shashasha

Born in 1940 in Tochigi prefecture Japan, Tatsuko Nishimura began her photographic career after graduating from the Nihon Shashin Eizo Gakuin in 1978. After graduation she began a mentorship under the photographer Takashi Hamaguchi. Nishimura’s_ Land of Melancholy: 1980s Manchuria _recollects images which were taken almost 30 years ago in Nahe, Inner Mongolia, Harbin and other areas which once constituted the state of Manchukuo. Joining a group of Japanese Orphans who had left China after World War II, Nishimura covered their stories as a staff member of the Hamaguchi Takashi Office, capturing the realities which they were forced to face, following their difficult path to repatriation to their homeland capturing the remnants of the past which have been engrained in both memory and place.

Included within is an essay by Takashi Hamaguchi and afterword by Tatsuko Nishimura. Text available in both Japanese and English.