About Shadai Gallery
Tokyo Polytechnic University is the most traditional and longest-established photographic institution in our country since 1923. Among other university establishments, Shadai Gallery was opened in 1975 as Japan’s pioneer facility and existence that exhibits, collects and researches both domestic and international photographs.
Photo studio soon after the establishment of university（around 1927）
Eikoh Hosoe at the opening of Shadai Gallery
When talking about Shadai Gallery, it is inseparable with one of the leading Japanese photographers, Eikoh Hosoe, who was the founding director of the gallery. Hosoe, born in 1933 is known for his series such as “Ordeal by Roses” (1963) modeled by Japanese author Yukio Mishima, and “Kamaitachi” (1969) which documented Japanese choreographer Tatstumi Hijikata. Since young, hosoe’s style of shooting numerous human bodies as his portrait gave sensations throughout the world. In 1975, Hosoe, who was already a striking photographer at the time, acceded as a professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University. As one of the conditions as becoming part of photographic education, he suggested the installation of a gallery for the spread of the art.
Back in 1975, photographs were already exhibited and archived like any other art genre, such as paintings and sculptures at museums across the United States and Europe.
In Japan, however, such culture was not yet accustomed and there were no such public institutions that followed the manner. Hosoe made a point that the most effective way to express “ the wonderfulness of photography” and “the love and respect to photography,” is to make a gallery within an academic facility. With this strong will, Shadai Gallery welcomed its opening with the exhibition of “ Wynn Bullock” on May 20th, 1975.
Invitation of Wynn Bullock Exhibition（1975）
Wynn Bullock Exhibition（1975）
Wynn Bullock (1902-1975), a famous American photographer participated in “The Family of Man” held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955 with his “Let There Be Light” (1954) used as the leadoff piece. The exhibition was to celebrate the museum’s 25th anniversary and it toured around more than 38 countries worldwide, allowing nine million people view the show. His exhibition at Shadai Gallery was his first solo show in Japan, and it became a big focus.
Since then, Shadai Gallery has organized numerous solo exhibits of well-known foreign photographers and historically signified domestic photographers. During the exhibitions, the gallery often invites the artists for special workshops and talk shows involving students as well as general visitors.
When Shadai Gallery was opened, Tokyo Polytechnic University held its original name, Tokyo College of Photography (Tokyo Shashin Daigaku), which was called Sha-dai for short. Hence the name of the gallery came from this abbreviation but even after the school name changed to Tokyo Polytechnic University in 1977, the gallery name stuck to this day.
Shadai Gallery archives more than ten thousand photographs and as for an institution affiliated with an educational establishment, this number should be renowned to the world.
The gallery’s collection includes works from worldly known photographers such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Nadar, and Edward Weston as well as Ihei Kimura, Shomei Tomatsu and Ikko Narahara. Also among them, over twelve hundred important works of Ken Domon and a nine hundred early works of Daido Moriyama should be noted as an important part of the collection.
These collections are put to practical use for education and research daily, and are exhibited to the public for photography fans inside and outside of campus throughout the year.
Current exhibition
Shadai Gallery 50th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition I
Hosoe Eikoh Memorial Exhibition: Love and Respect for Photography
Exhibition Outline
We are holding a memorial photography exhibition for the photographer Hosoe Eikoh (1933-2024), who passed away on September 16, 2024, at the age of 91. Hosoe began teaching at the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) in 1974 and taught there for 29 years, until 2003, guiding many graduates. The Shadai Gallery was established at Hosoe’s initiative in 1975 as the first permanent institution to collect and exhibit original prints in Japan. The gallery marks its 50th anniversary this year, with a collection of over 12,000 works. For three decades from its founding until he retired, Hosoe was at the center of its operations. Without his strong determination and unstinting efforts, the gallery would not be what it is today.
Hosoe was born in Yamagata in 1933 and raised in Tokyo. He entered the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) in 1952. Beginning during his student days, he joined Demokrato, a group of young artists led by the avant-garde artist Ei-Q (1911-1960) that challenged the authority of established art associations and espoused freedom and independence. After graduating, he worked as a freelance photographer, and in 1959 he established the photography agency Vivo (the Esperanto word for “life”), together with other up-and-coming photographers. During the 1960s and 1970s, he produced a succession of work that is inscribed in the history of Japanese photography, including Man and Woman, on the theme of sex and the human body; Ordeal by Roses, featuring photographs of the novelist Mishima Yukio (1925-1970); Kamaitachi, with the avant-garde dancer Hijikata Tatsumi (1928-1986) and set in the Tohoku region where Hosoe was born and took shelter during the war; and Embrace, which visualizes the strength and tenderness of the embrace of women and men. In the years that followed, he continued to work vigorously in photography, and his work was recognized with a special award of merit from the Royal Photographic Society in the U.K. for his lifelong contributions to the art of photography. In 2010, he was the fourth photographer to be honored as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government, and in 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun.
Hosoe’s activities were not limited to his role as a photographer. He planned an exhibition of about 300 historically significant photographs, selected from the world’s largest collection at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, and successfully brought that exhibition to Japan. He followed this by launching international exchanges on the culture of photography and mounting an exhibition of the work of about 30 young European photographers who were previously unknown outside of Europe. He travelled throughout the world to hold numerous workshops with local photographers, building bridges between photography circles in Japan and the world. In addition to garnering a worldwide reputation as a photographer, he made uncountable contributions to the development of photographic culture and education. The size of his role in Japanese and world photography is beyond measure.
The title of the exhibition, Love and Respect for Photography, is a phrase that Hosoe often used when teaching his students. “If you have sincere love and respect for photography, this will determine the course of your work. In doing so, you will open betters paths for life, through photography.” These words form an enduring memory for the many students who spent time with Hosoe as their teacher. We will exhibit documents and commemorative photographs from his many activities, along with a selection of his photographs from the Shadai Gallery collection. This will provide a new introduction to the wide-ranging work of Hosoe Eikoh as a photographer and beyond.
Shadai Gallery 50th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition I
Hosoe Eikoh Memorial Exhibition: Love and Respect for Photography
Hours of operation: 10:00 - 19:00
Closed: Thursday, Sunday, National Holidays
Admission free
Gallery Information
Tokyo Polytechnic University, Shadai Gallery
40th Anniversary Exhibition（2015）
2-9-5 Honcho, Nakano-ku, Tokyo
164-8678, Japan
