Wakaji Matsumoto self-portrait over rice paddy abstraction

Online Exhibition

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The Matsumoto family returned to Hiroshima in the summer of 1927. Upon their return, Wakaji opened Hiroshima Shashinkan (Hiroshima Photography Studio) in the Naka Ward, near the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall—now known as the Atomic Bomb Dome. The Matsumotos lived above the studio. 

Wakaji did studio work, commercial photography, and contract photography for the Japanese military and other businesses in the area. His work was highly regarded and his services were in high demand. He also took photographs of daily life in Hiroshima City and the surrounding countryside. Many of those photographs are the only record of people, events, and locations that were later destroyed by the atomic bomb.

wakaji photo studio
Wakaji’s photo studio, Hiroshima Shashinkan

By 1929, Hiroshima was bustling with 270,000 people and was one of the educational, cultural, political, and economic centers of Japan. During the 1920s, Japan began to develop a deeper appreciation for photography to present narratives and record Japanese society and culture. By the late 1920s, avant-garde styles in Europe like Surrealism, New Objectivity, and Bauhaus were available in Japanese books and magazines and abundant in Wakaji’s work which blended art with documentation. Wakaji’s interest in a documentary approach to photography was encouraged by the trends of the late 1920s and early 1930s. His photographs during this period are personal, intimate memorials to a city with a tragic fate.

When Japan entered World War II, the country’s resources were devoted to military purposes. Wakaji eventually closed his studio because he was unable to secure his supplies. He moved his family to his parents’ home in Jigozen. In 1945, a stray American bomb destoyed their neighbor’s home and Wakaji’s studio. Luckily, no one was injured in the Wakaji household and all of Wakaji’s photographs were stored safely away from his studio. 

After the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, Wakaji and Tei wheeled a cart into the city to look for relatives near the former studio, which had been obliterated. They found Tei’s cousin and laid him into the cart to transport him back home but he died before they reached Jigozen.

Wakaji passed away at seventy-six years old in 1965. Tei continued to live in the family home for thirty years and passed away at 101 years old in 1995. Wakaji’s photographs remained undisturbed until they were discovered by Wakaji and Tei’s grandson, Hitoshi Ohuchi, in 2008. Upon recognizing their value, he placed them in the Hiroshima City Archives. The discovery of Wakaji’s photographs of Hiroshima before the bomb had enormous historic significance, as his collection increased the total number of existing photographs of Hiroshima ten-fold, most existing photographs having been destroyed by the 1945 atomic bomb.

Watch the video to learn more about Wajaki’s life in Hiroshima and explore his body of work in the two photo galleries below.

 

VIDEO   PEOPLE AND ENVIRONS   PANORAMIC

Ongoing

downtown hiroshima aioi bridge small

Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 highlights an artist’s rare photographs of the Japanese American community in Los Angeles prior to World War II and of urban life in Hiroshima prior to the 1945 atomic bombing of the city. 

This online exhibition also features essays by Karen Matsumoto, Wakaji’s granddaughter, and Dennis Reed, the curator of the exhibition, a timeline, photo galleries, short documentary videos produced by JANM’s award-winning Watase Media Arts Center, and educational resources. 

Wakaji Matsumoto was born to Wakamatsu and Haru (née Motoyama) Matsumoto on July 17,1889, in Jigozen, Hatsukaichi-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He traveled from Japan by way of Canada before reaching the US to work on his father’s farm. Although he worked in the fields and drove produce to Los Angeles, he really aspired to become a graphic artist. Luckily, Wakamatsu taught Wakaji’s wife, Tei, to run the farm, allowing Wakaji to become a professional photographer in Los Angeles and Hiroshima. He was seventy-six years old when he died in Jigozen in 1965. Tei continued to live in the family home and was 101 years old when she died in 1995. Wakaji’s photographs remained undisturbed until 2008 when they were discovered by the Matsumotos’ grandson, Hitoshi Ohuchi, himself a photographer. Upon recognizing their value and significance, he arranged for them to be placed with the Hiroshima City Archives. 

View this online exhibition on a desktop computer for the best experience.

itaoka and his trucks small

 

dennis reed profile photo

Dennis Reed is a curator, collector, artist, and writer who is best known for rediscovering Japanese American art photographers whose works were lost in the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. He has curated over 50 exhibitions for such institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Huntington, the Corcoran Gallery, and JANM. Among his publications are Pictorialism in California: Photography, 1900-1940, Japanese Photography in America, 1920-1940, and Making Waves: Japanese American Photography, 1920-1940. He is the retired Dean of Arts at Los Angeles Valley College and the former chair of the Photographic Arts Council at LACMA. 

 

karen matsumoto profile photo

Karen Matsumoto, granddaughter of Wakaji Matsumoto and retired educator, serves as project liaison for Wakaji Matsumoto: An Artist in Two Worlds. She was executive producer of Honor and Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story, a 2013 documentary about her father. The documentary featured photographs by Wakaji Matsumoto, and provided inspiration to share the collection with a broader public. She has designed curricula related to the Japanese American World War II incarceration experience and has been a consulting teacher for the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco. She is a trustee for the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community.

 

Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 was made possible by support from the National Endowment for the Humanities Planning Grant, Humanities For All grant from California Humanities, and Berkeley JACL. Assistance was provided by Hitoshi Ohuchi, grandson of Wakaji Matsumoto, contributor and logistics coordinator with the Hiroshima City Archives; Hiroshima City Archives; Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum; Chugoku Shimbun; and Hiroshima Film Commission.

This exhibition was also made possible by Shizue Kawamoto, Pat Dupes-Matsumoto, Clyde Matsumoto, Dawn Ehrlich, Makoto and Keiko Kawamoto, Natsumi Kawamoto, Satoshi Yano, Fumi Matsumoto, and John deChadenedes, who helped provide information about Wakaji and the Matsumoto family history.

All photographs in this online exhibition were taken by Wakaji Matsumoto (copyright Matsumoto Family) and include the JANM watermark to signify that they are a part of a JANM exhibition.

Above photos: “Wakaji Matsumoto Self Portrait,” “Downtown Hiroshima from the Aioi Bridge, 1938,” “Itaoka and his trucks.” All photos by Wakaji Matsumoto (copyright Matsumoto Family)

 

california humanities logo

 

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.

 

Media Sponsor: rafu shimpo logo

 

For more information about these photographs, please contact Karen Matsumoto at WakajiExhibition@gmail.com.

Ongoing

downtown hiroshima aioi bridge small

Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 highlights an artist’s rare photographs of the Japanese American community in Los Angeles prior to World War II and of urban life in Hiroshima prior to the 1945 atomic bombing of the city. 

This online exhibition also features essays by Karen Matsumoto, Wakaji’s granddaughter, and Dennis Reed, the curator of the exhibition, a timeline, photo galleries, short documentary videos produced by JANM’s award-winning Watase Media Arts Center, and educational resources. 

Wakaji Matsumoto was born to Wakamatsu and Haru (née Motoyama) Matsumoto on July 17,1889, in Jigozen, Hatsukaichi-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He traveled from Japan by way of Canada before reaching the US to work on his father’s farm. Although he worked in the fields and drove produce to Los Angeles, he really aspired to become a graphic artist. Luckily, Wakamatsu taught Wakaji’s wife, Tei, to run the farm, allowing Wakaji to become a professional photographer in Los Angeles and Hiroshima. He was seventy-six years old when he died in Jigozen in 1965. Tei continued to live in the family home and was 101 years old when she died in 1995. Wakaji’s photographs remained undisturbed until 2008 when they were discovered by the Matsumotos’ grandson, Hitoshi Ohuchi, himself a photographer. Upon recognizing their value and significance, he arranged for them to be placed with the Hiroshima City Archives. 

View this online exhibition on a desktop computer for the best experience.

itaoka and his trucks small

 

dennis reed profile photo

Dennis Reed is a curator, collector, artist, and writer who is best known for rediscovering Japanese American art photographers whose works were lost in the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. He has curated over 50 exhibitions for such institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Huntington, the Corcoran Gallery, and JANM. Among his publications are Pictorialism in California: Photography, 1900-1940, Japanese Photography in America, 1920-1940, and Making Waves: Japanese American Photography, 1920-1940. He is the retired Dean of Arts at Los Angeles Valley College and the former chair of the Photographic Arts Council at LACMA. 

 

karen matsumoto profile photo

Karen Matsumoto, granddaughter of Wakaji Matsumoto and retired educator, serves as project liaison for Wakaji Matsumoto: An Artist in Two Worlds. She was executive producer of Honor and Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story, a 2013 documentary about her father. The documentary featured photographs by Wakaji Matsumoto, and provided inspiration to share the collection with a broader public. She has designed curricula related to the Japanese American World War II incarceration experience and has been a consulting teacher for the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco. She is a trustee for the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community.

 

Wakaji Matsumoto—An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917–1944 was made possible by support from the National Endowment for the Humanities Planning Grant, Humanities For All grant from California Humanities, and Berkeley JACL. Assistance was provided by Hitoshi Ohuchi, grandson of Wakaji Matsumoto, contributor and logistics coordinator with the Hiroshima City Archives; Hiroshima City Archives; Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum; Chugoku Shimbun; and Hiroshima Film Commission.

This exhibition was also made possible by Shizue Kawamoto, Pat Dupes-Matsumoto, Clyde Matsumoto, Dawn Ehrlich, Makoto and Keiko Kawamoto, Natsumi Kawamoto, Satoshi Yano, Fumi Matsumoto, and John deChadenedes, who helped provide information about Wakaji and the Matsumoto family history.

All photographs in this online exhibition were taken by Wakaji Matsumoto (copyright Matsumoto Family) and include the JANM watermark to signify that they are a part of a JANM exhibition.

Above photos: “Wakaji Matsumoto Self Portrait,” “Downtown Hiroshima from the Aioi Bridge, 1938,” “Itaoka and his trucks.” All photos by Wakaji Matsumoto (copyright Matsumoto Family)

 

california humanities logo

 

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.

 

Media Sponsor: rafu shimpo logo

 

For more information about these photographs, please contact Karen Matsumoto at WakajiExhibition@gmail.com.

Anchor Tag
video

Wakaji Matsumoto—Episode 3: Hiroshima

Wakaji Matsumoto—Episode 3: Hiroshima

Wakaji Matsumoto—Episode 3: Hiroshima

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hiroshima
Anchor Tag
#panoramic

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