Masahisa Fukase - The Strawhat Cat - 1979

The Strawhat Cat

Masahisa Fukase
Bunka Publishing/1979/Japanese/225*185*10

The Strawhat Cat" is a collection of photographs by Masahisa Fukase, one of Japan's leading photographers. Along with “Family,” “Yoko (Wife),” and “Raven,” this is one of Masahisa Fukase's best-known works! Sasuke“ and ”Sasuke! It is the third in the “Cat” series, following “Itoshiki Neko Yo” and "Sasuke! （In addition to Sasuke (the second generation), this work features a new younger sister, Momoe. The text in the afterword by Fukase himself illustrates his love for cats and his own sense of photography. Here is an excerpt: "Cats are short and terribly nearsighted, but they are said to have wonderfully good ears. I have been crawling on my belly at cat's eye level for the past year or so, taking pictures so well that I have become something of a cat. It was a happy task to take pictures while playing with my favorite things in the midst of the changing nature. Sasuke and Momoe are not cute stuffed animals, but just mongrel cats that you can find on any backstreet in the city. I wanted to capture the love in their eyes as they looked at me. So you could say that this collection of photographs is a ‘self-portrait’ of me in the form of Sasuke and Momoe.