- Photo Editions 2026
- Hardback, 1st edition, 112p
- New
‘On Japan’s outlying islands, scattered beyond the archipelago’s larger main islands, history seems to accumulate like a bank of snow. Emotions, memories, and fragments of time settle layer upon layer, creating an atmosphere unique to the islands. At times, as I wander among them, that distinctive air becomes overwhelming, and I find myself hurrying to catch the return ferry. Yet once back on the mainland, I am seized by the feeling that I have left something precious behind, and before long I am drawn back to the islands once again.’
- Yasuhiro Ogawa
Apart from the larger main islands of the archipelago, there are about 300 inhabited islands in Japan. Most of them are tiny islands with small population of few hundreds, and almost of all the inhabitants are elderly people. Those remote islands used to be vibrant with many inhabitants who were engaged in fishery and trading, but the islands’ population started to decline sharply just after the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960’s and 70’s, due to the younger people who left the islands for seeking better jobs.
Yasuhiro Ogawa’s first visit to a remote island was to Miyake-jima in 2005 as he elaborates, “Following the volcanic eruption in 2000, the entire population had been forced to evacuate. Five years later, I visited the island aboard the ship carrying the returning residents. It was my first experience of visiting a remote island. The island had been uninhabited for five years, and it felt as though time had stood still. The atmosphere and the passage of time there seemed entirely different from those on the mainland. I was immediately captivated by the island’s unique charm and decided to visit as many islands as I could.”
Tales of the Island is a revised and expanded edition of Yasuhiro Ogawa's long since sold out 2014 photobook Shimagatari.
Hardback, 283x233mm, 80 tritone printed images with printed end papers.
Signed copy.
A range of print options are available from the dropdown, all prints are 7"x5", signed and stamped on the reverse. All prints are exclusive to Photobookstore.
In stock now.
