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Tomatsu Shomei “Chewing Gum and Chocolate”
Misa Shin Gallery
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Tomatsu Shomei
After his photograph ‘Base at Yokosuka’ appeared in the photography magazine Asahi Camera in 1959, Tomatsu began traveling with camera in hand to cities around Japan where US military bases were found: Chitose, Misawa, Iwakuni, Sasebo, and so on. Be it American soldiers strolling round town, signs written in dense English, or shops, bars and restaurants for army personnel, Tomatsu’s photographs deftly captured the parallel culture that was infiltrating its way into everyday Japanese life, and took on immediate cultural relevance. If the American Occupation meant Japan finding itself examined through the eyes of the stationed troops, it also meant the nation’s gradual Americanization. Tomatsu’s collection ‘Chewing Gum and Chocolate’, taken over a period of twenty years travelling around US military base towns, is a look at this two-sided reality, much like two mirrors set up facing one another. These images not only provide a depiction of the foreign culture that came into Japan after the war, but like a Coca-Cola sign which leaves its mark even after the paint has peeled off, it also symbolizes the Japanese post-war philosophy which still endures to this day. This exhibition comprises seventeen black and white photographs taken by Tomatsu between 1958 and 1980 around US military bases across Japan.
Schedule | Mar 1 (Tue) 2016-Apr 9 (Sat) 2016 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Misa Shin Gallery http://www.misashin.com/  | ||||
| Location | 1F 3-9-11 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0047 | ||||
| Access | 11 minute walk from exit 4 at Shirokane-takanawa Station on the Namboku or Toei Mita line, 11 minute walk from exit 1 at Azabu-juban Station on the Namboku or Toei Oedo line, 11 minute walk from exit 1 at Hiroo Station on the Hibiya line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-6450-2334 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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