Leica Camera Japan is pleased to announce the exhibition "Tokyo Moonscapes | Tokyo Lens" by Akihiko Nagumo, which will be held at the Leica Gallery Omotesando starting January 18, 2025.

This exhibition features 15 works captured with the new full-frame mirrorless camera, the Leica SL3-S, by photographer Akihiko Nagumo, who is widely active in commercial photography and video production. We invite you to enjoy the enchanting moonlit night views of Tokyo.

The moon, when one tries to chase it, reveals itself to be a fickle subject, making it difficult to capture its beauty in a photograph. 

Unlike the sun, which scarcely changes its path or the times it rises and sets in a single day, the movement of the moon across the sky is far less predictable. Daily moonrise and moonset times may shift by an average of fifty minutes. Some days, the delay is only thirty minutes; on others it lingers as much as an hour and ten minutes. Moreover, its position when it rises shifts eastward by 12 degrees each day, and its shape transforms as it waxes and wanes. It is also quite skilled at hiding behind clouds. One could say that the moon is as mysterious and elusive as The Princess Kaguya herself. 

In Japan, there is a unique and well-known story about the moon involving Natsume Soseki, the celebrated novelist of the Meiji era. The story goes like this: Soseki was reprimanding one of his students of English for his translation of the English phrase “I love you”. The student had translated it as “Ware kimi wo ai su”, which Soseki considered too direct and missing the cultural nuances of expressing love in Japanese. He suggested a more subtle expression and translating it instead as “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” 

It is with that anecdote and the romanticism so characteristic of the Japanese spirit in mind, that I set out to capture the moon against the backdrop of the Tokyo night sky. The moon in the night sky may be something we take for granted, but what we see will last only a moment. The memory of that moment becomes an imprint of the emotions stirred in that instant. Two people gazing at the same moon and thinking of one another may feel a connection that prompts them to put their emotions into words, as in a confession. It was my intention to depict the romanticism of the Japanese people toward the Tokyo night sky. It is my hope that you too will see your own emotions reflected in these moonscapes, as I did.

 “Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight !”

Akihiko Nagumo