A photo exhibition covering over 100 years of Japanese photojournalism has opened at the Tokyo International Forum to highlight momentous events including the funeral of Emperor Meiji in 1912 and the Kumamoto earthquake last April.
The show, which opened on Saturday and was organized with the assistance of Kyodo News, has 75 photos on display and closes on Sept. 9.
Among the photos are shots documenting Emperor Hirohito's enthronement ceremony at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1928, British actor and director Charlie Chaplin's visit to Japan in 1932, Hideko Maehata gold-winning performance in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and a panoramic photo of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945.
Titled "100 Years of Japanese News Photographs — A news agency as eyewitness," the exhibition also documents the assassination of Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino at Manila International Airport in 1983, and an attempt by North Korean defectors to enter the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, China, in 2002.
"Wire service photographers were always at the forefront of news stories and conveyed to newspapers' readers dramatic photos of historically important incidents, of victims of natural disasters and of moments of elation in sporting events," said Kazuaki Hasegawa, chairman of the nonprofit Japan Press Research Institute, which organized the exhibition.
"In the past century, we have learned anew the preciousness of peace, having undergone the devastating experience of war," he said.