Takamasa Inamura - Dancing Girls - 1978

"Dancing Girls" is a photo collection by Japanese photographer Takamasa Inamura. Born in 1923, he joined the photography club at Waseda University, but graduated early the following year due to student conscription and enlisted in the navy.

After the war, he worked for photographer Shotaro Akiyama, a former Waseda alumnus, and later joined Sun-News Photos, where Yonosuke Natori and Ihei Kimura were also employed. His contemporaries included Jun Miki, and his juniors Takeyoshi Tanuma and Shigekazu Nagano.

He worked for the graphic magazine Weekly Sun-News, founded by Natori, as well as for overseas publications such as Life and The New York Times, before going freelance. This book is a collection of Inamura's signature photographs of dancers. Inamura became captivated by the unique atmosphere of dancers after interviewing the writer Kafu Nagai, who frequented a theater in Asakusa. He later began photographing shows at venues such as the Nichigeki Theater.

This book is divided into two parts: one from the 1940s and 1950s and the other from the 1970s. The former quotes Kafu Nagai's "Dancing Girl" and includes images of the artist himself. From the dazzling shows featuring nude dancers to behind-the-scenes shots, this documentary captures the unique atmosphere and the women in the show. (Included in The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990)