Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1969. After graduating from the Faculty of Education at Waseda University, he worked for an advertising production company in Tokyo before moving to Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, in 2005.
His photography centers on the relationship between humans and the natural world, with a focus on fishing, hunting, and whaling. He has traveled across Japan to document these practices.
In parallel, he has spent more than 30 years capturing the everyday life of the Takeda community on Ishigaki Island, where he now lives.
Awards
- 2019
- Grand Prize, People Category, National Geographic Photo Award 2018
- 2022
- 5th Tsuneko Sasamoto Photo Award
- 2023
- Sagamihara Newcomer Encouragement Award, Photo City Sagamihara 2023
Major Photo Exhibitions
- 2005
- Shinka: Ishigaki Island Uminchu (Okinawan Fishermen) Canon Gallery
- 2010
- Uminchu (Okinawan Fishermen) Canon Gallery
- 2018
- Bōshū Whaling Taiji Town Ishigaki Memorial Museum
- 2019
- Saburō Uminchu (Okinawan Fisherman Saburō) Canon Gallery
- 2022
- Shooting Bears Olympus Gallery Tokyo
- 2022
- Karitateru Mono (The Hunters) Aidem Photo Gallery "Sirius"
Photo Books
- 2017
- Living with Whales Heibonsha
- 2019
- Uminchu: Walking the Seas of Yaeyama Heibonsha
- 2022
- Shooting Bears Kanjindō
- 2025
- Putting Down Roots on the Island: Villages Settled by Taiwanese Immigrants on Ishigaki Island Rikka Shobō
Before World War II, around 1,000 people migrated from Taiwan—then under Japanese rule—to Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture. At the same time, more than 20,000 people, including many from Okinawa, relocated from Japan to Taiwan. This exchange came to an abrupt end with Japan's defeat in 1945.
From that point forward, Taiwanese residents who had remained on Ishigaki were treated as "foreigners" in the very land they had settled. Their lives were marked by hardship. They persevered through tensions with local islanders during the early years of migration and endured discrimination that continued well into the postwar era.
The photographs in this exhibition capture scenes from the everyday life of a community established by Taiwanese settlers on Ishigaki Island after World War II.
These settlers ventured into dense jungle areas that had long been overlooked by the islanders. There, they broke the tough ground with hoes and began cultivating and processing pineapples brought from Taiwan-paving the way for new lives through perseverance and hard work. After years of effort, they eventually forged harmony with the local population and began acquiring Japanese citizenship between 1964 and the 1970s.
Today, the rural landscape of this village blends naturally into the heart of Ishigaki Island-but it is the result of more than fifty years of steady effort and dedication.
Originally developed by Taiwanese settlers, the Takeda community has since grown into the island's leading agricultural region, enriched by newcomers from nearby islands, Okinawa's main island, and mainland Japan.
Eighty years after the war, the turmoil experienced in regions once caught between shifting borders-and the ethnic tragedies tied to questions of nationality-remain unresolved, continuing to weigh heavily on Japanese society.
However, researchers who have studied the community note that the Taiwanese residents of Takeda are "a rare example of a group that became independent from the overseas Chinese community and fully integrated into local society as farmers, achieving lasting development."
They rarely speak of the past—one marked by the sweat and tears of those who first forged a life here. Moved by the quiet pride they carry, I release the shutter.