Photography as a Bridge to a Vanishing Time

In the postwar era, Haga Hideo rose to prominence as one of the top Japanese photographers capturing the traditions and folkways of Japan’s far-flung regions. Seven decades have passed since he went to the Amami Islands, where he recorded countless priceless images of older ways of life. Today the photos in the Haga collection are treasured by local residents as historical records to remind them of their past, and show them images of their younger selves.

(Banner photo: A festival dance, the Hachigatsu Odori on the island of Kikaijima, is held in the eighth month of the old lunar calendar as a way to offer prayers and thanks for a bountiful harvest. © Haga Hideo)