Portrait of a Place: Arakicho Backdrop Blur
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Portrait of a Place: Arakicho

The fight for survival in one of Tokyo’s vanishing geisha districts. Documenting everything from ancient moss-covered woodlands to the streets of his old Brooklyn neighbourhood, Japanese photographer and Wallpaper contributor Yasuyuki Takagi is known for his quiet vernacular style.

Top Cast

  • Yukitaka Yamaguchi

    Yukitaka Yamaguchi

  • Masayasu Watanabe

    Masayasu Watanabe

  • Shoko Hirakata

    Shoko Hirakata

  • Takuma Sei

    Takuma Sei

  • Shintaro

    Shintaro

  • Chie Miyamoto

    Chie Miyamoto

Overview

The fight for survival in one of Tokyo’s vanishing geisha districts. Documenting everything from ancient moss-covered woodlands to the streets of his old Brooklyn neighbourhood, Japanese photographer and Wallpaper contributor Yasuyuki Takagi is known for his quiet vernacular style.

Rating

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1 Reviews
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Recommendations

A

Roughly chronological, from 3/96 to 11/96, with a coda in spring of 1997: inside compounds of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist sect led by Shoko Asahara. (Members confessed to a murderous sarin attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995.) We see what they eat, where they sleep, and how they respond to media scrutiny, on-going trials, the shrinking of their fortunes, and the criticism of society. Central focus is placed on Hiroshi Araki, a young man who finds himself elevated to chief spokesman for Aum after its leaders are arrested. Araki faces extreme hostility from the Japanese public, who find it hard to believe that most followers of the cult had no idea of the attacks and even harder to understand why these followers remain devoted to the religion, if not the violence.

A

5.9 1998