Japan Photo Almanac

Book review of Japan Photo Almanac - 日本写真年報.

Annual publication which recaps the previous fiscal year's events, history, publications, exhibits, and photo award winners. Mainly in Japanese, but a few pages are translated into English.

毎年、日本写真協会が発行している年報。過去の年度の日本写真界の状況が分かる。 Published: Every July Publisher: The Photographic Society of Japan ISBN: -- Price in Japan: ¥3240 Qualities: Softcover, B/W and color photos Size: B5, 256 pp. Language: Japanese and some English

The Photographic Society of Japan is Japan's most esteemed photography-related organization. It is non-profit and oversees the development of photographic culture in Japan (though it had nothing to do with the current photography boom in Japan). Established in 1952, it consists of pro photographers, writers, critics, curators, organizations, and corporations (a virtual who's who of Japan's photography world). Many of the Society's officers and directors are presidents of major photo-related manufacturers and organizations and well-established photographers. It has over 600 members. It strives to dessiminate photography-related information overseas and introduce Japan to other countries through photography. It also holds photo exhibitions, seminars and lectures, and publishes pamphlets and books. It also organizes the annual Month of Photography, Tokyo and awards prestigious annual photo awards.

One of the benefits of membership is that you receive the annual Japan Photo Almanac and a quarterly newsletter. The Almanac provides a comprehensive overview of the past year's happenings and trends in photography in Japan. It gives statistics on camera sales, a list of new products introduced, synopses of major photography events in Japan, a list of photo exhibitions held, a list of photo books published, a list of people winning major photo awards, a list of photography schools, winning photos of major photo contests, news summaries from photography organizations and museums, and more. It's most useful if you are a photo historian or if you like to keep track of what goes on in Japan's photography world. It also contains some English translations which are most welcome.

The Japan Photo Almanac is also for sale by the Society. If you are in Tokyo, you can go to the JCII Library (see PhotoLibraries) or the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography reading room and see the current and back issues for in-house reading. (Reviewed by Philbert Ono)