FUJIFILM SQUARE is pleased to announce the photo exhibition "Uchida Kuichi ―Photographer of the Late Edo and Early Meiji Periods" which will run from June 8 - 20, 2012.

Uchida Kuichi (1844-1875) was the most prominent Japanese photographer of the final years of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period. He was the first photographer to capture images of the Emperor Meiji, the leading figures in the final turbulent days of the Edo period, the warriors who took part in the Meiji Restoration and senior officials of the Meiji government. He was also among the first to take photographs of Tokyo and many other locations around Japan.

Although renowned as the preeminent Japanese photographer of his era, many of Uchida's works were taken overseas by various foreign admirers and an exhibition of a wide collection of his works has been impossible. However, after receiving much positive acclaim from visitors to our previous three-part exhibition of Uchida's photographic works held from March to August last year, we have decided to hold another exhibition of Uchida's works.

This exhibition will feature the complete collection of photos displayed at the previous three-part exhibition along with recently discovered photographic works, and will be held over a more extensive area than the previous Fujifilm Photo Salon. Visitors will be able to enjoy the further enhanced collection, appreciate the works of the forerunner of Japanese photography, and witness some fascinating and valuable photographic records of a bygone age.

Born in Nagasaki in 1844, Uchida lost his parents at an early age. He studied chemistry under Dutch physician Johannes Pompe van Meerdervoort, and later traveled to Chikuzen Province (part of current-day Fukuoka Prefecture) to study photographic techniques under early Japanese photographer Genzo Maeda. In 1865, Uchida opened a photo gallery in Osaka, and later opened galleries in prime locations in Yokohama and Tokyo. In 1872, he was requested by the Imperial Household Agency to accompany the Emperor Meiji on his first tour of Japan, and utilized the opportunity to take photos of various well-known national landmarks. Uchida took photos of the Emperor before the Imperial tour commenced and again the following year. He rose to further prominence for capturing and selling images of the popular kabuki actors of the day, and amassed enough wealth to build himself a luxury residence in the fashionable Kanda Suruga district of Tokyo. However, shortly after, Uchida contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and passed away at the age of only 32.