Tatsumi Hijikata – Furoshiki and Dog

Special performance by butoh dancer Saga Kobayashi Free admission. No reservation required. Kenji Ishiguro was born in Fukui Prefecture in 1935. This is his second solo exhibition at Akio Nagasawa Gallery, following “HIROSHIMA 1965” in 2018. This exhibition presents works Ishiguro photographed in 1970 of butoh dancer Tatsumi Hijikata. At the time, Ishiguro was experimenting with staging his photographs by wrapping his subjects in a furoshiki before photographing them. Hijikata was one of the subjects, and Ishiguro is said to have bound his body in a furoshiki and forced him to move like a “cripple.” The photographs were taken primarily at the rehearsal space established by butoh dancer Akiko Motofuji, which Hijikata named the “Asbestos-kan” in the 1960s. Shortly after this photo session, Yukio Mishima visited the Asbestos-kan to meet Tatsumi Hijikata. Approximately one week later, on November 25, 1970, Mishima died by suicide. It is said that, on that very same day, photographs taken by Ishiguro were printed. Three works from this series were first published in the same year in Sekai Gaho (Kokusai Joho-sha), while the remaining works remained unpublished for many years. This exhibition presents the complete series, including works that have never previously been exhibited. A photobook will also be published to coincide with the exhibition. We hope you will take this opportunity to view the exhibition.