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“Yusuke Nishimura is an active photographer in the commercial and magazine industry. One day, Nishimura was awe-struck by the beautiful costumes and the magnificent dances at the Meiji Jingu Shrine’s festival of Folk and Entertainment of Performing Arts. Since the, for 3 years, Nishimura travelled throughout Japan to visit folk festivals and shot images of folk performances that have been passed down unbroken for hundreds of years. Nishimura set up his own black curtains on location in order to capture the ferocious powers of the performers that he passionately fell in love with.

[Japanese Local Folk Peforming Arts] …Performances such as play, dance and music of festivals and the function that have been handed down through generations in each regional community. There are several thousands all around the country that express each region’s characteristics and their ways through their performance and decor. It is not widely known that they are the roots to what became Noh, Bunraku and Kabuki.”

-Statement from publisher

Published by Little More, Yusuke Nishimura’s The Folk beautifully celebrates the many varieties of folk performances rooted in the rituals and traditions of communities in areas such as Kamakura, Toyama, Saitama, Akita, Yamagata, Aomori, Iwate, Okinawa and Shimane. The publication includes and essay by Shutaro Koiwa, (Japan Folk Performing Arts Association Staff), titled Japanese Folk Performing Arts. In addition the publication includes a detailed listing and description of each of the photographs within. All text available in both Japanese and English.