Zomeki - The Spirit of Awa Dance (Signed)

Hiroyoshi Taira
Zomeki - The Spirit of Awa Dance (Signed)

Photographs: Hiroyoshi Taira

Publisher: Galerie Niepce

112 pages

Pictures: 82

Year: 2025

Comments: Softcover, 29,7 × 22,3 cm. Includes the CD (Music) “Zomeki Street Live”. Signed copy.

“In these photographs, we witness the primitive form of the Japanese people in their bare nature, without their masks as modern people leading a modern life.”
― Takehiko Nakafuji, “The Feverish Passion of Awa Odiri Dance captured by Hiroyoshi Taira”

There is a raw, primal energy to Hiroyoshi Taira's photographs in "Zomeki - The Spirit of Awa Dance." Although taken in the midst of contemporary Tokyo and Tokushima Prefecture, his black and white photographs seem to unearth a connection to Japan's past, with the traditional Awa Odori dance acting as a bridge between the human and spirit worlds.
The tradition, which was started in 1957 by the youth club of the Koenji shopping district under the name of "Koenji Baka Odori", has fascinated Taira since 2011, when he first encountered it in Koenji. For the series, he captured not only the frenetic atmosphere of Tokyo, but also scenes from a funeral held in Koenji for Yukihiro Iwanami, the leader of a Koenji-based Awa Odori dance group.

“Death is never in vain; it’s etched in the hearts of those left behind, eventually transforming into dance and music. The rich history of Awa Odori is filled with the thoughts and sentiments of people that have been passed down from generation to generation – this is what creates the enthusiasm that fills the streets, and this is what zomeki is all about.”
― from Hiroyoshi Taira’s afterword