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Background information
"This Complete Edition of the black-and-white series 'Goze' by Japanese photographer Shoko HASHIMOTO includes previously unpublished photographs and offers an unprecedented view at his masterful series from the 1970s, newly selected, edited and scanned from over 10,000 original negatives.
From spring 1972 until summer 1973, Shoko HASHIMOTO traveled around Niigata Prefecture together with a group of goze, blind women entertainers who performed and told stories in exchange for food and shelter. Today, there are no longer goze traveling around. Life was already difficult for the goze in the 1970s, and the continuing industrial, economic and urban developments of postwar Japan have only accelerated since then.
Content
These astonishing photographs by Shoko HASHIMOTO in this photo volume, 'Goze', document the life of these women. We see them taking baths, relaxing on the floor, sleeping at night, and endlessly roaming from village to village. his distinct style, which renders the scenes with an almost painterly quality, knows which parts to emphasize: in landscape shots, the scenery appears to almost swallow the women; when faces are involved, the emotions are vivid. In addition to previously unpublished photographs, this Complete Edition also includes the diary by Shoko HASHIMOTO from his time with the goze, available in Japanese and in English translation.