Publisher/国書刊行会

Google翻訳
The "Imperial Japanese Navy Photobook" series by Japanese photographer Fujio Matsugi. Based on records he personally took while serving as a special naval correspondent during the war, the three-volume series, reconstructed after the war, captures the figures of different groups of "men"—officer cadets, sailors, and students conscripted into the army—in three volumes: "Naval Academy," "Sea Soldiers," and "Naval Reserve Students." The series depicts young officer cadets at the educational site in Etajima, the bodies of sailors in their daily lives, and students being mobilized for war—capturing both the disciplined and controlled group dynamics and the immaturity and sense of time present in each individual. In addition to being a military document, this series can also be read as a record of the bodies and existence of "boys" incorporated into the era, reflecting Matsugi's excellent sense for nude photography. It is a work that demonstrates the depth of meaning that the same images take on different meanings in wartime and the postwar period.