A visual journey into 90s Japanese fashion photography

Published in 1998, Tokyo Fashion Story was launched during a CUTIE and H exhibition.

A captivating visual journey into 90s Japanese fashion, this book presents a collection of iconic fashion photography from the perspective of editor Shigeo Goto.

It showcases the groundbreaking work of photographers like Higashi Ishida, Inaba Gen, Shigekazu Onuma, Takehide Niitsuno, Chika Suzuki, Yoshie Tominaga, Keisuke Naito, Masayuki Nagamine, Rika Noguchi, BUNKO, and Shingo Wakaki.

A testimony of the 90s fashion era

At the heart of this book are the photographers, actors, models, and musicians who emerged in the 90s, providing an unfiltered testimony of Tokyo’s vibrant fashion photography scene.

“This Tokyo Fashion Story has initiated with an intention of analyzing the latest fashion photography” wrote Goto in the foreword. “My own policy was to target “the most progressive photographers” in magazine media of the present moment when “street culture” has calmed down”.

While many publications of the era focused on Tokyo’s globally acclaimed street style, Goto chose instead to highlight commercial fashion photography and the new visual narrative shaped by a bold generation of Japanese fashion photographers.

Shigeo Goto, contributor to Japanese fashion photography

Goto’s influence extends beyond editing; he has curated exhibitions, published works that explore contemporary visual expressions, and contributed to Japan’s global cultural presence.

Through his gallery/publication house”GP + abp”, he has introduced a lot of up-and-coming Japanese photographers to the world and contributed to the rise in  popularity of “Japanese photo” in Europe.

Goto’s approach celebrates the artistic evolution within fashion, capturing moments that speak to Japan’s vibrant cultural shifts and the photographers who document them.