When you hear the term photo magazine, it is difficult to not immediately jump onto the association of a colorful, glossy and above all, camera- and ad-guzzling publication we are all too familiar with. However, when Atsushi Fujiwara, photographer, photo studio manager and publisher of Asphalt contacted us to present the photo magazine he is publishing,... 

Rickshaw Driver, Ginza,Tokyo, 1938. Photograph by Hiroshi Hamaya Review by Lars Epstein for Japan Exposures. The photographer Hiroshi Hamaya (1915-1999) was only 16 years old when in 1931, with his then-new Leica camera, he took the oldest of the pictures displayed in the photographic exhibition “Tokyo Stories”, which opened at the Kulturhuset... 

I Don't Sleep, by Aya Fujioka. Published by Akaaka, 2009. Japan Exposures’ contributors John Sypal and Dan Abbe recently had several online chat sessions about Japanese photographer Aya Fujioka and her new book, 私は眠らない, or I Don’t Sleep, published late last year by Akaaka Art Publishing. They were nice enough to send the... 

Photo-eye recently posted their annual “Best Books” feature, with a whole host of photographers and photo people submitting their top 10 books of 2009. Naturally I was interested to see what Japanese books made the grade, but was rather disappointed that on the whole so few Japanese books were chosen. This is I’m sure due in large... 

Masashi Asada, from Asadake (2008) Review by Dan Abbe for Japan Exposures. Earlier this year, a friend mentioned to me that he’d recently seen an award-winning show at the Konica Minolta gallery. It had apparently made a real impression on him, so when I next found myself in Shinjuku I decided to stop by. As it turned out, the show was “Asadake”... 

Never meet your heroes — or so they say. Those who do live on to tell the tale. About twenty years ago, I remember it being a cold winter’s day as I once more browsed the photography section of the public library in central Frankfurt, Germany. My interest in the medium was just firming, and like all of us I was trying to take in as much... 

A first look at the Yashica EZ F521 from Japan Exposures on Vimeo. It’s small, light, bears a quality name and there is a lot of plastic involved: welcome to the Yashica EZ Digital F521, a camera released in Japan yesterday with a price tag just around US$100 (click here to purchase). Don’t let the big name “fool you” though,... 

Everyone I showed Slowly Down The River casually over drinks or at a dinner table, when there is no time to read the introduction, immediately assumed that these photos were taken in a war zone, after an earthquake or other catastrophic event. How better to arouse a viewer’s curiosity by taking expectations for a ride? Photographer Yasuhiro Ogawa... 

Text and images by John Sypal for Japan Exposures The other night I picked up Araki’s latest book, Tokyo Aruki. It comes in at a modest 160 pages printed at the extremely portable A5 size. Initially I was taken in by the reasonable asking price, but after a couple go-throughs it is plain to see that portability was a major factor in this book’s... 

Tambay (The Watchman) {click to enlarge} Text and images by Michael G Dougan for Japan Exposures Let me start by saying that I like folding cameras. In fact, I like them so much that between the 59 cameras I own, there are quite a few folders. When I got curious about film photography one of the first serious cameras I bought was an Agfa Super Isolette,...