was a Japanese

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

best known for his documentation of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

immediately after the war. Kikuchi was born in

Hanamaki is a Cities of Japan, city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace ...

, Iwate on 1 May 1916. After graduating from the Oriental School of Photography, Kikuchi was employed in the Photography Division of Tokyo Kōgeisha and began his career as a news photographer. In 1941 he worked in the photography division of Tōhōsha, a company established by Sōzō Okada and in 1942 was a member of the photographic staff of the magazine ''Front.'' His work took him to China, "

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

" and the Philippines. In 1945, the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

organized the "Science Council of Japan Special Committee on the Damage Caused by the

Atomic Bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

Survey Group", and commissioned Nippon Eiga-sha as its Documentary Film Division. Kikuchi served as a still photographer attached to the division and was hired to shoot for medical purposes. He recorded post-atomic bomb Hiroshima from 30 September to 22 October 1945. In November he was back photographing

, particularly a home for vagrant children. Kikuchi also helped establish a new magazine where he became involved in scientific photography for the first time. From 1951 Kikuchi's photographs were published in such prominent magazines as '' Sekai, Chūōkōron,'' and ''

Fujin Kōron (meaning ''Woman's Review'' in English) is a Japanese bi-weekly women's magazine published by Chūōkōron-Shinsha. It was founded under the concept of women's liberation and establishment of selfhood. It was first published in January 1916 (Ta ...

.'' Kikuchi died on 5 November 1990 aged 74 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, which many have attributed to his extensive work in irradiated Hiroshima.

Books with works by Kikuchi

*''Yūenchi'' (ゆうえんち). Tokyo: Toppan, 1954. *''Kikaika butai no shuryoku sensha'' (機械化部隊の主力戦車). Rikugun Shashinshū. Tokyo: Green Arrow, 1994. . *Association to Establish the Japan Peace Museum, ed. ''Ginza to sensō'' (銀座と戦争) / ''Ginza and the War.'' Tokyo: Atelier for Peace, 1986. . Kikuchi is one of ten photographers who provide 340 photographs for this well-illustrated and large photographic history of

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

from 1937 to 1947. Captions and text in both Japanese and English. *''Hiroshima: Sensō to toshi'' (広島：戦争と都市). Tokyo: Iwanami, 1987. . *''Kaku: Hangenki'' (核：半減期) / ''The Half Life of Awareness: Photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.'' Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1995. Exhibition catalogue; captions and text in both Japanese and English. Nine photographs by Kikuchi of medical treatment in Hiroshima are reproduced. Text and captions in both Japanese and English. * ''Shashinka wa nani o hyōgen shita ka: 1945–1960'' (写真家はなにを表現したか1945～1960, What were photographers expressing: 1945–1960). Tokyo: Konica Plaza, 1991. Pp. 16–17. *(with

Ihei Kimura was a Japanese photographer, known for his portrayal of Tokyo and Akita Prefecture. Life and work Born on 12 December 1901 in Shitaya-ku (now Taitō-ku), Tokyo, Kimura started taking photographs when very young but his interest intensified when ...

, Kiyoshi Sonobe and others) ''Tōkyō sen-kyūhyaku-yonjūgonen, aki'' (東京一九四五年・秋) / ''Tokyo: Fall of 1945.'' Tokyo: Bunka-sha, 1946. A stapled booklet of sepia photographs of life in Tokyo immediately after the end of the war. (The word ''aki'' in the title makes it clear that ''fall'' here means autumn, not defeat.) Text and captions in both Japanese and English.The photographers are not credited. Kikuchi and Kimura are named in various sources; Sonobe and unnamed others are added in ''Kimura Ihee-ten'' () / ''Ihei Kimura: The Man with the Camera'' (Tokyo: National Museum of Modern Art, 2004), pp. 48, 109. *''Tōkyō: Toshi no shisen'' (東京：都市の視線) / ''Tokyo: A city perspective.'' Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1990. Includes two photographs of Tokyo taken immediately after the war. Text and captions in both Japanese and English.

Notes

References

* "Kikuchi Shunkichi". ''Nihon shashinka jiten'' (日本写真家事典) / ''328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers.'' Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. . * ''Shashinka wa nani o hyōgen shita ka: 1945–1960'' (写真家はなにを表現したか1945～1960, What were photographers expressing: 1945–1960). Tokyo: Konica Plaza, 1991. Pp. 16–17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kikuchi, Shunkichi Japanese photographers Japanese people of World War II People from Hanamaki, Iwate 1916 births 1990 deaths