OREANDA-NEWS. ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) opened ITOCHU AOYAMA ART SQUARE in the CI Plaza, a commercial facility situated next to ITOCHU’s Tokyo Head Office, in October 2012. The gallery was part of ITOCHU’s social contribution activities, with the aim of developing the future generation through art, contributing to the local community, and promoting both local and international art and culture. Various exhibitions have since been held in the space.

Taking a step forward from traditional projects, ITOCHU is now organizing a two-part photography exhibition curated by photography critic Minoru Shimizu, with the purpose of developing future generations. The first part features photographs taken by two up-and-coming photographers who are gaining attention after receiving the Kimura Ihei Award, dubbed the Akutagawa Award of the photography community. The theme of the photography exhibition is Tohoku/Okinawa. Mr. Masaru Tatsuki (37th Kimura Ihei Award winner) has been visiting the Tohoku Region since 2006, well before the Tohoku earthquake, to take photos while concurrently communicating with the local people. Mr. Ryuichi Ishikawa (40th Kimura Ihei Award winner) was born and raised in Okinawa, and has been capturing the way people live their lives in present-day Okinawa. Both photographers honor their encounters with the people who are also objects of their photography, listen to what they have to say, and share their lives and experiences before taking the photographs. This is the reason why their photographs are not only beautiful, but also powerful.

It is 2016 and now is the time to view the evocative scenes of Tohoku and Okinawa, vividly captured by two photographers who play an important role in nurturing modern art for future generations.