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Kunihiko Katsumata "War Requiem I"
Koki Arts
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Kunihiko Katsumata
KOKI ARTS is pleased to present WAR REQUIEM I, a solo exhibition by artist and photographer Kunihiko Katsumata. This marks his third solo show at the gallery. Timed to the symbolic year of 2025—100 years since the beginning of the Shōwa era and 80 years after the end of World War II—the exhibition features To Iwo Jima, presented here for the first time in 20 years with newly added archival material, alongside Remains, photographs of atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima and Nagasaki taken 20 years ago on August 6 and 9. For the first time, prints from Remains will be exhibited, presented together with moving image works in a newly reconfigured form.
Katsumata’s acute sensitivity to war and conflict stems from a deep desire to understand history and to explore the origins and underlying structures of modern Japan. A self-proclaimed pacifist, he grew up in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, where the sounds of live-fire drills were part of daily life due to his father’s service as a Ground Self-Defense Force officer. His extended family includes a relative who served as Director-General of the Defense Agency during Katsumata’s childhood, and two great-uncles—one who volunteered as a teenager and died in battle on Iwo Jima, and another who served in the Maritime Self-Defense Force. These familial and geographical roots continue to inform his artistic perspective.
Both To Iwo Jima and Remains are unified by a quiet gaze—not only upon the vast devastation wrought by war and the atomic bombings, but also upon the silent resilience of those who endured long after the conflict ended. Katsumata’s works, born from empathy for the voiceless, engage with memory and gently pose introspective questions to the viewer.
Katsumata’s acute sensitivity to war and conflict stems from a deep desire to understand history and to explore the origins and underlying structures of modern Japan. A self-proclaimed pacifist, he grew up in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, where the sounds of live-fire drills were part of daily life due to his father’s service as a Ground Self-Defense Force officer. His extended family includes a relative who served as Director-General of the Defense Agency during Katsumata’s childhood, and two great-uncles—one who volunteered as a teenager and died in battle on Iwo Jima, and another who served in the Maritime Self-Defense Force. These familial and geographical roots continue to inform his artistic perspective.
Both To Iwo Jima and Remains are unified by a quiet gaze—not only upon the vast devastation wrought by war and the atomic bombings, but also upon the silent resilience of those who endured long after the conflict ended. Katsumata’s works, born from empathy for the voiceless, engage with memory and gently pose introspective questions to the viewer.
Schedule | Jul 26 (Sat) 2025-Aug 23 (Sat) 2025 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jul 26 (Sat) 2025 18:30 - 20:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Koki Arts http://www.kokiarts.com/  | ||||
| Location | 1F Rose Bldg., 1-15-2 Higashi Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0031 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from exit 4 at JR Bakurocho Station, 3 minute walk from exit A1 at Bakuro-yokoyama Station on the Toei Shinjuku line, 6 minute walk from exit B4 at Higashi-nihombashi Station on the Toei Asakusa line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3865-8650 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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