Declaration of Intent
Declaring Higashikawa the Town of Photography
When nature meets people, people meet culture, and people meet each other, an emotional story unfolds. The camera has the power to capture moments like these and make us remember them forever. Photography helps us celebrate people, compliment nature and reaches even beyond the most beautiful words of a poet.
We, the people of Higashikawa, are blessed with four seasons in which to capture this beauty. Seasonal plants and animals, majestic nature, and breathtaking scenery all help us enter a different world which we have inherited from our ancestors. We believe that our duty is to protect this rich and beautiful land and share it with the world through photography. Therefore, here and now, we would like to declare Higashikawa the Town of Photography.
June 1 1985, Higashikawa, Kamikawa, Hokkaido
Declaring Higashikawa the Culture Capital of Photography
Declaration of Intent
Japan has been facing two opposite tendencies – a population decrease and overpopulation at the same time. In order to become a strong and decentralized multipolar society, Higashikawa is aiming to develop the local culture of photography.
Higashikawa is a place of just the right size, where:
- ※ Symbiotic society is constructed and rich natural resources used with precaution;
- ※ Culture of photography and other local characteristics being promoted –
Local and global network are connected
Declaration of Intent
The purpose is to become the center of photo culture and link photography and people across the world, keeping in mind our motto “Take a picture, Save the picture, Share it with others”.
- Background and Achievements
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- Higashikawa was declared the Town of Photography in 1985. Photography has been present in people’s lives and human resource development for over 30 years.
- Over the last 30 years, Higashikawa has opened the Public Gallery as well as held a variety of photography-related events, such as the Higashikawa International Photo Festival and the National High School Photo Competition (Shashin Koshien).
- Higashikawa maintains the Higashikawa Collection (original prints of Higashikawa Prize winners’ works), books, cameras and other photography-related materials.
- Over the last 30 years, Higashikawa has participated in exchanges with people all over the world in promoting the culture of photography.
Higashikawa, the Culture Capital of Photography
In 1985, we declared Higashikawa the Town of Photography, where emotion is born through nature meeting people; people meeting culture; and people meeting each other, and since then we have been promoting Higashikawa through photo culture. Over the last 30 years, it has been a great honor to contribute to the culture of photography.
We hope that through the culture of photography we can make Higashikawa a place to gather photography of the world, meet people from across the world, and see smiling faces from around the world.
We can be proud that Higashikawa, a place of delicious water, fresh air, and rich land, has a 30 year-long history of photo culture. Celebrating 120 years of resource development of our land, we hope to make Higashikawa a place of balance and harmony. Keeping in mind our motto “Take a picture, Save the picture, Share it with others” and with the determination to link photography and people across the world, we declare Higashikawa the Culture Capital of Photography.
- A place to unite photography from around the world
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- Connect to the local and global network of photo culture
- Contribute to the cultivation and support of photographers
- Collect photography-related materials and hold exhibitions
- A place to meet people from across the world
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- Higashikawa International Photo Festival
- Exchanges of young people through photography-related events
- Promoting rich nature and industrial culture
- A place to see smiling faces from around the world
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- Creating a pleasant atmosphere in Higashikawa
- Making Higashikawa a place to gather, study, feel and depict photography.
- Making Higashikawa a place to enjoy a story (dialogue and conversation), calmness (peace and harmony), and a circle (a circle of people and a circle of wisdom)
Future development
- Web Album of the townspeople (photos from each household)
- Web gallery of the National High School Photo Competition (Shashin Koshien)
- Web gallery of the Award-winning photographers
- Web gallery of the Higashikawa Collection (original prints of Higashikawa Prize winners’ works), books, cameras, and other photography-related collections.
- Photo selling, bookselling, camera selling, etc.
Contact information
Higashikawa International Photo Festival
Higashikawa, the Town of Photography, holds the annual Higashikawa International Photo Festival every summer. The main event is the Higashikawa Award Ceremony along with the Prize Winners' Photo Exhibition, the Independent Photography Exhibition, which has become known as a launching pad for the careers of young photographers, and other events.
