EM Club #28

Object Details

• Artist

  Ishiuchi Miyako (Japan, born 1947)

• Label

  After World War II, Yokosuka became the site of a controversial US naval base and an important subject for postwar photographers. The city cast a long shadow over much of Ishiuchi Miyako’s work. Born in 1947, Ishiuchi moved to Yokosuka at age six and spent over a decade fearing and hating the place. She began returning in the 1970s to document it, driven by her traumatic experience as a young woman growing up near an American military base.

  Shooting and printing the images allowed Ishiuchi to grapple with her strong reactions to revisiting her hometown. For her last major series on Yokosuka, she confronted the neighborhood abutting the base and the EM (Enlisted Men’s) Club, which was demolished in 1990. With each grainy, dark print, Ishiuchi manifested her revulsion upon entering such buildings and sensing those who once passed through it.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Japan Modern: Photography from the Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection (September 29, 2018 to January 24, 2019)

  Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows (October 06, 2015 to February 21, 2016)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection — Acquisition fund in honor of Julian Raby, director emeritus of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Photograph

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1990s, 1980s

• Name

  Ishiuchi, Miyako

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Heisei era (1989 - 2019), Art, Gloria Katz and Willard M. Huyck Jr. collection, Japanese Art

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Photographs