Publisher/蒼穹舎

Google翻訳
"GINZA: Through the eye of a Salaryman 1950-1990" is a photobook by Japanese photographer Jiro Kochi (1946-2010). Kochi was not a professional photographer; while working as a salaryman for a company, he continued to photograph the streets of Ginza for about 40 years, from the 1950s to around 1990. Although Ginza is known as a glamorous commercial district, his interest was not in the superficial aspects of famous places or trends, but rather in fragments of everyday life such as the figures of people passing through the streets, the scenery of alleys, construction sites, and the appearance of storefronts. This book records the changes in Ginza from the post-war reconstruction period to the high economic growth period and the eve of the bubble economy, all through the eyes of one person living there. Kochi's photographs were rarely published during his lifetime, but after his death, his eldest daughter, Haruko Kochi, discovered a vast number of negatives and prints stored at their home. The organization and research of these materials led to a re-evaluation of his work, which culminated in exhibitions and publications. This book is a precious record of the city left behind by an unknown photographer, and at the same time, it is a book realized through the efforts of a daughter who sought to pass on her father's archives to the future. It is a photo collection in which memories of postwar Tokyo and a story of family inheritance intertwine.