TOP 30th Anniversary Takano Ryudai: kasubaba

Living through the ordinary

Feb. 27—Jun. 8, 2025

• Feb. 27—Jun. 8, 2025
• Closed Mondays (except when May 5), May 7.
• Admission：Adults ￥700(560)／College Students ￥560(440)／High School and Junior High School Students, Over 65 ￥350(280) *Prices in parenthesis apply to groups of 20 or more. (Reservation is required.) *Free for grade school children or younger, junior high school students living or attending schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and holders of Japan’s disability identification cards (shogaisha techo) together with two caregiver. *Those over 65 years old receive free admission on the third Wednesday of every month by presenting proof of age at the ticket counter.

The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the photographer Takano Ryudai.

Since receiving the 31st Kimura Ihei Award in 2006 for his photo collection IN MY ROOM, Takano Ryudai (b. 1963) has presented numerous works through books and exhibitions, earning critical acclaim internationally as well as in Japan. In parallel with his explorations on the theme of sexuality, most prominently IN MY ROOM, Takano has also undertaken a series of ordinary snapshots known variously as his Daily Snapshots or kasubaba. Since the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, he has also been interrogating the roots of photography, using shadows as his subject. This exhibition follows the trajectory of Takano’s career from early years up to the present, including works on public display for the first time.

The kasubaba of the title is a term coined by Takano. In 1998 he set himself the task of taking at least one photo every day, and he continues to point his camera at scenes encountered in daily life. From among these photos Takano presented a number taken in urban spaces as the kasubaba series. In kasubaba Takano accepts the quotidian settings of our everyday existence as indispensable elements of our lives, and commits to actively scrutinizing them, offering the viewer everyday unadorned scenes as raw, candid images.

Takano believes that turning our gaze to the ordinary and taking an interest in the little things outside ourselves, may be one approach to adopt for living through this world. Carefully studying the everyday, where everything is by no means beautiful, affirms the present in which we ourselves live, and confirms this moment of life. Hopefully this exhibition will offer some hints for making day-to-day life better as we live through an “extraordinary-adjacent ordinary” marked by major natural disasters, the spread of unforeseen infections, and rapidly changing social conditions.


Takano Ryudai, 2015.10.28.#a28 from the series kasubaba 2,2015 ©Takano Ryudai, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates


Takano Ryudai, 2023.03.24.sc.#048 from the series CVD19, 2023 ©Takano Ryudai, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates


Takano Ryudai, 2012.08.12.#b30 from the series Daily Snapshots, 2012 ©Takano Ryudai, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates


Takano Ryudai, 2019.12.31.P.#03 (Distance) from the series Red Room Project, 2019 ©Takano Ryudai, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates


Takano Ryudai, Wearing a purple camisole with lace (2005.01.09.L.#04) from the series In My Room, 2005 ©Takano Ryudai, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates

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

Organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Supported by J-WAVE 81.3FM
Special Supported by Sony Corporation