Tokyo through the lens of a Legend: SEIJI KURATA
Seiji Kurata is undoubtedly one of the most well known and prestigious photographers in Japan.
At a young age, he embarked on his journey into the deep world of photography to then never stop.
With his finger on the shutter, Seiji paced the streets of Tokyo, leaving us legendary portraits of the old streets of the neon city.
Seiji Kurata at Zen Foto Gallery. Photo ©︎ Mark Pearson
“He will forever be regarded as a true warrior of the neon-nights of Tokyo. ”
When Seiji was 30, he had his first encounter with photography. He took a gamble and quit his job in the thermostatic company where he used to work after a friend introduced him to his hobby behind the camera.
Kurata gave himself one year to pursue this new passion and see how far it could take him.
His friend gave him a few different things that would come to strongly influence his future. For one, he was shown the darkroom and the process of developing images from 35mm film, and also the work of Daido Moriyama.
Moriyama, now a legendary photographer in his own right, who has done so much work in introducing Japanese photography to the wider art world, was a huge influence on Kurata at the time. In fact, Kurata went to one of Moriyama’s independent photography workshops, learning from his idol.
"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2003)
The life of Seiji Kurata was one full of adventures and exciting street encounters and one of his biggest breaks took place just a year after joining Moriyama's workshop while exploring the Tokyo neighbourhood of Ikebukuro. He started to photograph the Ikebukuro night jungle, capturing yakuza gangs, prostitutes, transvestites and strippers. It was here that he would capture the famous image “Tattooed Man” on a secluded rooftop in 1975.
“Tattooed Man” depicts a heavily tattooed yakuza, dressed only in a loincloth, his chest bursting with pride and a samurai sword in hand. This black and white image (a choice he made due to its relative cheapness compared to colour film at the time) would become one of the most important and defining images of his career.
According to him, the meeting with the two yakuza men took place on the street. These two men saw Kurata with a camera and decided to approach and ask him if he could take some pictures of them. Kurata, afraid of being seen in the middle of the street, agreed to meet with them a few days later on a rooftop. During the three hour shoot that followed, done mostly in colour at the request of the yakuza, who believed that colour was essential, in order to capture the beauty of his tattoos, Kurata produced what he knew would be “the shot” that would propel his photographic career.
“Kurata-san’s work had tremendous breadth in subject matter and technique. Carefully, he would work out how best to photograph each diverse subject, whether it should be in medium-format, large-format, black and white or colour, long exposure, with or without flash. In this he was truly a craftsman as well as an artist.”
"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2003)
"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2003)
"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2003)
"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2003)
During his career, his work developed in the shadows, where he quietly observed what happened at night, uncovering the secrets of human desires that occur while the city sleeps. His stature as a photographer has since been recognized by some of the most prominent photographers in Japan, including Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki.
Besides photography, Kurata enjoyed his life spending a great deal of his time riding his motorcycle around Tokyo, continuing to do so for years until he passed away in 2020. He also loved watching movies and reading, which were both a constant inspiration for him. For example, some of the settings from Eros Lost, one of the most well-known collections of his work, were inspired by the 1982 film Blade Runner.
"Eros Lost" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2020)
"Eros Lost" by Seiji Kurata (New edition published 2020)
Kurata was prolific, producing a wide range of exhibitions and photobooks and with his raw and realistic depictions of the city’s underbelly, he will forever be regarded as a true warrior of the neon-nights of Tokyo.
Among his most important work and publications is Flash Up, with which he won the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award, and Eros Lost originally called Quest for Eros.
Flash Up is still for sale through the website of his mother gallery Zen Foto Gallery:
Click to buy now FLASH UP