• 
• 

Tanuma Takeyoshi: Viva Humanity!

Jun. 2—Jul. 30, 2023

• Jun. 2—Jul. 30, 2023
• Closed Mondays (except when Monday falls on a holiday, in which case the museum is open and closed the following day)
• Admission：Adults ￥700／College Students ￥560／High School and Junior High School Students, Over 65 ￥350

It is recommended that you use the online ticket system (timed entry reservation.)

click here for online ticket system: Webket


Tanuma Takeyoshi graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University), then studied with the photographer Kimura Ihee. As a part-time photographer at the monthly art magazine Geijutsu Shincho, he photographed artists and literary figures. He later became a contract photographer for Time Life and produced dazzling work in the world of photojournalism. From 1972, he engaged in what became his life’s work, photographing the children of the world. He accompanied UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Kuroyanagi Tetsuko on her visits to various countries, at his own expense, and made his way to more than 130 countries and regions throughout his life.

Tanuma vigorously photographed at home and abroad and continued to show his work throughout his life, his healthy curiosity and energy never declining. He also mentored younger generations of photographers at his alma mater, Tokyo College of Photography (Tokyo Polytechnic University) and held a succession of important positions in the world of photography, including being chairman of the Japan Professional Photographers Society and the Japan Photographic Copyright Association and representing the Japan Photographic Preservation Center. He concentrated his energies on promoting public awareness of Japan’s culture of photography and on copyright protection for photography, in which he performed a significant role. This exhibition presents, for the first time, his unpublished new work Musashino, while tracing Tanuma’s career as a photographer, seven decades during which he steadily observed the human drama with a humanistic gaze.

Section 1. Children after the War

Girls carrying a portable shrine on their shoulders, Asakusa, 1955, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


With kamishibai (picture-story show), what happens on the next day is always a delight, Tsukuda Island, 1955, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Section 2. Three Cheers for Humankind

People dance throughout the night at a festival during the Holy Mother pilgrimage; Andújar, Spain, 1975, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office


A girl participating in the children’s rodeo; Denver, USA, 1976, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office


A Native American man chews a coca leaf; Puno region, Peru, 1978, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office


Studying the Koran, written on a board; Mauritania, 1997, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office

Section 3. Musashino

Playing in the river at Wakamiya Bridge; Atsugawa, Sakado city, Saitama, July 2015, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office


Phoenix dance, Kasuga Shrine; Hirai, Hinode-machi, Nishitamagun, Tokyo, September, 2016, Collection of Photographer TANUMA Takeyoshi’s Office


Tanuma Takeyoshi

photo: Hideo Hashimoto

*The schedule is subject to change. Any further changes will be announced.

Organized by Tokyo Photographic Art Museum operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture / The Asahi Shimbun
Special Sponsored by Canon Marketing Japan Inc., Tokyo Polytechnic University
Sponsored by Corporate Membership of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Supported by Japan Professional Photographers Society, Photographic Society of Japan, All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies, Japan Photographic Copyright Association