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The 16th volume of “Vacuum,” an Osaka-based magazine offering an uncompromising view at the Now of Japan’s street photography. Featuring as little text as possible and covering every square inch of its pages in photographs, the magazine offers its members space and opportunity to push the boundaries of contemporary street photography.
The photographers of the 16th volume are Ryohji Tsuchiya, Takuya Suzuki, Yuka Matsushita, Mei Hirano, Jun Abe, Kotone Taniguchi, Hsuan Lang Lin, Yuko Hirano, Shogo Yamada, Nagisa Goto, and Ryosuke Koshino.

I've been a member of Vacuum since volume 13.

For a long time I've been taking pictures without any real way to share them. Now that others can actually see my work, I've begun to appreciate the fascination, joy, and challenges of photography in a new way.

This issue's cover features a photograph of people gathering near the cherry blossoms in Osaka in the spring of 2024. I'm writing this in the warm weeks between summer and fall, when it's still warm enough to wear a T-shirt outside. By the time this issue comes out, it will be cold winter. I hope it can remind you of the warm days of spring that will arrive again soon.

Photography sometimes feels like taking a trip in a time machine to revisit and explore the seasons and places I have captured.

I hope you'll find something to enjoy and explore in each series in this 16th volume.

― Ryohji Tsuchiya