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The very first photobook by legendary Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, “Japan: A Photo Theater,” is finally available again in a renewed edition.

Originally published in 1968 – the year which also saw the launch of the influential Provoke magazine – the book already demonstrates Moriyama’s trademark visual style. On invitation of Japanese writer Shuji Terayama, Moriyama began photographing members of a traveling theater group, adding shots of dwarf show dancers, strip clubs, street performers, fetuses in formaldehyde containers and other motifs.
“Japan, A Photo Theater” concludes with detailed information regarding the photographs’ creation and their first appearances in Japanese magazines.

Please note that this Japanese edition does not feature the book with English translations of Shuji Terayama’s and Daido Moriyama’s writings. The book itself differs in minor details from the English version (e.g., a cover instead of box, different publisher logos, list of photographs contained within the book itself rather than in the English-language booklet).