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Exhibition/event has ended.

Shinkichi Hosokawa "Seasonal Hometown Traditions -A Records of an Agar Cube Factory in Chino City, Nagano"

Nikon Plaza Tokyo

Finished

Artists

Shinkichi Hosokawa

Having lived in Chino City for 16 years, Hosokawa has been able to continuously observe the process of kanten (agar) production taking place around the end of each year at a factory right next to his house. Chino City has long been the chief center for the production of "agar cubes" in Japan. What is crucial for agar production is a combination of chilly mornings and nights and low humidity during the day. Also important are clean water and air, both of which are abundant in Chino. With global warming in recent years, however, Hosokawa realized that the seasons have started veering off track, and this concern finally persuaded him to shoot photographs of the agar factory. Thanks to the owner of the factory who gave his full cooperation, Hosokawa could take photographs at various hours of the day. These 45 monochrome photographs are all precious and irreplaceable testimony to a disappearing "seasonal hometown tradition".

Schedule

May 6 (Tue) 2008-May 12 (Mon) 2008