Ryusai

龍彩

by
藤原新也╱Shinya Fujiwara

Late-1970s Japanese photography shifted from Provoke’s impulse to a travel-essay form. Fujiwara, trained in painting, fused writing and photography; in 1977 he won the Kimura Ihei Award for serials in Asahi Graph. In May 1978 his first post-award feature appeared in Asahi Camera: “Ryūsai / Hong Kong.”

The focus here isn’t neon. It is Chinese cultural form—architecture, motifs, materials. Hong Kong functions as an entry point to an East-Asian continuum. The timeline is clear: Hong Kong work from 1976 (TOP Museum collection); the route consolidated in Shoyōyūki (covering Taiwan/Korea/Hong Kong) in 1978; then the broader project Zen Tōyō Kaidō, awarded the Mainichi Art Award for the 1981 season (announced Jan 1982). Together they frame “Ryūsai / Hong Kong” as an early chapter of Fujiwara’s East-Asia itinerary.