Saturday, April 7 to May 11, 2012

Cape Nosappu-Half a Century
(Main Bar)

Ishii began documenting the lives of the kombu (Saccharina japonica) fishermen on Hokkaido's easternmost peninsula in 1960. He continued making trips over the next few years, spending over 100 days photographing the fishermen and the community. In June of 1963, when the Soviet Union gave them permission to gather kombu from the waters around the occupied island of Kaigara, Ishii was there as fleet left port on this historic trip. 50 yrs. passed since then, but there has been little progress over the disputed Northern Territories. Ishii hope is that they will eventually be returned and for the area's rapid recovery from last year's tsunami.

Small Donkey Journey to locales from Ayako Miura's novel.
(Masukomi Sushi Bar)

Ishii traveled to locations that Ayako Miura wrote about in her books. This visual collaboration with Miura's book took him to many places including several within Isreal.

Kazuhiro Ishii (photographer, journalist)
Born in Tokyo. In 1964 he joined Asahi Shimbun as a staff photographer. During his career with Asahi, he worked in their Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, and Hokkaido branches. In March of 2001, Ishii reached the company's retirement age and is currently a free-lance photographer based in Sapporo. He has published 2 photo books "Nosappu" and "Small Donkey".

The Exhibition Committee