Takashi Kijima
Encyclopedia
Kijima was born in Calexico
, California
on 24 December 1920, the son of a Mr Watanabe, a shoe manufacturer who had immigrated in 1905, and his wife Sei (せい). The boy's name as a US citizen was Ryu Watanabe. In 1924, the Immigration Act
and anti-Japanese sentiment
brought the family back to Japan, where it separated: the boy's elder brother followed his father to Osaka
while Takashi lived with his mother's family in Ōshinotsu (now part of Yonago
), Tottori
. In 1935 his father gave him a Zeiss Semi Ikonta camera, starting his interest in photography. Despite retaining US nationality at a time of anti-US sentiment, he majored in film at Nihon University
, graduating in 1943. Although his elder brother was teaching Japanese to the US Navy and his father was incarcerated in a relocation camp in California (where he would become ill and die), Kijima joined the naval air corps, in a kamikaze
unit.
At the end of the war, carrying the Rolleicord
of one of his wartime comrades, Kijima returned to Yonago and studied photography under Shōji Ueda
. Kijima became a proponent of the realist views of Ken Domon
, as expressed in Camera
magazine. A portrait of an old woman won effusive praise from Domon on its submission to a contest held by Camera.
Kijima moved to Tokyo
in 1953, working for Light Publicity. He won prizes for his advertising work before and after becoming a freelance in 1956. His 1960 advertisements for Yawata Iron & Steel
in Life
won an advertising award from Life. He has been called "the most vigorous creator in the world of commercial photography in Japan" during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Since 1945, Kijima had also been following his own, noncommercial interest in photographing nudes in black and white outdoors. His photographing of nude women directly in front of Sakurada gate of the imperial palace
in central Tokyo very early one morning in 1958 caused a great moral panic. His 1958 exhibition, titled "Ra" , of nude photographs was the second held in Japan (the first was by Kira Sugiyama
); more than thirty thousand people came to see it.
At some time in the late 1950s Kijima and Shōzō Kitadai
did the photography for an untitled set, designed by Kitadai, of four miniature books (mamebon) of photographs, distributed by Graphic Shūdan ; its effective use of juxtapositions and miniature format has elevated it to fame among the Japanese photobooks of the time.
Kijima gradually turned toward photographing traditional Japanese arts and nature and particularly flowers, with entire books about cherry blossom
s and orchids. He specialized in kimono
and until very late in his life was photographing models for the magazine Kimono Salon.
Ikui has described Kijima's works as influenced by both Domon and the very different Ueda, but finding a third, commercial way.
Kijima died on 20 February 2011.
in February–March 1992, with reproductions of Kijima's works on pp. 99–110.
Calexico, California
Calexico is a city in Imperial County, California. The population was 38,572 at the 2010 census, up from 27,109 at the 2000 census. Calexico is about east of San Diego and west of Yuma, Arizona...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on 24 December 1920, the son of a Mr Watanabe, a shoe manufacturer who had immigrated in 1905, and his wife Sei (せい). The boy's name as a US citizen was Ryu Watanabe. In 1924, the Immigration Act
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...
and anti-Japanese sentiment
Anti-Japanese sentiment
Anti-Japanese sentiment involves hatred, grievance, distrust, dehumanization, intimidation, fear, hostility, and/or general dislike of the Japanese people and Japanese diaspora as ethnic or national group, Japan, Japanese culture, and/or anything Japanese. Sometimes the terms Japanophobia and...
brought the family back to Japan, where it separated: the boy's elder brother followed his father to Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
while Takashi lived with his mother's family in Ōshinotsu (now part of Yonago
Yonago, Tottori
is a city located in the northwest of Tottori Prefecture, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan, and adjacent to Shimane. It is the prefecture's second largest city after Tottori and therefore a commercial center of the western part of this prefecture....
), Tottori
Tottori
Tottori can refer to:* Tottori Prefecture - a Japanese prefecture with 613,229 people.* Tottori, Tottori - a Japanese city with 202,015 people.* Tottori Sand Dunes...
. In 1935 his father gave him a Zeiss Semi Ikonta camera, starting his interest in photography. Despite retaining US nationality at a time of anti-US sentiment, he majored in film at Nihon University
Nihon University
Nihon University is the largest university in Japan. Akiyoshi Yamada, the minister of justice, founded Nihon Law School in October 1889....
, graduating in 1943. Although his elder brother was teaching Japanese to the US Navy and his father was incarcerated in a relocation camp in California (where he would become ill and die), Kijima joined the naval air corps, in a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
unit.
At the end of the war, carrying the Rolleicord
Rolleicord
The Rolleicord was a popular medium-format twin lens reflex camera made by Franke & Heidecke between 1933 and 1976. It was a simpler, less expensive version of the high-end Rolleiflex TLR, aimed at amateur photographers who wanted a high-quality camera but could not afford the expensive Rolleiflex...
of one of his wartime comrades, Kijima returned to Yonago and studied photography under Shōji Ueda
Shoji Ueda
Ueda was born on 27 March 1913 in Sakai , Tottori. His father was a manufacturer and seller of geta; Shōji was the only child who survived infancy...
. Kijima became a proponent of the realist views of Ken Domon
Ken Domon
is one of the most renowned Japanese photographers of the twentieth century. He is most celebrated as a photojournalist, though he may have been most prolific as a photographer of Buddhist temples and statuary....
, as expressed in Camera
Camera (Japanese magazine)
, or Ars Camera , Arusu Kamera), is one of the older and longer running of Japanese camera magazines. It was published by the company Ars.The first issue of Ars Camera is dated April 1921: predating Asahi Camera by five years...
magazine. A portrait of an old woman won effusive praise from Domon on its submission to a contest held by Camera.
Kijima moved to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1953, working for Light Publicity. He won prizes for his advertising work before and after becoming a freelance in 1956. His 1960 advertisements for Yawata Iron & Steel
Nippon Steel
, also referred to as , was formed in 1970. Nippon Steel Corporation is the world's 4th largest steel producer by volume.-Early years:Nippon Steel was created by the merger of two giants, Yawata Iron & Steel and Fuji Iron & Steel...
in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
won an advertising award from Life. He has been called "the most vigorous creator in the world of commercial photography in Japan" during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Since 1945, Kijima had also been following his own, noncommercial interest in photographing nudes in black and white outdoors. His photographing of nude women directly in front of Sakurada gate of the imperial palace
Kokyo
is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace , the emperor left Kyoto Imperial Palace for Tokyo...
in central Tokyo very early one morning in 1958 caused a great moral panic. His 1958 exhibition, titled "Ra" , of nude photographs was the second held in Japan (the first was by Kira Sugiyama
Kira Sugiyama
was a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:*Nihon shashinka jiten / 328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers. Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. ISBN 4-473-01750-8....
); more than thirty thousand people came to see it.
At some time in the late 1950s Kijima and Shōzō Kitadai
Shozo Kitadai
is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
did the photography for an untitled set, designed by Kitadai, of four miniature books (mamebon) of photographs, distributed by Graphic Shūdan ; its effective use of juxtapositions and miniature format has elevated it to fame among the Japanese photobooks of the time.
Kijima gradually turned toward photographing traditional Japanese arts and nature and particularly flowers, with entire books about cherry blossom
Sakura
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...
s and orchids. He specialized in kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
and until very late in his life was photographing models for the magazine Kimono Salon.
Ikui has described Kijima's works as influenced by both Domon and the very different Ueda, but finding a third, commercial way.
Kijima died on 20 February 2011.
Books of Kijima's works
- With Shōzō KitadaiShozo Kitadaiis a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
. Untitled set of four miniature books (each titled by number alone). [Tokyo]: Graphic Shūdan, late 1950s. - Kyō no Kankoku: 38dosen no kochira-gawa . 1970.
- Ran . Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1975.
- The Orchid. London: Octopus, 1978. ISBN 070640808X.
- Zauber der Orchideen. 1980.
- Yoshitsune Senbonzakura / Keys to the Japanese Mind: Yoshitsune senbonzakura. 4 vols. Tokyo: NHK, 1981. ISBN 4-14-009070-7.
- 1. Ukiyoe .
- 2. Kabuki: jō .
- 3. Kabuki: ge .
- 4. Bunraku .
- L'Orchidea. 1983.
- (With Ichikawa Kumiko) Ran . Bunka Shuppankyoku, 1987.
- Ran . Graphic-sha, 1988.
- (With Ichikawa Kumiko) Ribon to ran . 1989.
- Ran-Hyakkafu (蘭=百花譜) / The Original Orchids. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1987. ISBN 4-09-699331-X. 2nd ed. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1990. ISBN 4-09-680511-4.
- Ran / The Orchid. Tokyo: Gurafikku-sha, 1988. ISBN 4-7661-0453-6. With text in Japanese and English.
- Orchids: Wonders of Nature. London: Salamander, 1988. ISBN 0861014227. New York: Mallard, 1989. ISBN 0792450655.
- Orchidées: Démons et merveilles. Solar, 1988. ISBN 2263012907. France Loisirs, 1989. ISBN 2724244281.
- Orchidee Colori Suggestioni Fascino di un Magico Fiore. Mondadori, 1988. ISBN 88-374-1020-4.
- Orchideen. Wunder der Natur. München, Südwest, 1988. ISBN 3517010979.
- Shiki: Shinjuku Gyōen . Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1991. ISBN 4-06-205088-9. With text in Japanese and English.
- Sakura no shiki . Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 1991. ISBN 4-09-680512-2.
- Orquideas. Madrid: Anaya, 1994. ISBN 84-207-3493-4.
- Sotsugyō omedetou . Parco Greeting Books. Tokyo: Parco, 1994. ISBN 4-89194-364-5.
- Razō densetsu 1945–1960 / Legend of the Nude, 1945–1960. Tokyo: Shoenshinsha, 1998. ISBN 4-915125-88-2. With texts in Japanese and English. Kijima Takashi ten / Takashi Kijima. Yonago, Tottori: Yonago City Museum of Art, 2001. Catalogue of a major exhibition held at Yonago City Museum of ArtYonago City Museum of Artis a municipal art gallery in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture that opened in 1983.The gallery has a permanent collection of paintings and photographs; the latter is particularly strong for the photographers Teikō Shiotani and Shōji Ueda. It also hosts special exhibitions.The museum is at Nakamachi 12,...
, contains photographs from Kijima's career as well as much reference material.
Other books showing Kijima's works
Ueda Shōji to sono nakama-tachi: 1935–55 . Yonago, Tottori: Yonago City Museum of Art, 1992. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Yonago City Museum of ArtYonago City Museum of Art
is a municipal art gallery in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture that opened in 1983.The gallery has a permanent collection of paintings and photographs; the latter is particularly strong for the photographers Teikō Shiotani and Shōji Ueda. It also hosts special exhibitions.The museum is at Nakamachi 12,...
in February–March 1992, with reproductions of Kijima's works on pp. 99–110.