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Born in Tokyo in 1938, Masatoshi Naito graduated from Waseda University in applied sciences and trained as a research scientist. A keen interest in the folkloric traditions of Japan led him to pursue a career in photography. His work on the ethnological customs of the region of Tohoku became the focus of his seminal 70's series:BaBaBakuhatsu(Grandma Explosion).

Naito received the New Artist Award from the Japan Photo Critics Association in 1966. He participated in "New Japanese Photography" (The Museum of Modern Art, New York) in 1974 and "Beyond Japan"(London Barbican Art Centre) in 1991. He then had a solo exhibition "MASATOSHI NAITO Photography and Folklore"（Kichijoji Art Museum）in 2009. Naito won second prize in the Domon Ken Award for his book Dewa Sanzan and Shugen, Kosei Publishing Co. 1982. Other books of photographs include Miira shinko no kenkyu (Study of the Mummy Faith), Daiwa Shobo, 1974 and Tohoku no sei to sen (Tohoku Sacred and Profane), Housei University Press, 2007

• Micheal Hoppen Gallery