Monday, September 8, 2025 – Wednesday, November 5, 2025
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Shadai Gallery, we will hold an exhibition entitled All the Livelong Postwar Days. In Japan, the term “postwar” has been used since the nation’s defeat in the Pacific War and it continues to be used today, 80 years later. We will take the opportunity of “Postwar Year 80” to look back on that reality and to explore how the expression of photographers has been linked to historical eras.
The sociologist Mita Munesuke defined the years from 1945 to 1960 as the “age of ideals” and the years from then until the early 1970s as the “age of dreams.” According to Mita, “the age of ideals” that sought to transform the harsh reality of post-defeat Japan ended in disappointment with the revision of the US-Japan Security Treaty in 1960. This marked the advent of the “age of dreams,” marked by the pursuit of material wealth.
1975, the year the Shadai Gallery opened, was a time when rapid economic growth had begun to taper off and most of the Japanese population had achieved a sense of material sufficiency. With the end of the Vietnam War during that same year, it was also a time when the “season of politics” was on the wane.
The currents of time from 1945 to 1975, from the period of US Occupation to postwar recovery, followed by rapid economic growth and its conclusion corresponded loosely to currents in photographic expression, from photo-realism to Vivo, Provoke, and Kompora (“contemporary photography”).
The material goods and culture introduced by the American Occupation put down wide and deep roots in Japanese society, forming the foundation of the mass consumption society that continues in the present. We will introduce the ways that photographers established their own expression in the midst of the clash between Japanese culture and American culture, and the ways they deepened their personal vision within the constraints of the times.
Ken Domon
Military Training Event, Jingu Stadium, 1937
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Nurses of the Red Cross Practicing ”Naginata”, Azabu, 1938
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Sending the Soldiers off to War, Ginza, 1937
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Sending the Soldiers off to War, Ginza, 1937
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Soldiers’ March, Ginza, 1937
Gelatin-silver print
Gaetano Faillace
Emperor Shōwa and General MacArthur, 1945
Emperor Shōwa and Imperial Princess, 1945
Ihee Kimura
Around Kojimachi, 1945
Gelatin silver print
Ihee Kimura
In Hiroshima, 1946
Gelatin silver print
Kiyoji Ohtsuji
The warehouse that survived the fire, Nakano-sakaue, 1940年代
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
Children living in shanties around the Diet Building, Chiyoda, 1956
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
War orphan stares longingly at the box of candy held by a Peko-chan doll, Ginza, 1950
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Mother and child at daycare, Shinagawa-ku, 1952
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Underpass, Yurakucho, 1954
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Roadside, Ginza, 1954
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Crutches, Ginza, 1950
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
Hachi Square in Front of Shibuya Station, 1948
Gelatin Silver Print
Ihee Kimura
Sumida River, 1953
Gelatin silver print
Ken Domon
Seeing the firing practice field, 1953
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Protest, Uchinada Dispute, 1953
Gelatin-silver print
Shoko Ahagon
First U.S. military signboard, 1955
Gelatin-silver print
Shoko Ahagon
Training grounds, young people protesting with a cross sign, 1955
Gelatin-silver print
Shoko Ahagon
Bombs used in the drill, 1955-67
Gelatin silver print
Ken Domon
Clash, Sunagawa Dispute, Tachikawa, 1955
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
High school students learning English from U.S. soldiers commuting by helicopter, Ena, Gifu-ken, 1955
Gelatin silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
A boy and a coffee shop for Occupation forces that has gone out of business, Gotemba city, Shizuoka-ken, 1954
Gelatin silver print
Ihee Kimura
Sumida River, 1952
Gelatin silver print
Ken Domon
Christmas decoration side job, 1954
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
Girl eating bread for lunch at school, Bunkyo-ku, 1959
Gelatin Silver Print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Hiroshima, 1956
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Hiroshima, 1955
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Biker gang “Kaminari-zoku”, 1959
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
Tokyo Tower under construction, Minato-ku, 1958
Gelatin Silver Print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Nihon Gekijo Western carnival, 1958
Gelatin-silver print
Takeyoshi Tanuma
A family moves from a mountain village to the city, Otari village, Nagano-ken, 1961
Gelatin silver print
Yojiro Adachi
“People around us 1972-2001” Korakuen 1973.8.5, 1973
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Senri Hills, Osaka, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
The Anpo Struggle, 1960
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
The Anpo Struggle, 1960
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Tokyo Olympics, 1964
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Tokyo Olympics, 1964
Gelatin-silver print
Kikuji Kawada
“The Map”, Photograph of Special Attack Corps, Edajima Kinenkan, Kure, 1962
Gelatin-silver print
Ken Domon
Arrest and Detention, Haneda, 1967
Gelatin-silver print
Shoko Ahagon
Ie-jima Land Preservation Association Joins Action to Block Prime Minister Sato’s Visit to Okinawa, 1966
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
“Accident <1> Longest Week of 1968″ Vietnam War, TV news screen, 1968
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
“Accident <1> Longest Week of 1968″ North Vietnam, TV news screen, 1968
Gelatin-silver print
Ihee Kimura
Yurakucho plaza, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Soldiers withdrawal from Vietnam, white beach, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Group Employment Ship, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Nakanishi Gate at Makiminato Second Logistics Unit, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
“Shimi” Tomb-Sweeping Day through the Wire Fence, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Koza centre street, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Koza Riot, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Black District, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
“A Sign Bar”(U.S. Military approved), Camp Hansen, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Red light district, Koza, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Provoke No. 3, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Aoyama, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Provoke No. 3, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Provoke No. 3, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Daido Moriyama
Senri Hills, Osaka, 1969
Gelatin-silver print
Unknown
Osaka Expo Opening Ceremony, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Unknown
American Pavilion, 1970
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
“A Sign Bar”(U.S. Military approved), Black District, 1975
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Black District, 1975
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
“Welcome to Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and Princess” Hinomaru Parade, 1975
Gelatin-silver print
Kumi Matsumura
Joint struggle for crushing International Ocean Exposition, 1975
Gelatin-silver print
Yoshitaka Nakatani
Beat Generation, Shinjuku, 1967
Gelatin-silver print
Shigeo Gocho
“SELF AND OTHERS” 11, 1975
Gelatin silver print
Shigeo Gocho
“Days” 20, 1967-69
Gelatin silver print
Shomei Tomatsu
“Nagasaki”, A wristwatch dug up from Ueno-machi, 1961
Gelatin silver print
