Ufuagari-The Daito Islands-A Monologue of North and South
Photo exhibition by Masanori Ishibiki
March 3 - March 30, 2018 / FCCJ Main Bar
Ufuagari means 'The Great East' in the Okinawan dialect.
The Daito Islands are an archipelago, consisting of three isolated islands: Minamidaito, Kitadaito and Okidaito, situated 360 km east of Naha and remained uninhabited until 1900. They stand out from the other islands in the region in that they combine Okinawan nature with mainland Japanese culture. They possess wonderful scenes of untouched nature and the beauty of the ocean indescribable. It was the summer of 2006 when I first visited the Daito Islands. They aroused a strange feeling of nostalgia in me, as if I had wandered into a world of deja vu. Their natural beauty goes without saying, but what makes they truly stunning is the indomitable spirit of the people who live there. The sign for a small bar in the middle of the sugar cane fields can be seen vaguely through the gathering darkness as the island folk gather there to drink Awamori and recover from the day's rigors. This is the scene that I wanted to see, it is the place where I wanted to be to and so I picked up my camera as I set out.
The Daito Islands. A Monologue of North and South
Profile
1954 Born in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture.
1977 Graduated from the Department of Photography at Nihon University College of Art and after graduation studied under the photographer, Shibuya Ryukichi.
1980—2017 Worked for Ishibiki Photo Studio
2011 'Isolated Islands, Ufuagari Exhibition, (Naha Civic Gallery)
2015 'Ufuagari Islands iii' Exhibition (Yotsuya Portrait Gallery)
2017 Retired from Ishibiki studio to become freelance: Ishibiki Masanori Photo Agency
The Exhibitions Committee