the first in japan photojournalist Tsuneko Sasamoto, who captured the lives of civilians under the tumultuous country was showaHe has died at the age of 107.
Sasamoto died on August 15 in the coastal city of Kamakura, south of Tokyo, the Japan Professional Photographers Society, of which Sasamoto was an honorary member, confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.
He died of natural causes, the organization said.
Sasamoto was largely recognized as a pioneer in her field.
Born in Tokyo in 1914, she studied illustration and pattern making at school, according to the National Gallery of Art.
After graduating, he landed an interview with Kenichi Hayashi, director of the Japan Photo Library, thanks to a family connection.
Hayashi asked Sasamoto if she wanted to become the country’s first female photojournalist, and according to her official biography from Shinchosha Publishing, in 1940 she officially joined the Japan Photographic Society and embarked on an illustrious career in news photography. .
She first took photos of the Women’s Celebration of the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany and Italy in the 1940s.
Sasamoto went on to cover World War II in Japan, following diplomatic envoys and human-interest stories meant to inspire patriotism and national solidarity. Several of his images appeared in Shashin Shuho, a weekly publication circulated by the Cabinet Intelligence Department from 1938 to 1945, adds the National Gallery of Art.
When the war ended, Sasamoto returned to Tokyo and became a freelancer, having previously worked as a reporter for the Chiba Shimbun, according to Shinchosha.
He went on to document the voices of those living under the Showa era, during which Japanese fascism and nationalism arose and imperial troops under the banner of the Rising Sun occupied neighboring countries.
Sasamoto won praise for his nuanced perspective on postwar society, particularly for his striking portraits whose subjects included artists, writers and the wives of striking coal miners, notes the National Gallery of Art.
In 1950, he joined the Japan Professional Photographers Society.
Eighteen years later, he traveled to Europe for the first time and then visited countries around the world, he says. Lucie Awards Biography.
In 2011, he won the Yoshikawa Eiji Cultural Award and the Japan Photographic Society Award. Three years later, she held photo exhibitions including “Tsuneko Sasamoto 100 Years Old Exhibition” and “100 Women”.
Towards the end of his life, Sasamoto said that a glass of red wine at night and a piece of chocolate every day were among his secrets to a long life.
“You should never get lazy,” he said in an interview with Art and design inspiration.
“It is essential to maintain a positive attitude about your life and never give up.
“You need to push yourself and stay conscious in order to keep going,” Sasamoto added.