‘Lost Villages’ (Genkai Shuraku)

An exhibition of photographs from the Japanese countryside exploring the issue of Genkai Shuraku, villages that have or are close to reaching their final limit. 

 

The photographs are the result of a three month, 6500km trip around Japan where Sam stayed in several such communities.

 

 

It was a search for communities on the brink of extinction, their populations dwindling and land slowly being reclaimed by nature.  An adventure fuelled by rice and the kindness of strangers and blessed with a magical touch by the occasional appearance of geriatric heroes.  People like Yamamoto-San, a coal making, nature loving 75 year old living in the mountains of Niigata prefecture and still lifting logs on a daily diet of 2litres of green tea, naps and wild vegetables. 

 

Admission Free