Daido Moriyama - Route 16 - 2004

First edition, first printing. Soft cover. Navy blue and white gloss-laminated wrappers; no dust jacket as issued. Photographs by Daido Moriyama. Produced by Hisako Motoo. Designed by Satoshi Machiguchi. Unpaginated (36 pp.), with 16 black-and-white plates beautifully printed in Japan by Bunkado Printing Co., Ltd. 8-1/8 x 11-3/4 inches. Scarce. A collection of images taken while riding in his car along Tokyo's beltway,

Route 16 is a rare, limited-edition photobook by acclaimed Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, published in 2004 by Eyesencia. The book documents National Route 16, the massive orbital highway that loops around the outer edges of Tokyo, cutting through Yokohama, Hachioji, and the suburban sprawl of the Kanto Plain.

Rather than standing on the street, Moriyama shot the entire series while riding in the passenger seat of a moving car. The images prominently incorporate the vehicle's windshield, side mirrors, and the glare of brake lights in tunnels, giving the reader an immersive, kinetic sensation of driving through the landscape.

The book contains black-and-white photographs capturing the distinct, gritty Americana-infused roadside culture that defines Route 16. Roadside truck stops, neon pachinko parlors, love hotels, and chaotic commercial signage. High school girls wearing 1990s-style loose socks, localized store window displays, and roadside fencing along the Yokota Air Base. True to Moriyama's signature are, bure, boke (grainy, blurry, out-of-focus) aesthetic, the photos capture the raw, restless energy of Tokyo's suburban periphery.