KYOTOGRAPHIE IS ONE of Asia’s largest festivals of photography. Both Japanese photographers, Kawada Kikuji (born 1933) and Iwane Ai (born 1975), have exhibited their images at this festival. Works by these highly acclaimed photographers are on display at a temporary exhibition being held at Japan House London, in High Street Kensington, until 18 October 2026.

I have viewed many exhibitions of photography over the years, but few of them, if any, can rival what I saw at Japan House. Not only is the quality and content of each image amazingly good, but also the design (layout and display) of the exhibition space is itself a highly original work of art. To use a well-worn expression, this show ‘takes one’s breath away’.

Amongst the beautiful photographs on display, there are several relating to the domed structure which miraculously remained standing in the heart of Hiroshima after the atom bomb had been dropped on the city in 1945. These images were made in black and white by Kawada Kikuji. Some of them are almost abstract, but they are very moving. His other photographs are quite unlike any I have seen in the past. On the wall facing these pictures, there is a message in both Japanese and English, which reads:

“The voices calling for nuclear disarmament always disappear into the depths of the earth.”

Iwane Ai’s photographs, unlike most of Kawada’s, are coloured, but there are a few which are not. Some of the images are on curved screens, around which viewers can walk. One intriguing set of pictures has typically Japanese subject matter: cherry blossom. However, her photographs were taken during the covid19 pandemic when, unlike normal times, these trees blossomed in the absence of the usual crowds who come to see them.

Words cannot do justice to this fine exhibition. If you can get to see it, you will not be disappointed.