By Japanese Photographers Link — Setting Sun Writings

No discussion of Japanese solar iconography is complete without (b. 1933). In his most famous collaboration with writer Yukio Mishima, Ordeal by Roses (1963), the setting sun is not a landscape—it is a body. Hosoe photographed Mishima (a man obsessed with the dying of the aristocratic sun) in chiaroscuro light. The shadows stretch like solar flares across the novelist’s torso.

Moriyama’s accompanying texts talk about "the exhaustion of seeing." For him, the setting sun signals the end of the hunter’s day (he famously described walking the streets like a stray dog). He writes about the setting sun as a cut-off point —the moment when the city’s neon takes over, and reality becomes even more hallucinatory. His words are not poetic elegies; they are urban manifestos of fatigue. setting sun writings by japanese photographers

Critics from publications like and Art Review have praised the collection for illuminating the "provocative and fresh" nature of Japanese aesthetics for Western audiences. The introduction by renowned curator Anne Wilkes Tucker titled "Why So Personal?" provides essential context on why Japanese photographers utilize writing as a companion to their visual work. While noted for its depth of text, some reviewers from sites like AbeBooks have observed a relative scarcity of images (containing only 20 duotones), emphasizing its role as a literary rather than purely visual survey. No discussion of Japanese solar iconography is complete

From the grainy, high-contrast streets of post-war Tokyo to the minimalist seascapes of the Seto Inland Sea, Japanese photographers have treated the setting sun as a recurring protagonist. They do not just capture light; they capture the feeling of light leaving the world. Let us look through their viewfinders. Hosoe photographed Mishima (a man obsessed with the

: Readers from Amazon and Goodreads describe it as "grounding" and "poetic," essential for understanding why Japanese photography often feels more visceral or "messy" compared to Western styles.

"Family" and "Ravens: The End," exploring his deeply personal and dark imagery Shomei Tomatsu

Research featuring Japanese landscape photographers.