Shoji Ueda - Matsue - 2014

Signed, Matsue

Shoji Ueda
San-in Broadcasting/2014/Japanese/220*310*3

*Matsue (Reprint Edition)*, a collaborative work by Shōji Ueda—one of the leading photographers of postwar Japan—and Taneichirō Kanto, a writer from Izumo. This book was reprinted in 2014 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of San’in Broadcasting, the publisher. The original edition was published in 1978. It is said that the project began in the early 1960s when Yuji Hanamori, then editor-in-chief of *Kurashi no Techo*, visited Matsue to cover a special feature on the city and suggested, “How about we publish a photo book featuring Mr. Ueda’s photographs accompanied by text written by Mr. Kanto?” Since then, though they kept saying they would do it, time passed, and it was not until 1978—the year Mr. Hanamori died suddenly—that the book finally saw the light of day, published by the local San’in Broadcasting Company. Most of the photographs were taken in the 1960s, with the most recent dating back to 1968. Ueda reportedly carried his heavy Linhof camera and made a point of choosing rainy or cloudy days whenever possible to capture the historic streetscapes of Matsue and the quintessential Japanese atmosphere. While the word “modern” is often associated with Shoji Ueda, I believe this book masterfully conveys the charm of “history” and “tradition.”