Uchi | Soto
Photography and Text by Thaddeus Pope
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Japan is often imagined through contrasts – technologically advanced and globally renowned for consumer electronics, robotics and the automotive industry, yet also a nation steeped in centuries of tradition and rich cultural heritage. After ten years of living here, I have become less interested in that contrast as a simple opposition than in the quieter, more complicated ways these worlds inhabit one another: how the past endures within the present, and how history discloses itself not only in shrines, temples or old streets, but in language, gesture, custom and the small, patterned rituals of everyday life.
Gallery
Ikibana Display, Kobe Art Centre, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
In preparation for the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Konomiya Naked Man Festival) in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, festival participants are helped into their fundoshi (a traditional Japanese undergarment). From the series “Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri”.
Men attempt to climb the ‘naoi-zasa’ during the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Konomiya Naked Man Festival) in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. From the series “Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri”.
In accordance with tradition, following the seventh inning stretch at the Koshien Stadium in Hyōgo Prefecture, Hanshin Tigers baseball fans release hundreds of balloons while singing the Tigers’ fight song.
Crowd control at the Hōnen Matsuri, also known as the penis festival, at Tagata Shrine in Komaki (just north of Nagoya City), Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
A young boy poses for a photograph at the Chubu Centrair International Airport booth in Oasis 21 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Spectators make their way to the Toyokawa Tezutsu Matsuri (Hand-Held Fireworks Festival), Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Security staff at teamLab Borderless light museum in Tokyo, Japan.
Outside Sumitomo Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Taxi driver stretches while taking a break, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Wearing nothing but a fundoshi (a traditional Japanese undergarment), a festival organiser checks to see whether it is suitably waterlogged enough for the Nakata Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival) to take place.
In the small onsen town of Iwami-cho Iwai on the west cost of Japan, Mrs Ogura runs a shop called “Ogura-ya” which specialises in carving wooden figurines of the twelve animals in the Japanese zodiac. Wood carving has been in the Ogura family for approximately 1000 years. And, although her storefront is very small, Mrs Ogura has fulfilled lucrative orders with major Japanese stores, including MUJI, and images of her wood carvings have appeared on special edition stamps available nationwide.
Osu Shopping Street during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Preparing to light a tezutsu hand-held firework during Bon Odori in Nagoya, Japan.
Light illuminates the face of a man holding an ignited tezutsu hand-held firework during Bon Odori in Nagoya, Japan.
Following a candlelit procession through the streets of Hiroshima, thousands of people visited the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city on August 6th, 1945. From the series “Hiroshima”.
Two men prepare to light an enormous Tezutsu Hanabi mounted on a shrine-like frame at the close of the annual Toyohashi Gion Matsuri in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Young Japanese girl photographs the Toyokawa tezutzu Festival in Aichi Prefecture, Japan (2014).
Spectators watch the final parade of the evening during the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri in Osaka, Japan.
Boys from Higashiyama district holding “shide” (bamboo poles decorated with colourful paper) at the Nada no Kenka Matsuri, also known as the Nada Fighting Festival, in Shirahama Town in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
The days activities draw to a close at the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri in Osaka, Japan.
For the past ten years, the Tottori Sand Museum has mounted an exhibition of intricate tableaus sculpted from approximately 3,000 tons of sand. Each year artists from around the world are invited to Tottori on the west coast of Japan to sculpt scenes on a particular theme, with this year’s theme being the United States.
Local men drag an immense floating mikoshi across the shallow water of the Mikawa bay during the annual Miya Festival in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
A member of the Akutagawa High School Taiko Club gives a traditional dance performance at the Osaka International Convention Centre in Osaka, Japan.
Sensei Hiroshi Nishioka, 5th Degree Black Belt Master Instructor of Osaka’s Nishioka Dojo, practices Tameshiwari ice breaking during a karate demonstration in Kobe, Japan.
Sensei Hiroshi Nishioka, 5th Degree Black Belt Master Instructor of Osaka’s Nishioka Dojo, practices Tameshiwari ice breaking during a karate demonstration in Kobe, Japan.
A failed Tameshiwari wood breaking attempt during a karate demonstration in Kobe, Japan.
A successful takedown during a karate demonstration in Kobe, Japan.
Fans of Vissel Kobe cheer on their team as they play against Cerezo Osaka in a league-cup Kansai derby. Cerezo Osaka defeated Vissel Kobe 1-0.
A pause in the music during Bon Odori in Nagoya, Japan.
The “GOLDENS” dance troupe, who dance in the Japanese Butoh style, give a performance on the steps of Osu Kannon Temple in Nagoya, Japan.
Couples wearing traditional festival clothing make their way down the steps of Osu Kannon Temple in Nagoya, Japan.
A young child catches the attention of a barman during a drinks reception in Osaka, Japan.
Due to the number of politicians and senior dignitaries in attendance, including Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, and US Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, large numbers of policemen oversee the annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. From the series “Hiroshima”.
Opposite the building known as the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, children float paper lanterns containing messages of peace onto the Motoyasu River to commemorate the anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city on August 6th, 1945.
Taiko performance by the award-winning Osaka-based Akutagawa Senior High School Taiko Club, Osaka International Convention Centre, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
A young J-pop group give a performance at Osu Kannon Temple in Nagoya, Japan.
Cultural performance by Nagoya University Japanese Traditional Dance and Music Club, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Posing for a school photo in Nara, Japan. Established in the 1300’s, Nara Park is home to nearly 1200 freely roaming deer, considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods.
The “GOLDENS” dance troupe, who dance in the Japanese Butoh style, give a performance in Nagoya, Japan.
Held annually in Komaki City in Aichi Prefecture, the Honen Festival, commonly known as the penis festival, is considered one of the most unusual festivals in Japan.
For the past ten years, the Tottori Sand Museum has mounted an exhibition of intricate tableaus sculpted from approximately 3,000 tons of sand. Each year artists from around the world are invited to Tottori on the west coast of Japan to sculpt scenes on a particular theme, with this year’s theme being the United States.
Traditional dance performance by Nagoya University Japanese Traditional Dance and Music Club, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
In the doorway of Mikawa Miya Station, Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Thaddeus Pope
Documentary photographer based in Japan
I’m Thaddeus Pope, a documentary photographer who also works in website and print design. I am available for assignments in Japan and internationally.
To get in touch, please use the contact form or email info@thadpope.com.