Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai – New Exhibition at Japan House London
One of Asia’s most significant photography events, Kyotographie International Photography Festival is doing its first UK project in collaboration with Japan House London.
Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai is featuring two significant Japanese photographers from two completely different generations.
@urbanadventurerldn [BLOG POST IN BIO] Japan House’s first photography exhibition is opening on the 3rd June! 📸 One of Asia’s most significant photography festivals, Kyotographie International Photography Festival is presenting its first UK project in collaboration with Japan House London @Kyotographie Come with me to the Press Preview and be among the first to get a glimpse of the exhibition 👀 📍Where Japan House London | 101-111 Kensington High St, London W8 5SA (Nearest station is Hight Street Kensington station) 🗓️ When 3rd June – 18th October 2026 🕰️ Opening times Mon – Sat: 10am – 8pm Sun & Bank holidays: 12pm – 6pm 🎟️ Tickets Admission is FREE but booking a time slot is recommended #invite #japanhouse #photoexhibition #photographyexhibition #photographers
Kyotographie Festival in London
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Kyotographie was founded in 2013 and quickly became one of the most significant photography events in Asia. The festival is hosted at different historical venues each year in Kyoto and welcomed over 300,000 visitors in 2025.
Organised in partnership with Kyotographie, ‘Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai’ is the first ever photography exhibition at Japan House London.
About the Photographers: Kawada Kikuji and Iwane Ai
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Post-war pioneer Kawada Kikuji and founding member of the influential VIVO collective and contemporary photographer Iwane Ai are now exhibiting together for the first time.
The two photographers are linked together by having been featured in the international photography festival, Kyotographie in 2022 and 2024.
About Kawada Kikuji
“Light and shadow are set apart, stirring complex emotions as they perform photogenic somersaults over and over again. As shadows continue to transform within colour, traces of that time suggest the obsessions of lives yet to come.” – Kawada Kikuji
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Born in 1933, Kawada Kikuji is one of Japan’s most celebrated post-war photographers.
He is best known for his iconic book published in 1965, ‘The Map’ (Chizu in Japanese), a disquieting exploration of the trauma on WWII. The book features photos of stains burnt into the walls of Hirashima’s A-Bomb Dome. Stains of human bodies that literally evaporated when the atomic bomb exploded over the city.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The book also contains images of the American occupation.
Kawada Kikuji was one of the founding members of the VIVO collective, an influential movement to push the boundaries of traditional photography and create a new visual language that reflects the changing social and cultural landscape.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The movement was influenced by surrealism and the American ‘New Vision’ style of photography.
Photographers often used double exposures and layer images that we also see in Kawada Kikuji’s works.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Japan House London’s new exhibition also features works from ‘Last Cosmology’ (1969 – 2000) that captures celestial phenomena, such as solar eclipses, cloud formations and other cosmic marvels.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Kawada Kikuji (93) has been active for eight decades and actively posts his recent works on social media today.
About Iwane Ai
Iwane Ai (middle) at the Press Preview of Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai at Japan House London
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Born in 1975, Iwane Ai is a contemporary photographer exploring migration, memory and cultural identity across borders.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
She started her career in 1996 focusing on music related works and magazines before her attention shifted to the culture of Japanese people in Hawaii.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Her award-winning series ‘Kipuka’ (2018) documents the lives of Japanese communities in Hawaii with ancestral ties to Fukushima.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Japan House London’s new exhibition is also featuring works from ‘A New River’ (2020) series that captures otherworldly nocturnal cherry blossom scenes in Japan’s northeastern Tōhoku region, inhabited with well-known figures from Japanese folklore.
Practical Info
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Address
Japan House London | 101-111 Kensington High St, London W8 5SA
(Nearest station is Hight Street Kensington station)
Opening Times
3rd June – 18th October 2026
Mon – Sat: 10am – 8pm
Sun & Bank holidays: 12pm – 6pm
Tickets
Admission is FREE but booking a time slot is recommended
Tickets can be booked on Japan House London’s official website
Ready for your next adventure? There is secret Japanese café in London where you can get Totoro and Miffy-shaped pastry (available from Friday to Monday from 1pm) and read manga. Welcome to Mitsuba, a cute, relaxing sanctuary for the lovers of all things Japanese.