Exhibition

March 2024 Exhibition: Disaster Recovery Efforts After 2011 Earthquake
Photos courtesy of JDR (Naoki Sakane) and the Imperial Household Agency
March 2 – March 29, 2024

©Imperial Household Agency / ©JDR (NPO, Japan Disaster Recovery Support Organization)

With a focus on disaster recovery efforts after the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, this collection of images highlights how Japan’s Emperor and Empress console, sympathize with and show support for natural disaster survivors.

Visits by the Their Majesties to affected area are linked to a lasting impact in generating hope among survivors and building community resilience, say disaster research experts.

Japan is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries and strengthening protective measures to reduce property loss and human life are top government agendas. As part of current policy measures, billions of dollars are spent on earthquake and tsunami prediction measures, disaster management and recovery. But more needs to be done.

February 2024 Exhibition: 3.11 and the Road to Recovery
Photos by Mark Edward Harris
Feb. 3 – March 1, 2024

©Mark Edward Harris

On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 p.m., a powerful earthquake struck off northeast Japan’s main island. Less than an hour later, tsunami inundated the coast and surged inland. By the time the raging waves receded, more than 18,000 people had died.

In the weeks after the disaster, Los Angeles-based photographer Mark Edward Harris made his way to the eastern Tohoku impact zone. There he began documenting the disaster and the region’s determination to rise out of the rubble. While the lives lost on March 11, 2011, will never be replaced, Harris’s images show how the people of eastern Tohoku are rebuilding their towns and cities to safer standards as well as memorializing and interpreting that horrific spring day through state-of-the-art museums to educate future generations.

January 2024 Exhibition: The Setouchi Art Story
Japan’s most exciting contemporary art productions -"The Setouchi Triennale"
January 6 - February 2, 2024

©Shintaro Miyawaki: Kinoshita Kabuki / ©Takashi Kuribayashi: Tree of Ibuki

©Keizo Kiyoko: The Time of the Beginning

The January exhibition takes a close look at one of Japan’s most exciting contemporary art productions of a global landmark- the Setouchi Triennale. The story of its success represents the founder’s enduring passion for change, a fitting beginning for 2024 when the world is searching for solutions against ever-increasing issues that threaten our planet’s survival.

December 2023 Exhibition: INORI- Prayers to the Gods
Iwami Kagura Masks by Taizo Kobayashi
December 2, 2023 - January 5, 2024

Taizo Kobayashi lives and works in the Iwami region of Shimane Prefecture, facing the Japan Sea in western Japan. He makes masks for Iwami Kagura, a local form of storytelling through dance, song and music that evolved to preserve and transmit Japan's earliest mythologies. Kagura began as a religious ritual, performed in dedication to Shinto gods. While many regions of Japan have their own forms of kagura, Iwami Kagura stands apart for its dynamism and enduring importance in the local community.

November 2023 Exhibition: Empowering Women Through the Lens:
Exhibition of the 7th Edition of the International Women in Photo Award (IWPA)
November 4 - December 1, 2023

©Lee-Ann Olwage: The Right To Play

Since 2016, International Women In Photography (IWPA) has been committed to showcasing the work of women photographers and sharing their unique narratives. Through this dedication, IWPA aims to provide global recognition for their exceptional talent, ultimately addressing global challenges that disproportionately affect women and worsen gender inequality.

The Open Call for submissions, held from May 1st to June 30th, 2023, garnered an impressive 1,900 photographic projects from a record-breaking 106 countries.

Selected by an international jury of esteemed personalities, IWPA is delighted to present the best talents of its 2023 Award. We extend our sincere gratitude to Leica Camera Japan Co., Ltd. for their invaluable support in making the exhibition at the FCCJ possible.

Explore the complete series by the winners at https://iwpa.fr/

October 2023 Exhibition: Catrinas Around the World 2023
Group Exhibition curated by Nahomi Moriyama and Rodrigo Reyes Marin
September 30 - November 2, 2023

©R&N Photography (JPN)

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition celebrated from October 31 to November 2 in which our deceased are honored. This conception of celebrating death originated as a syncretism between the Catholic celebrations (from Spain) and indigenous celebrations (from Mexico), a mixture of both cultures. For the second year in a row, we will exhibit our work at FCCJ continuing to show the concept of the Catrina from our very particular point of view. With the growing popularity of Catrina and the festivities of the Day of the Dead, we invited artists from Mexico, the United States and Japan, to join our exhibition under the title: Catrinas Around the World 2023.

Artists in this exhibition include Mario Marín, Catrinas Contemporaneas, Naomi Cervantes from Mexico; La Catrina Andante (Livette Ruvalcaba), Evelyn Trejo, Gus Mejía, el Charro Gonzalez and Black Unicornio in the United States, and with Rodrigo Reyes Martin, Nahomi Moriyama, Chiaki Iizaka and Lizeth R. Marin who based in Japan.

Bruce Osborn (Exhibition Committee Chair)
Peter Lyon (Co-Chair)

September 2023 EXHIBITION: "Wildlife of the Kenyan Savanna"
Photos by Yasushi Onishi
September 2- September 29, 2023 (caution: ending a week earlier comparing notified date in the first notice)

© Yasushi Onishi

Thirty-four years ago, I visited the Masai Mara savanna in Kenya, East Africa for the first time. The wonders of this magical place immediately captured my imagination and I’ve been back to photograph the wildlife more than 40 times since. When I think of Masai Mara, I think of white clouds playfully floating in a deep blue sky, endless green grasslands, beautiful sunrises and mesmerizing sunsets, and of course the wild animals I enjoy photographing so much. The Corona pandemic kept me away from Africa for three and a half years, but I finally made it back this year and reconnected with the savanna and its wildlife. From my exhibit I hope you can feel their charm and maybe even be tempted to visit Kenya one day soon.

YASUSHI ONISHI

August 2023 Exhibition:: 24 Heures du Mans: To the Limit – and Beyond (1967-1971)
Photos by Joe Honda
August 5- September 1, 2023

Copyright©Joe Honda Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Joe Honda brings to life the people, marques and memories that have shaped one of the most iconic endurance races in the world as it marks its centenary.

Established in 1923 as a "Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency," Le Mans allowed car manufacturers to prove the durability of their machines in competition. The endurance race – famous for its legacy of brutally testing drivers and their teams – has one condition for victory: the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours is the winner.

An exhibition of Joe Honda's photographs – supported by La Maison Franco-Japonaise, the French Embassy in Japan and Shashin Kosha – reflects back on the 'golden age' of Le Mans, marked by the final years of the dramatic Ford-Ferrari duel until the Porsche's new contender, the 917, arrived on the scene.

By transporting the viewer back to these years when Europe faced off against America, Honda's photography commemorates some of the people and technology that played a crucial role in shaping today's global automotive industry.

July 2023 Exhibition: Oyako Shashin Matsuri
July 1- August 4, 2023

©Anne-Francoise Tasnier

The OYAKO Shashin Matsuri is in commemoration of OYAKO Day, which takes place on the fourth Sunday of July each year. This is the 4th time to hold this exhibition by the following photographers at the FCCJ depicting various scenes of parents and children in locations  around the world.

June 2023 Exhibition: NATURE CALLS
Photos by Bruce Osborn
June 3 - June 30, 2023

©Bruce Osborn

The objects in this exhibition were collected from the beach near my home in Hayama. Like an archaeologist studying past civilizations, I am fascinated by the items that wash ashore, revealing the ongoing conflict between nature and our consumer-driven society. Plastic pollution in our oceans is causing significant harm to marine life. Birds, fish, and other sea creatures mistake these objects for food, leading to severe health issues and starvation. As plastics break down into microplastics, the consequences cascade through the food chain, affecting smaller species. Astonishingly, the majority of this rubbish originates not from beaches or dumping at sea, but is urban waste that finds its way to the ocean via storm drains and rivers.