroiwa Yasuyoshi, Miyamoto Ryuji theme: history of Yebisu Beer

03_01

03_02

SAPPORO BEER RIBBON CITRON poster,Miyamoto Ryuji, Sapporobeer Yebisu Brewery From the seriesc.1927, Courtesy: Sapporo Breweries Ltd.

Architectural apocalypse, 1990, Gelatine Silver Print,
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

ROOM 4 : 20th Century Memories: History as Seen in Photographic Magazines
Magazine covers are mirrors of their times, conveying what was contemporary at the time of theirrelease. From our museum library, we have selected standout back issues of magazines such as Lifeand Asahi Graph that trace the arc of 20th-century history through their cover art. In connection withthis, we present original prints by some of the most prominent photojournalists, including W. Eugene
Smith and Otsuka Gen. Smith’s Spanish Village (1950) is hailed as one of his masterworks of thephoto-essay form. Meanwhile, Otsuka Gen’s documentary photos vividly depict Japan’s resurgenceand development from the aftermath of World War II through the rapid economic growth period.
Artist: Kawada Kikuji, Otsuka Gen, W. Eugene Smith, and moretheme: Photographic Magazines

04_01

Cover of Asahi Graph, May 28, 1930
04_02
Otsuka Gen, Composed Views of theNight Sky at Sukiyabashi, 1958,
Gelatin Silver Print, Collection ofTokyo Photographic Art Museum
04_01

04_02

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ROOM 5 : Space-Time Travel: The Cenozoic Alluvial EpochThis section beckons you on a multifaceted voyage through time and space inspired by the preface
to Miyazawa Kenji’s Spring and Asura. Enjoy magic-lantern slides from a hundred years ago, longexposure photographs, multi-projection video, images of passengers... The journey extends from the20th century to today, transcending the bounds of space-time, and showcasing works from themuseum’s collection centered on themes of time, history, and imagination.
Artist: Iwane Ai, Kitano Ken, Sato Tokihiro, Takagi Teijiro, Hara Mikiko, Miyazawa Kenji and more

05_01

05_02

Takagi Teijiro, From the series 100 Selects ofKitano Ken, Shodoshima, Tonosho Town, Kagawa fromJapanese Landscapes and Custom, 1910-23,

winter solstice 2017 to summer solstice in 2018 From theHand Painted Glass Slides/Single Channel Videoseries Gathering Light, 2017-18, Inkjet Print,(Slide Show),Collection of the Artist

Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Outline of exhibition｜Dates:

April 4 - July 7, 2024

Closed:Mondays (however, the museum will be open on Monday, April 29 and Monday, May
6, and closed on Tuesday, May 7)

Venue:

3F Exhibition Gallery, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita Meguro-ku Tokyo 153-0062

Open Hours: 10:00–18:00 (Thu. / Fri. 10:00–20:00)*Final admission 30 minutes before closing.
Admission： Adults ￥700/ College Students￥560 / High School and Junior High SchoolStudents, Over 65￥350*Admission is free for children in elementary school or younger; junior high school
students living or attending schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area; holders ofJapanese disability identification cards (shogaisha techo), along with up to twocaregivers; and holders of the museum’s annual passport.
Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum operated by Tokyo
Metropolitan Foundation for History and CultureWith assistance from: J-WAVE 81.3FM

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For Press｜
If you have any press enquiries about this Exhibition, please contact our Department of PublicRelations.
High-resolution images for publication are also available by e-mail.
press-info@topmuseum.jp
https://topmuseum.jp/e/contents/index.html

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