was Japan's first female photojournalist.

Early life

Sasamoto was born in Tokyo, Japan. She went to a college of home economics, but quit because of her ambition to become a painter. After dropping out, she attended an institute of painting without telling her parents, and a dressmaking school.

Career

Sasamoto started her career as a part-time illustrator on the local news pages in Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun (now

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...

, one of the newspapers in Japan). At 26, she got promoted to a probationary employee in 1940 when she joined the Photographic Society in Japan, officially becoming the first female photojournalist in Japan. She stated that Margaret Bourke-White was a major influence in why she became a photographer. Sasamoto photographed subjects from General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

during the American

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

to striking coalminers and protesting students. She published a photo book in 2011 called ''Hyakusai no Finder'', or ''Centenarian’s Finder''. In 2014, Sasamoto had an exhibit of her work from her 2011 book called ''Hyakusai Ten'', or, ''Centenarian’s Exhibition''. In 2015, Sasamoto published another book, ''Inquisitive Girl at 101''. She broke her left hand and both legs in 2015 but continued to photograph. Prior to her death, Sasamoto was working on a project called ''Hana Akari'' (''Flower Glow'') in honor of her friends who had died. Sasamoto turned 100 in September 2014, and died of natural causes on 15 August 2022, at the age of 107.

Awards

2016: Lucie Award for Lifetime Achievement

References

External links

Author page at Amazon

Interview with Tsuneko Sasamoto
(in Japanese) * ''Nihon shashinka jiten'' () / ''328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers.'' Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sasamoto, Tsuneko 1914 births 2022 deaths Japanese photojournalists Japanese centenarians Women centenarians Photographers from Tokyo Women photojournalists 20th-century Japanese photographers 21st-century Japanese photographers 20th-century Japanese women photographers 21st-century Japanese women photographers