was a Japanese photographer best known within Japan for four series of

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

photographs: scenes of buildings in and close to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, portraits of people in the

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

area of Tokyo, and rural and town life in India and Turkey. He pursued each of these for over two decades, and each led to one or more book-length collections. Although previously a respected name in Japanese photography, Kikai was not widely known until 2004, when the first edition of his book ''Persona,'' a collection of Asakusa portraits, won both the Domon Ken Award and Annual Award of the PSJ.Domon Ken Award:
Domon Ken–shō no rekishi to zen-jushō-shashinka
(, list of award-winners since 1982) (accessed 6 March 2006). PSJ award:

. In 2009, the ICP and

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

copublished ''Asakusa Portraits'' for an international market.

Early years

Kikai was born in the village of Daigo (now part of Sagae,

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

) on 18 March 1945 as the seventh and last child (and fifth son) of the family. He had a happy childhood, from the age of 11 or so preferring to play by himself in the nature that surrounded the village. He graduated from high school in 1963 and worked in Yamagata for a year, and then went to

Hosei University formerly known as Tokyo University of Law (東京法学社, Tokyo Hogakusha) is a top research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Hosei University and four other private universities in Tokyo are collectively known as "MARCH (Japanese univers ...

to study philosophy. As a student he was keen on the cinema—he particularly enjoyed the films of

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

, who would later contribute essays to some of his books, and

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

—and said that he would have worked in film production if it did not require writing, a task he never enjoyed, and money, which he lacked. Immediately after his graduation in 1968, Kikai worked for two years as a truck driver and for two in a shipyard. Meanwhile, he stayed in touch with his philosophy professor from his university days,

Sadayoshi Fukuda was a Japanese social philosopher and critic. Biography Fukuda was the pseudonym of , born on 6 April 1917. He studied philosophy at Hosei University (Tokyo), graduating in 1940. In 1944 he was sent to Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Ji ...

, whose interests extended to writing a regular column for the magazine '' Camera Mainichi''; he introduced Kikai to its editor, Shōji Yamagishi, who showed him photographs by

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; ; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
by

that made a great impact on Kikai. Kikai started to take photographs in 1969. At that time (when somebody fresh out of university could expect to earn ¥40,000 per month), a

Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Sweden, Swedish manufacturer of medium format (film), medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-for ...

SLR camera normally cost ¥600,000; Kikai heard of an opportunity to buy one for ¥320,000 and mentioned this to Fukuda, who immediately lent him the money, with no interest, and no date or pressure for repayment. (The loan was eventually repaid.) This Hasselblad 500CM, with its 80 mm lens, was what Kikai used for his portraits thereafter.

Career

Kikai thought that work on a boat might be photogenic, but, having no experience, could not get a job on one. He was eventually accepted on a boat fishing for

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

when he displayed the scar from an unneeded

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

as evidence of one risk fewer that his presence might force the boat into port. He worked on the boat in the Pacific from 6 April until 9 November 1972, with a stop in Manzanillo (Mexico) for provisions. It was during this time that he took his first photographs to be published, in the May 1973 issue of '' Camera Mainichi.'' In 1973 he won a prize for his submission to the 14th exhibition of the Japan Advertising Photographers' Association.Mitsuhashi, "Kikai Hiroo", p. 98. But Kikai decided that in order to be a photographer he needed

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...

skills, and he returned to Tokyo to work at Doi Technical Photo (1973–76). He became a freelance photographer in 1984, a year after his first solo exhibition and the same year as his second. Living close to

(

), Kikai often went there on his days off, taking photographs of visitors. He stepped up his visits in 1985; a number of collections of his portraits taken there have been published. Kikai's other long-term photographic projects are of working and residential neighborhoods in and near Tokyo, and of people and scenes in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. All these are

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

. However, his occasional diversions included color photographs of the

Gotō Islands The are Japanese islands in the Sea of Japan. They are part of Nagasaki Prefecture. Geography There are 140 islands, including five main ones: , , , , and . The northernmost island is Ukujima. The group of islands runs approximately fr ...

and even of nudes. Unusually in Japan, where photographers tend to join or form groups, Kikai was never in any group, preferring to work by himself. When not setting out to take photographs, Kikai did not carry a camera with him. He left photographing his own family to his wife Noriko, and it is she who had the camera if they went on a trip together. In the early part of his career, Kikai often had to earn money in other ways: after three years' work in the darkroom, he returned to manual labor. Kikai taught for some time at

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

, but he was disappointed by the students' lack of sustained effort and therefore quit. Kikai died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

on 19 October 2020.

Asakusa portraits

Kikai had started his

series of square,

portraits as early as 1973, but after this there was a hiatus until 1985, when he realized that an ideal backdrop would be the plain red walls of

Sensō-ji , is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest-established temple, and one of its most significant. It is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Structures in the temple complex include the main hall, ...

. At that time, the great majority of his Asakusa portraits adopted further constraints: the single subject stands directly in front of the camera (originally a

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated ...

Autocord TLR, later the Hasselblad), looking directly at it, and is shown from around the knees upwards. Kikai might wait at the temple for four or five hours, hoping to see somebody he wanted to photograph, and three or four days might pass without a single photograph; but he might photograph three people in a single day, and he photographed over six hundred people in this way. He believed that to have a plain backdrop and a direct confrontation with the subject allows the viewer to see the subject as a whole, and as somebody on whom time is marked, without any distracting or limiting specificity. Though Kikai started to photograph in Asakusa simply because it was near where he then lived, he continued because of the nature of the place and its visitors. Once a bustling and fashionable area, Asakusa long ago lost this status. If it were as popular and crowded as it was before the war, Kikai said, he would go somewhere else. Published in 1987, ''Ōtachi no shōzō / Ecce Homo'' was the first collection of these portraits. It is a large-format book with portraits made in Asakusa in 1985 to '86. Kikai won the 1988 Newcomer's Award of the

Photographic Society of Japan The is an organization set up in December 1952 to advance photography in Japan. Its membership of about 1,400 includes both amateur and professional photographers, as well as researchers, critics, and people in the photographic industry. Its addr ...

(PSJ) for this book and the third

Ina Nobuo Award The is given annually by the Nikon Salon, an organization of exhibition spaces in Japan that is sponsored by Nikon Corporation. The award was started in 1976; it is named in honor of , a photography critic who headed the Nikon Salon from 1968 unt ...

for the accompanying exhibition. In 1995, a number of portraits from the series were shown together with the works of eleven other photographers in ''Tokyo/City of Photos,'' one of a pair of opening exhibitions for the purpose-made building of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography The is an art museum concentrating on photography. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum also ...

.''Tokyo/City of Photos,'' the published catalogue of the exhibition (for details see " Other works with contributions by Kikai"). ''Ya-Chimata'', a second collection of the portraits made in Asakusa, was published a year later. ''Persona'' (2003) is a further collection. A few are from Kikai's earliest work, but most postdate anything in the earlier books. Several of the subjects appear twice or more often, so the reader sees the effect of time. The book format is unusually large for a photograph collection in Japan, and the plates were printed via quadtone. The book won the 23rd Domon Ken Award and 2004 Annual Award of the PSJ. A smaller-format edition with additional photographs followed two years later. ''Asakusa Portraits'' (2008) is a large collection edited by the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

(New York), published in conjunction with the ICP's exhibition of recent Japanese photography and art ''Heavy Light.'' Kikai's contribution to this exhibition was well received,Favorable reviews of Kikai's photographs in "Heavy Light": Roberta Smith,
Japanese Culture, in Vivid Color
, ''New York Times'', 13 June 2008 (accessed 17 September 2008, requires registration but no payment); Heesun Wee,
Summer's photo finish with Atget, Evans, Kikai, Fusco
", ''Newyorkology,'' 22 August 2008 (accessed 17 September 2008);
Goings On About Town
, ''New Yorker,'' 30 June 2008 (accessed 17 September 2008). and ''Asakusa Portraits'' won praise for its photography and also (from

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

) for the vernacular fashion of those photographed.

Portraits of spaces

Kikai said that people and scenery are two sides of the same coin. When tired of waiting (or photographing) in Asakusa, he would walk as far as 20 km looking for urban scenes of interest where he could make "portraits of spaces". A day's walk might take two or three hours for less than a single roll of

120 film 120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their '' Brownie No. 2'' in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film. 120 film survives to this day as the onl ...

. He generally photographed between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and avoided photographing when people were outside as their presence would transform the photographs into mere snapshots, easily understood; even without people, they are the images or reflections of life. Kikai might find a scene that he wanted to photograph and then wait there and only photograph it when something unexpected occurred in the frame. After

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

, he did not bother with

contact print A contact print is a photographic image produced from Photographic film, film; sometimes from a film negative (photography), negative, and sometimes from a film positive or paper negative. In a darkroom an exposed and developed piece of film or ...

s, instead judging a photograph by the negative alone. Samples from this series appeared in various magazines from at least as early as 1976. Each photograph is simply captioned with the approximate address (in

Japanese script The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana. Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalized Japanese w ...

) and year. ''Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth'' (1999) presents portraits of unpeopled spaces in Tokyo (and occasionally the adjacent town of Kawasaki). There are individual shopfronts, rows of shops and residential streets. Most of the buildings are unpretentious. Like the Asakusa series, these portraits are monochrome and square, taken via a standard lens on 120 film. ''Tōkyō mutan / Labyrinthos'' (2007)—based on an essay/photograph series that ran in the monthly ''Sōshi'' () from March 2004 to July 2005 and then in the web series "Tokyo Polka"—presents more of the same. Between a single nude in a shopfront display from 1978 and a very young boy photographed in December 2006 (the latter appearing to share the

backdrop of ''Persona''), are square monochrome views of Tokyo and Kawasaki, compositions that seem casual and rather disorderly, mostly of unpeopled scenes showing signs of intensive and recent use. The book also has Kikai's essays from "Tokyo Polka", essays that dwell on the inhabitants of Tokyo as observed during walks or on the train. ''Tokyo View'' (2016) is a large-format collection, mostly of photographs that also appear in one or other of the earlier books (or ''Tōkyō pōtoreito'' / ''Tokyo Portraits'').

India

Kikai said that going to

felt like a return to the Yamagata of his youth, and a release from life in Tokyo."''Tōkyō Meiro'' o megutte", pp. 114, 115. His photography there was much less planned or formal than his portraits of people or places in Tokyo: after an early start with color 120 film, he used black and white 35 mm film in India—and laughingly said that he would use 35 mm in Tokyo if the city were more interesting and did not make him feel unhappy. ''India'', a large-format book published in 1992, presents photographs taken in India (and to a much lesser extent

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) over a period totalling rather more than a year and ranging from 1982 to 1990. It won high praise from the critic Kazuo Nishii, who commented that the India of Kikai's work seems perpetually overcast, and that in their ambiguity his photographs seem to benefit from the work done in the Asakusa portrait series. The book won Kikai the 1993

Society of Photography Award The Society of Photography Award (「写真の会」賞, ''Shashin no Kai shō'') is an award presented annually since 1989 by the (Tokyo-based) Society of Photography (写真の会, ''Shashin no Kai'') for outstanding work in photography. Recipie ...

. ''Shiawase / Shanti'' (2001) is a collection of photographs that concentrates on children, most of which were taken in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Benares Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in 2000. It won the Grand Prix of the second Photo City Sagamihara Festival.Domon-Ken-shō jushō kinen Kikai Hiroo shashinten 'Persona'
".

Turkey

Wanting to explore somewhere that (in contrast to India) was cold, as well as a Muslim land where Asian and European cultures meet, in 1994 Kikai made the first of six visits to

, where he stayed for a total of nine months. His monochrome photographs of Turkey appeared in the magazine ''

Asahi Camera was a Japanese monthly photographic magazine, published from April 1926 until July 2020, when it was discontinued due to declining circulation. History and profile The first issue was that for April 1926.During the twentieth century, Japanese mon ...

,'' and his colour photographs on its website, before the publication in January 2011 of his large book ''Anatolia,'' a compilation of his monochrome work.

Photography elsewhere

Kikai was one of thirteen Japanese photographers invited by EU–Japan Fest to photograph the twenty-six nations of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

; he spent twenty-one days in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in September 2005 and a short period in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in October 2004, travelling widely in both countries. In color, these photographs are a departure from his earlier work. Most are more or less candid photographs of people. The collection was published in a book titled ''In-between 8.'' Series of color photographs from short visits to Cuba (2007) and Taiwan (2013) have appeared in ''Asahi Camera.''

Writing

Kikai's essays have appeared in periodicals and within some of his own photobooks. They have also been collected in four books, in which they are illustrated by reproductions of relevant photographs. ''Indo ya Gassan'' ("India and Gassan", 1999) is a collection of essays about and photographs of India.

Gassan is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Tetsutaro Murano. It was Japan's submission to the 52nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. Cast * Hisashi Igawa as Iwazo * Yūko Katagiri ...

is a mountain in central Yamagata close to where Kikai was brought up; Kikai muses on India and compares it with the Yamagata of his youth. ''Me to kaze no kioku'' ("Memories of the eye and the wind", 2012) collects essays published in ''Yamagata Shinbun'' () since 2006; ''Dare omo sukoshi suki ni naru hi: Memekuri bōbiroku'' ("Days when you come to like anyone a little: An image-turning aide-memoire", 2015) collects essays published in ''Bungakukai'' () since 2011; ''Kutsuzoku no herikata'' ("Ways to wear down shoe rubber", 2016) is a fourth collection.

Exhibitions

Supplementary English titles in parentheses are nonce translations for this article; those outside parentheses and in quotation marks were used at the time. * '': Asakusa portraits * '': India * '': Portraits of spaces * '': Turkey

Selected solo exhibitions

*"Nagi: Machinaka no kōkei" (, Calm: Town scenes). '' Konishiroku Photo Gallery (

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

), August–September 1983. *"Indo kikō" (, India travelogue). '' Doi Photo Plaza Shibuya (

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

, Tokyo), August 1984; Art Plaza (

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

), August 1984; Gallery Antomeru (

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

), September 1984; Yamagata, 1984.　 *"Ōtachi no shōzō (Sensōji keidai)" (, Portraits of kings n the grounds of Sensō-ji. '' Ginza

Nikon Salon is the name given to exhibition spaces and activities run by Nikon in Japan. The Ginza Nikon Salon (in Ginza, Tokyo) opened in January 1968 (with an exhibition of work by Ihei Kimura) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nippon Kōgaku (later re ...

(

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

, Tokyo), September 1988.　 *"Dai-13 Ina Nobuo shō jushō sakuhinten: Kikai Hiroo 'Ōtachi no shōzō (Sensōji keidai) (, Exhibition of works winning the 13th Ina Nobuo Award: Hiroh Kikai, Portraits of kings n the grounds of Sensō-ji. '' Ginza

(

, Tokyo);

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

;

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

; etc., 1988–89.Ginza Nikon Salon: ''Ina Nobuo shō 20-nen,'' p.154. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, etc.: "Kikai Hiroo, ''Indo ya gassan'' shashinka" (specifying the cities but not the galleries). *The Hitachi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Photography,

Center for Creative Photography The Center for Creative Photography (CCP), established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona's Tucson campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American ph ...

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, Arizona. 1989.Jinsei gekijō
", Kyoto University of Art and Design (accessed 20 January 2009).　 *"Dai-13-kai Ina Nobuo shō jushō sakuhinten: Kikai Hiroo 'Kanshō: Machi no katachi (, Exhibition of works winning the 13th Ina Nobuo Award: Hiroh Kikai, Meditation: Town shapes). '' Osaka Nikon Salon, February 1990; Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), March 1990; Kyoto; etc., 1990.　 *"Ecce Homo". '' Robert Koch Gallery (

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

), 1993.''Tokyo/City of Photos,'' n.p.　 *"Indo kikō" (, India travelogue). '' Shōmeidō Gallery (

Kodaira is a city located in the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 195,207 in 93,654 households, and a population density of 9500 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Kodai ...

), 1998."Kikai Hiroo, ''Indo ya gassan'' shashinka". *"Persona (1)". '' Centrum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej "Manggha" (

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

), 1999. * "Shashin to insatsu hyōgen" (, Photographs and printing expression). '' Mitsumura Art Plaza ( Ōsaki, Tokyo), February–March 2000. *"Persona (2)". '' Centrum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej "Manggha" (Kraków), November–December 2002. *"Persona". '' The Third Gallery Aya (Osaka), October 2003. *"Persona". '' Domon Ken Photography Museum ( Sakata), September–November 2004.　 *"Persona". '' Ginza Nikon Salon (Tokyo); Osaka, 2004.　 *"Persona". '' Galeria Fotografii PF, Centrum Kultury "Zamek" (

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

), February–March 2005. *"Persona". '' Shōmeidō Gallery (Kodaira) January 2005. *"Perusona" (). '' Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), February–March 2006; Osaka Nikon Salon (Osaka), April 2006. *"Tōkyō mutan" (). '' Ginza Nikon Salon (Ginza, Tokyo), September 2007; Osaka Nikon Salon (Osaka), October 2007. *"Tokyo Labyrinth". '' Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York City), September–October 2008., re-title.com (accessed 2 December 2009). *"Jinsei gekijō" (, Human theatre). '' Gallery Raku,

Kyoto University of Art and Design , official abbreviated name is . It is a for-profit private university in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. The predecessors are the Kyoto Academy of Costume Arts, which was founded in 1934, and the Kyoto Academy of Art and Design, which was esta ...

, Kyoto, March 2009. *"Persona". '' Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York City), May–July 2009. *"Asakusai portrék". '' Liget Gallery (

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

), November–December 2010. *"Anatoria e no purosesu" (). '' Aoyama Book Center (

Omotesandō is a Zelkova serrata, zelkova tree-lined avenue located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Shibuya and Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, stretching from the Meiji Shrine entrance to Aoyama-dōri (Aoyama Street), where Omotesandō Station can be found. History Omot ...

, Tokyo), January 2011. *"Tōkyō pōtoreito" () / "Tokyo portraits".

, S The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...

( Ebisu, Tokyo), August–October 2011. *"Anatoria" (). '' M2 (

, Tokyo), August 2011. *"Persona". , S, I, T'' Yamagata Museum of Art ( Yamagata), December 2011 – January 2012. *"Tokyo Labyrinth". '' Zen Foto Gallery (

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

, Tokyo), May 2013. *"Persona" / "Perusona" (). '' 14th Documentary Photo Festival Miyazaki,

Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum was established in Miyazaki, Japan, in 1995. The collection focuses on artists from or associated with Miyazaki Prefecture and also includes works by Picasso, Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German arti ...

, August–September 2013. *"Asakusa Portraits (1973–2008) et India (1982–2008)".

, I The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...

'' In between Gallery (Paris), November 2013. *"India 1982–2011". '' Canon Gallery S (

Shinagawa is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per ...

, Tokyo), May–June 2014. *"Retratos de Asakusa". '' , Promoción del Arte (Madrid), September–November 2014. *"India 1982–2011". '' The Museum of Art, Ehime (

Matsuyama, Ehime 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

), September–October 2014. *"Tôkyô: voyage à Asakusa".

Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale The Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale (; ) is an organization established in 1801 to support French industry. Over the years it has provided prizes and support to inventors, promoted transfer of technology and management techniq ...

, Paris 6. October 2015. *"India 1979–2016" '' Fujifilm Photo Salon (Tokyo), May–June 2017. *《人物》鬼海弘雄的肖像摄影. '' See+ Art Space / Gallery (Beijing), December 2017 – February 2018. *"Persona". '' Photo Gallery Blue Hole (

Katagami, Akita 270px, Wind turbines lined up along the coast of Katagami City is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 31,775 in 14162 households, and a population density of 330 persons per km². The total area ...

), August 2018 – January 2019. *"Persona". '' Kihoku town office (),

Kihoku, Ehime is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Kitauwa District, Ehime, Kitauwa District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 9,614 in 4891 households, and a population density of 40 persons per km². The total area ...

, February 2019. *"Persona". '' Sagae City Museum of Art,

Sagae, Yamagata Jion-in temple is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,131, and a population density of 289 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Sagae is located in the Yamagata Basin ...

, April–June 2019. *"Persona: The Final Chapter" / "Persona saishūshō" (). '' Irie Taikichi Memorial Museum of Photography Nara City, September–October 2019. *"Persona: The Final Chapter ". '' In between Gallery (Paris), November–December 2019. *"Ōtachi no shōzō" (, Portraits of kings). '' (Tokyo), June–August 2020.

Selected group exhibitions

*"The Hitachi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Photography".

, University of Arizona, 1988.　　 *"Nyū dokyumentsu 1990" () / "New Documents 1990".

Museum of Modern Art, Toyama A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

(

Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island * Toyama (city), the capital city of Toyama Prefecture * Toyama Station, the main station of Toyama, Toyama * Toyama Sta ...

), 1990. *"Shashin toshi Tōkyō" () / "Tokyo/City of Photos". '' (Other photographers exhibited were

Takanobu Hayashi is a Japanese photographer. Early life Hayashi was born in Dalian, China, in 1946, but his family then quickly moved to Japan, first to Beppu ( Ōita) and then to Kyoto. He worked in a darkroom for a year after graduating from high school, and ...

, Ryūji Miyamoto,

Daidō Moriyama is a Japanese photographer best known for his black-and-white street photography and association with the avant-garde photography magazine ''Provoke (magazine), Provoke''. Moriyama began his career as an assistant to photographer Eikoh Hosoe, ...

, Shigeichi Nagano,

Ikkō Narahara file:Ikkō Narahara.jpg, Ikkō Narahara picture. was a Japanese photographer. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Early life and education Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Narahara studied law at Chuo ...

Mitsugu Ōnishi Mitsugu Ōnishi (大西みつぐ,His personal name was originally written 貢. ''Ōnishi Mitsugu''; born 7 October 1952) is a Japanese photographer. Born in Tokyo, Ōnishi graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1974, rejoining a year ...

, Masato Seto,

Issei Suda (24 April 1940 – 7 March 2019) was a Japanese photographer who " ombineda pure appreciation of Japanese customs with a sharp investigative eye".大澤友貴, 「須田一政」, 『フジフイルム・フォトコレクション展　富士フ ...

Akihide Tamura is a Japanese photographer. He was born in Tokyo on 13 March 1947 as Shigeru Tamura (, ''Tamura Shigeru'').Akihide Tamura should not be confused with the well-known photographer Shigeru Tamura (1909–87), whose name is even written with the ...

Tokuko Ushioda Tokuko Ushioda (潮田登久子, ''Ushioda Tokuko,'' b. 1940) is a Japanese photographer whose ''Bibliotecha'' series won the Domon Ken Award, the Photographic Society of Japan’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Higashikawa International Phot ...

, and

Hiroshi Yamazaki __NOTOC__ was a Japanese photographer whose works concentrate on the sun and the sea. Born in Nagano Prefecture, Nagano on 21 September 1946, Yamazaki studied at Nihon University but dropped out in 1968, starting out as a freelance cameraman a ye ...

, 1995.　 *"Shashin wa nani o katareru ka" (). ''

, June; Osaka

Umeda is a major commercial, business, shopping and entertainment district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, where the city's main northern railway termini ( Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station) are located. The district's name means "plum field". History Umeda ...

Canon Salon, July;

Canon Salon, August;

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Canon Salon, September;

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Canon Salon, October;

Canon Salon, November 1997. *"Berlin–Tokyo".

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its sculpt ...

, Berlin, 2006. *"Tōkyō meiro / Andesu Kuero" () / "Tokyo Labyrinth / Andes Qero". '' (With

Yoshiharu Sekino is a Japanese surgeon, explorer, travel writer, photographer and anthropologist. Biography Sekino was born in 1949 in Tokyo. While a student at Hitotsubashi University, he cofounded and participated in a university team that descended the entire l ...

, who exhibited photographs taken of the

Q'ero Q'ero (spelled Q'iru in the official three-vowel Quechua languages, Quechua orthography) is a Quechuas, Quechua-speaking community or ethnic group dwelling in the province of Paucartambo Province, Paucartambo, in the Cusco Region of Peru. The Q ...

.) Shōmeidō Gallery (

), July 2007. *"Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan". ''

(New York), May–September 2008. *"Sander's Children". '' Danziger Projects, New York, 2008. *''Mit anderen Augen. Das Porträt in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie = With Different Eyes: The Portrait in Contemporary Photography.'' '' Die Photografische Sammlung/, Cologne, 26 February – 29 May 2016;

Kunstmuseum Bonn The Kunstmuseum Bonn or Bonn Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Bonn, Germany, founded in 1947. The Kunstmuseum exhibits both temporary exhibitions and its collection. Its collection is focused on Rhenish Expressionism and post-war German ...

, 25 February – 8 May 2016. *"Faces from Places". '' L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, Manhattan, 6 May – 16 July 2016. With

Mike Disfarmer Mike Disfarmer (born Mike Meyer, 1884–1959) was an American photographer known for his portraits of everyday people in rural Arkansas from the 1920s to the 1950s. His stark, realist photographs were rediscovered in the 1970s and later came to be ...

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Sirkka-Liisa Roberts (née Konttinen; born 1948) is a Finnish photographer who has worked in Britain since the 1960s.Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (ed. Andrew Pulver),Photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen's best shot, ''The Guardian,'' 12 August 2009. A ...

, J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,

Malick Sidibé Malick Sidibé (1935 – 14 April 2016) was a Malian photographer from a Fulani ( Fula) village in Soloba, who was noted for his black-and-white studies of popular culture in the 1960s in Bamako, Mali. Sidibé had a long and fruitful career as ...

, and Jacques Sonck.

Permanent collections

: 17 photographs from the series ''Ōtachi no shōzō'' (later known as ''Persona'' or ''Asakusa Portraits''), 1985–86. *

(Japan) * Domon Ken Photography Museum ( Sakata, Yamagata, Japan) *

(Berlin) *

Walther Collection The Walther Collection is a private non-profit organization dedicated to researching, collecting, exhibiting, and publishing modern and contemporary photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating ima ...

(

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm (, ; Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the seat of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 Decembe ...

, Germany / New York): 16 photographs from the series ''Asakusa Portraits'' *

(

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, Tucson) *

Hood Museum of Art The Hood Museum of Art is an art museum owned and operated by Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The first reference to the development of an art collection at Dartmouth was in 1772, making the collection among the oldest and largest, a ...

(

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, Hanover, New Hampshire) *

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

(Texas) *Museum of the

(New York) *

Mead Art Museum Mead Art Museum houses the fine art collection of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Opened in 1949, the building is named after architect William Rutherford Mead (class of 1867), of the prestigious architectural firm McKim, Mead & Whi ...

(

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

, Amherst, Massachusetts) *

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

(Pennsylvania)Catalogue entry
Philadelphia Museum of Art. Accessed 16 September 2014.

Publications

Books by Kikai

*''Ōtachi no shōzō: Sensō-ji keidai'' () / ''Ecce homo: Portraits of kings''. Yokohama: Yatate, 1987. . Photograph collection, with captions in Japanese and English, and an essay by

. There are forty-one monochrome plates. *''India.'' Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1992. . Photograph collection, with text (by Kikai and

Munesuke Mita
was a Japanese sociologist who wrote about modern society. Mita has studied about modern society at

''Ya-Chimata'' (in other contexts written in the ''kanji'' rather than in ''hiragana'') means a place where a road divides into eight (or some comparable number), or a place where the paths are confusingly numerous. For a dictionary definition (in Japanese), se
八衢（やちまた）の意味
( goo辞書). Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1996. . Photograph collection, with text (by Kikai and ten other writers) in Japanese only. There are 183 monochrome plates. *''Tōkyō meiro'' () / ''Tokyo Labyrinth''. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1999. . Photograph collection, with text (by

, Genpei Akasegawa, and Suehiro Tanemura) in Japanese only. There are 108 monochrome plates. *''Indo ya Gassan'' (, India and Gassan). Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 1999. . Thirty essays and forty-one photographs; text in Japanese only. The monochrome photographs are a mixture of "landscape" (across two pages) and "portrait" (on single pages). *''Shiawase: Indo daichi no kodomo-tachi'' () / ''Shanti: Children of India''. Tokyo: Fukuinkan, 2001. . Photograph collection (all monochrome): thirteen "landscape" photographs across both pages; and ninety-four "portrait". There are no captions, and the text is in Japanese only.Fukuinkan's description (in Japanese) of ''Shanti'' i
here
*''Persona.'' Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2003. . Photograph collection, with captions and text (by

, Suehiro Tanemura, and Kikai) in both Japanese and English. Between an additional plate at the front and back, there are twelve plates in a prefatory section (photographs taken well before the others), and in the body of the book twenty-eight plates four to a page and 138 plates on their own pages. *''Perusona'' () / ''Persona''. Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2005. . Second, popular edition of the 2003 ''Persona'' in a smaller format. There are additional essays and photographs by Kikai; captions in both Japanese and English, other text in Japanese only. The twelve prefatory plates of the first edition and 191 plates of the main series are each presented on a separate page; there are also three more plates of photographs outside the series.Sōshisha's description (in Japanese) of the second edition of ''Persona'' (with 24 sample photographs) i
here
*''In-between'' 8: ''Kikai Hiroo Porutogaru, Maruta'' () / ''In-between,'' 8: ''Hiroh Kikai, Portugal, Malta.'' Tokyo: EU–Japan Fest Japan Committee, 2005. . One of a series of 14 books (). Photograph collection; captions and text in both Japanese and English. There are twenty-eight colour photographs of Portugal and twenty-seven of Malta.The EU–Japan Fest Japan Committee's description of ''In-between'' 8 i

*''Tōkyō mutan'' () / ''Labyrinthos.'' Tokyo: Sōshisha, 2007. . Collection of 118 monochrome photographs and essays; captions (for each, the approximate address and the year) and essays are in Japanese only. *''Asakusa Portraits.'' New York: International Center of Photography; Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. . Collection of monochrome photographs; captions and texts in English only. With an interview of Kikai by Noriko Fuku, essays by Kikai (translated from ''Perusona'') and an essay on Asakusa by .Steidl's description of ''Asakusa Portraits'' i

*''Anatoria'' () / ''Anatolia.'' Tokyo: Crevis, 2011. . Collection of 140 monochrome photographs (all "landscape" format) of Turkey (not only

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

). With afterwords by Toshiyuki Horie and Kikai.Crevis's description (in Japanese) of ''Anatolia'' i
here
*''Tōkyō pōtoreito'' () / ''Tokyo Portraits.'' Tokyo: Crevis, 2011. . Exhibition catalogue of over 150 monochrome photographs of the "Asakusa portraits" and "portraits of spaces" series. Afterwords (by , , and Nobuyuki Okabe []) in Japanese only; captions in Japanese and English.Crevis's description (in Japanese) of ''Tokyo Portraits'' i
here
*''Me to kaze no kioku: Shashin o meguru esē'' (). Tokyo: Iwanami, 2012. . Essay collection. *''Seken no hito'' (). Chikuma Bunko. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 2014. . A ''

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space-saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

'' anthology of the Asakusa portrait series. *''Dare o mo sukoshi suki ni naru hi: Memekuri bōbiroku'' (). Tokyo: Bungei shunjū, 2015. . Essay collection. **''Naxie jianjian xihuan shang ren de rizi'' (那些渐渐喜欢上人的日子视线所至备忘录). Hunan: 浦睿文化·湖南文艺出版社, 2019. . Translation into Chinese by 连子心. *''Tokyo View''. Kyoto: Kazetabi-sha, 2016. A large-format collection of 117 monochrome photographs of the "portraits of spaces" series. Captions in Japanese and English; afterword by in Japanese only.Kazetabi's description (in Japanese) of ''Tokyo View'' i
here
*''Kutsuzoku no herikata'' (). Tokyo: Chikumashobo, 2016. . Essay collection, contains 32 full-page plates from the "portraits of spaces" series.Chikumashobo's description (in Japanese) of ''Kutsuzoku no herikata'' i
here
*''India 1979–2016.'' Tokyo: Crevis, 2017. . Black and white plates, mostly one to a page, with captions in Japanese. With a preface by Kikai and an essay by ; all in Japanese only.Crevis's description (in Japanese) of ''India 1979–2016'' i

*''Persona saishūshō 2005–2018'' () / ''Persona: The Final Chapter, 2005–2018.'' Tokyo: Chikumashobo, 2019. . 205 captioned black and white plates, one to a page; with essays by Kikai and Toshiyuki Horie; all both in Japanese and in English translation.Chikumashobo's description (in Japanese) of ''Persona: The Final Chapter'' i
here
*''Kotoba wo utsusu: Kikai Hiroo taidanshū'' (, Portraying words: Hiroh Kikai interview collection). Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2019. . Interviews by Kikai of

Taichi Yamada was a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. His real name was . Early life Yamada was in Asakusa, Tokyo, a setting used in his novel ''Ijintachi to no natsu.'' He attended Waseda University before entering the Shōchiku film studios, where he ...

Nobuyoshi Araki , professionally known by the mononym , is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. Known primarily for photography that blends eroticism and bondage in a fine art context, he has published over 500 books. Early life and education Araki ...

, , , Randy Taguchi, , Toshiyuki Horie and

Natsuki Ikezawa is a Japanese poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. He draws upon the relationship between civilization and nature in his writing, among other themes. Ikezawa translates a wide variety of writing, from contemporary Greek po ...

; edited by .Heibonsha's description (in Japanese) of ''Kotoba wo utsusu'' i
here
*''Shanti: Persona in India.'' Tokyo: Chikumashobo, 2019. . 168 captioned black and white plates, one to a page; with essays by Kikai and Shinji Ishii; all both in Japanese and in English translation.Chikumashobo's description (in Japanese) of ''Shanti'' i
here
*''Ōtachi no shōzō'' (, "Portraits of kings"). JCII Photo Salon Library 346. Tokyo: JCII Photo Salon, 2020. .鬼海弘雄作品展「王たちの肖像」
(catalogue sales page), JCII Camera Museum,

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

Accessed 27 August 2020. Photographs from the series later known as "Asakusa portraits", from 1973 to 1986; 22 photographs, one per page; plus four photographs on each of four pages.

Other books with contributions by Kikai

*''Shashin toshi Tōkyō'' () / ''Tokyo/City of Photos.'' Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1995. Catalogue of an exhibition held in 1995. Plates 113–29, admirably printed, are from Kikai's series of Asakusa portraits. Captions and texts in both Japanese and English. *''Literatura na świecie'' (Warsaw, ISSN 0324-8305) number 1–3, 2002. This special issue on Japanese literature, ''Japonia'', is illustrated with photographs by Kikai, taken from ''Ya-Chimata'' and ''Tōkyō meiro / Tokyo Labyrinth''. Text in Polish. *Ueda Makoto. ''Shūgō jūtaku monogatari'' (, The story of collective housing). Tokyo: Misuzu, 2004. . A book about collective housing in Japan from the Dōjunkai buildings onward, with 165 illustrative color photographs, all by Kikai. (Some monochrome photographs are older and are by other photographers.) The text, by

Ueda Ueda may refer to: Places *Ueda, Nagano, a city in Japan * Ueda Castle in Japan * Ueda Domain of Japan * Ueda Glacier in Antarctica Other uses * Ueda (surname) *Siege of Ueda Sekigahara campaign Sieges of the Sengoku period Attacks on castles ...

, is in Japanese only. Content previously (1997–2001) published in '' Tokyojin.''Misuzu's description (in Japanese) of ''Shūgō jūtaku monogatari'' i
here
*''In-between: 13-nin no shashinka 25-kakoku'' () / ''In-between: 13 photographers, 25 nations.'' Tokyo: EU–Japan Fest Japan Committee, 2005. . Kikai is one of the thirteen in this supplementary collection of photographs in six themes ("Stones and walls", "Words", etc.); captions and text in both Japanese and English. *Miyako Harumi. ''Messēji'' () / ''The Message.'' Tokyo: Juritsusha, 2006. . A book of which about half consists of quotations from interviews with the ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

'' singer

Harumi Miyako , born Harumi Kitamura (, ''Kitamura Harumi'') in Kyoto, is a Japanese ''enka'' singer. She made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: she makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' and has a ...

, and the other half of color photographs by Kikai. The photographs are not described or identified; a handful are of Miyako but most are of sea and provincial views. (In many, the scenes are recognizably of the Kumano area just west of Kumanogawa,

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...

.) The text is all in Japanese.Juritsusha's description (in Japanese) of ''The message'' i
here
. *''Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan.'' New York: International Center of Photography; Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. . Captions and texts in English only. *''Higashi-Nihon dai-jishin: Shashinka 17-nin no shiten'' (, The great east Japan earthquake: The perspectives of 17 photographers). Special compilation by ''

.'' Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2011. . A collection of photographs of the aftermath of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. Text in Japanese only. Kikai contributes six pages: Sōma in early June, and three towns in Miyagi in late August. *Kikai Hirô and . ''Tôkyô: voyage à Asakusa.'' Atlantique, Éditions de l'Actualité Scientifique Poitou-Charentes, 2015. . An introduction to the work of Kikai, in French and Japanese. *Gabriele Conrath-Scholl and Stephan Berg, eds. ''Mit anderen Augen. Das Porträt in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie = With Different Eyes: The Portrait in Contemporary Photography.'' Cologne: Snoeck, 2016. . Catalogue of the exhibition.

Notes

References

External links

*
Website
accompanying the 2015 Paris exhibition "Tôkyô: voyage à Asakusa"

. . *Fallis, Greg.
Hiroh Kikai
. Sunday Salon. ''Utata Tribal Photography.'' *Feustel, Marc.

. ''

LensCulture ''LensCulture'' is a photography network and online magazine about contemporary photography in art, media, politics, commerce and popular cultures worldwide. It is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. ''LensCulture'' sponsors international photograph ...

.'' 2008. Interview, with 10 sample photographs. *Feustel, Marc.
Hiroh Kikai: A man in the cosmos
. ''Eyecurious.'' 10 February 2010. Interview, with sample photographs.
Hiroh Kikai
. Studio Equis. Short biography with a set of images whose display requires Flash Player 8.

. Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York). Photographs from the "Persona" ("Asakusa Portraits") series.

Liget Gallery. Translations of a long interview of Kikai by Noriko Fuku. *Kikai Hiroh.
Yurari-yurayura-ki
(). A series of essays, each illustrated with photographs.

, ''Shashin shika dekinai koto'' (), ''The Photographer'' 2007. Fujifilm. Samples of Kikai's work. *Mirapaul, Evan.

" ''Fugitive Vision,'' 13 November 2007. Mirapaul comments on the Asakusa portrait series. *
Asakusa Portraits by Hiroh Kikai
' (PDF), Liget Galéria, Budapest. Lavishly illustrated proposal for an exhibition. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kikai, Hiroh 1945 births 2020 deaths Deaths from lymphoma in Japan Japanese essayists Japanese portrait photographers Photography in India Photography in Turkey People from Yamagata Prefecture Japanese street photographers Hosei University alumni