Selected from photographs taken over the past fifteen years, Yoichi Yoshinaga’s new photobook “Tokyo Whirl” offers an exhilarating and endlessly engaging view of Tokyo’s urban spaces.
Yoshinaga, an aerial photographer, captured scenes across the city, from the quieter western districts to the densely populated central and eastern areas, while flying in helicopters and light aircraft. More than a simple record of Tokyo’s architecture from above, “Tokyo Whirl” makes each of the 103 photographs stand out through striking compositions, fleeting chance moments, and countless small stories hidden within Bruegel-like scenes. A train enthusiast, Yoshinaga also highlights the city’s complex infrastructure, while Norihisa Minagawa, in his afterword, notes how the images reveal historical structures that continue to shape Tokyo today.
“Having been born and raised in this enormous megalopolis, and having the chance to observe and photograph it from the sky, I feel a kind of duty to share my view of Tokyo with others. Each day, tens of thousands of people from other countries and different parts of Japan arrive in the city. Their encounters with the city and its trains form a small part of Tokyo’s everyday life. For most people, these encounters may be insignificant and not worth remembering, but I regard them as extraordinary. Tokyo and its people will change eventually, but this record of them will remain.”
― from Yoichi Yoshinaga’s afterword
