Ihei Kimura

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Teihon: Kimura Ihei, a 2002 "definitive edition" of Kimura's works.

Ihei Kimura (木村伊兵衛, Kimura Ihei) is one of the most celebrated Japanese photographers of the twentieth century, particularly known for his portrayal of Tokyo and Akita.

Born on 12 December 1901 in Shitaya (now Taitō-ku), Tokyo, Kimura started taking photographs when very young but his interest intensified when he was around 20 and living in Tainan (Taiwan), where he was working for a sugar wholesaler. He opened a photographic studio in Nippori, Tokyo in 1924. In 1930, he joined the advertising section of the soap and cosmetics company Kaō, concentrating on informal photographs made with his Leica camera. In 1933, he joined Yonosuke Natori and others in forming the group Nihon Kōbō ("Japan workshop"), which emphasized "realism" in photography using 35mm cameras; but this rapidly broke up and Kimura formed an alternative group, Chūō Kōbō ("central workshop") with Nobuo Ina and others.

During the war, Kimura worked in Manchuria and for the publisher Tōhō-sha.

In 1950, Kimura was elected chairman of the newly formed Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS); together with Ken Domon he did much to encourage a documentary spirit in amateur photography.

In the mid-fifties, Kimura made several trips to Europe, but on his return to Japan concentrated on photographing rural life in Akita. He also worked on portraits, particularly of writers.

Kimura died at his home in Nippori on 31 May 1974; the Kimura Ihei Award for new photographers was promptly set up in his honor. He remains popular in Japan: samples of his photographs still (2006) regularly appear in the magazine Asahi Camera.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books of Kimura's photographs

Japanese School Life through the Camera. Tokyo: Society for International Cultural Relations (Kokusai Bunka Shinkōkai), 1937.
(As "Ihee Kimura".) Japan through a Leica. Tokyo: Sanseido, 1938. One hundred photographs of Japan. Facsimile edition: Tokyo: Kokushokan, 2006. ISBN 4-336-04488-0 (NB The box that contains this expensive reprint is considerably larger than the book within it.)
(Japanese) Kimura Ihei o yomu (『木村伊兵衛を読む』, "Reading Ihei Kimura"). Asahi Camera special edition. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1979. In Japanese only, but very substantial and contains a handy reference to Kimura's very numerous contributions to the magazine. (A special production by the Asahi Camera, prominently dated December 1979 and looking at first like that month's issue: but there was also a separate, regular issue for the month.)
Kimura Ihei (『木村伊兵衛』) / Ihei Kimura. Kyoto: Katsuhikan and the Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, 2002. A compact survey of Kimura's work in Japan. Elegantly produced, but the reproduction quality is disappointing. Short captions as well as some other text in English, other text in Japanese only.
Kimura Ihei-ten (『木村伊兵衛展』) / Ihei Kimura: The Man with the Camera. Tokyo: National Museum of Modern Art, 2004. The compact survey in this well-produced exhibition catalog includes such lesser known works as the Kaō advertisements. Captions and much of the text in English as well as Japanese.
Tanuma Takeyoshi (田沼武能), et al. Kimura Ihei no Pari (『木村伊兵衛のパリ』) / Kimura Ihei in Paris: Photographs 1954–1955. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun-sha, 2000. ISBN 4-02-250209-6 A large collection of color photographs.
(Japanese) Tanuma Takeyoshi (田沼武能), ed. Kimura Ihei no Shōwa (『木村伊兵衛の昭和』, "The Shōwa period of Ihei Kimura"). Chikuma Library 39. Tokyo: Chikuma, 1990. ISBN 4-480-05139-2 An inexpensive compact (shinsho) survey still (2006) in print.
(Japanese) Tanuma Takeyoshi (田沼武能), ed. Kimura Ihei: Shōwa o utsusu (『木村伊兵衛昭和を写す』, "Ihei Kimura: Photographing the Shōwa period"). Tokyo: Chikuma (Chikuma Bunko), 1995. An inexpensive four-volume pocket-format (bunkobon) survey still (2006) in print, based on the same publisher's four-volume set of 1984.
- 1. Senzen to sengo (『戦前と戦後』, "Before and after the war"). ISBN 4-480-03051-4 Okinawa, 1935; Manchuria, 1940; life in Tokyo and elsewhere in Honshū, mostly 1932–41; the aftermath of the war, 1945–7; Japan, 1949–72.
- 2. Yomigaeru toshi (『よみがえる都市』, "The city restored"). ISBN 4-480-03052-2 Tokyo 1946–73.
- 3. Jinbutsu to butai (『人物と舞台』, "People and the stage'). ISBN 4-480-03053-0 Portraits, people at work, the traditional Japanese stage.
- 4. Akita no minzoku (『秋田の民俗』, "Folkways of Akita"). ISBN 4-480-03054-9 Life in Akita Prefecture.
(Japanese) Teihon: Kimura Ihei (『定本木村伊兵衛』, "Ihei Kimura: The definitive edition"). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 2002. ISBN 4-02-258676-1 A large (29cm tall), carefully produced and rather expensive collection, which has captions in English as well as Japanese, but no other English.
(Japanese) Watanabe Yoshio (渡辺義雄), et al., eds. Kimura Ihei shashin zenshū: Shōwa jidai (『木村伊兵衛写真全集：昭和時代』, "Ihei Kimura photograph collection: The Shōwa period"). Tokyo: Sekaibunkasha, 1979. Three large (37cm tall), expensive hardback volumes.
- 1. Portraits and the stage.
- 2. Street scenes and the countryside.
- 3. Europe and China.
(Japanese) Watanabe Yoshio (渡辺義雄), et al., eds. Kimura Ihei shashin zenshū: Shōwa jidai (『木村伊兵衛写真全集：昭和時代』, "Ihei Kimura photograph collection: The Shōwa period"). Tokyo: Chikuma, 1984. Four large (31cm tall), hardback volumes, still (2006) in print.
- 1. Photographs from 1925 to 1945. ISBN 4-480-61301-3
- 2. Photographs from 1945 to 1953. ISBN 4-480-61302-1
- 3. Photographs from 1953 to 1974. ISBN 4-480-61303-X
- 4. Photographs of Akita Prefecture. ISBN 4-480-61304-8

[edit] Other

Association to Establish the Japan Peace Museum, ed. Ginza to sensō (『銀座と戦争』) / Ginza and the War. Tokyo: Atelier for Peace, 1986. ISBN 4-938365-04-9 Kimura is one of ten photographers — the others are Ken Domon, Shigeo Hayashi, Tadahiko Hayashi, Kōyō Ishikawa, Kōyō Kageyama, Shunkichi Kikuchi, Kōji Morooka, Minoru Ōki, and Maki Sekiguchi — who provide 340 photographs for this well-illustrated and large photographic history of Ginza from 1937 to 1947. Captions and text in both Japanese and English.
Hiraki, Osamu, and Keiichi Takeuchi. Japan, a Self-Portrait: Photographs 1945–1964. Paris: Flammarion, 2004. ISBN 2-08-030463-1 Kimura is one of eleven photographers whose works appear in this large book (the others are Ken Domon, Hiroshi Hamaya, Tadahiko Hayashi, Eikoh Hosoe, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Shigeichi Nagano, Ikkō Narahara, Takeyoshi Tanuma, and Shōmei Tōmatsu).