Yutaka Takanashi - Town [Machi] - 1977

Takanashi, Yutaka. Machi (Town). Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun-sha, 1977. First edition. Hardcover in plastic jacket, slipcase and booklet. 190 pages. Japanese text. 303 × 423 mm.
The linen cover shows staing along the perimeter and mild staining on he fep. A collection of works by the Japanese photographer Yutaka Takanashi. Following his commercial photography of the 1960s and his involvement with the influential Provoke movement alongside Takuma Nakahira and Daido Moriyama, Takanashi developed the vision that culminated in his landmark 1974 publication Towards the City (Toshi e).
He then shifted his focus from the modern city to Tokyo's traditional downtown districts (shitamachi), photographing them in color with a large-format camera. The result was Machi (Town), published in 1977 during a period of rapid urban transformation in postwar Tokyo.
While Tokyo was becoming increasingly modernized, Takanashi sought out neighborhoods where traces of Edo-period culture and everyday life still survived. Machi captures this disappearing world with remarkable sensitivity and stands as an important work in the career of one of Japan's most influential photographers.
Included in The Japanese Photobook 1912-1990.