25 — I’m So Happy You Are Here
28 March – 26 April 2025The book I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now presents a much-needed counterpoint, complement, and challenge to historical precedents and the established canon of Japanese photography. Inspired by this publication, the reading room exhibition at Enter Enter showcases key photobooks by Japanese women photographers, including Far and Near by Eiko Yamazawa, Yokosuka Again and Mother’s by Miyako Ishiuchi, Hanabi and Utatane by Rinko Kawauchi, Gift by Mari Katayama, among others. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to discover their diverse voices through photobooks.
Running parallel to the exhibition I’m So Happy You Are Here at Fotomuseum Den Haag (18 January – 5 May 2025), the reading room offers a deeper understanding of Japanese women photographers, where visitors can explore their photobooks firsthand.
The book I’m So Happy You Are Here is edited by Pauline Vermare and Lesley A. Martin, with Takeuchi Mariko, Carrie Cushman and Kelly Midori McCormick, designed by Ayumi Higuchi, and published by Aperture in 2024. Organised by Aperture, the exhibition at Fotomuseum Den Haag serves as a platform for the book’s themes. The reading room exhibition is curated by Ayumi Higuchi in consultation with Russet Lederman.
— Yumiko Kiyomiya, Nihon no doko ka ni (Somewhere in Japan), 1961
— Miyako Ishiuchi, Ren’ya no machi / Endless Night, 1981
— Miyako Ishiuchi, Yokosuka Again 1980–1990, 1998
— Miyako Ishiuchi, Mother’s, 2002
— Miyako Ishiuchi, ひろしま/Hiroshima, 2005
— Kunié Sugiura, Artists and Scientists, 2007
— Eiko Yamazawa, Enkin (Far and Near), 1962
— Eiko Yamazawa, Eiko Yamazawa: What I Am Doing, 2019
— Toshiko Okanoue, Drop of Dreams: Toshiko Okanoue: Works 1950–1956, 2002
— Tamiko Nishimura, Neko ga … (Kittenish …), 2015
— Hitomi Watanabe, Tokyo University 1968-1969―Behind the Blockade, 2015
— Tokuko Ushioda, Mai hazubando (My Husband), 2002
— Asako Narahashi, NU・E: Photographs 1992–1997, 1997
— Hana Takeda, Nemusō na machi (Sleepy town), 1990
— Tomoko Yoneda, Between Visible, 2004
— Emi Anrakuji, Ipy, 2008
— Michiko Kon, Eat, 1987
— Sakiko Nomura, Kuroyami (Black Darkness), 2008
— Miho Kajioka, And, do you still hear the peacocks?, 2022
— Mao Ishikawa, Red Flower: The Women of Okinawa, 2017
— Mao Ishikawa, Watashi ni naniga dekiruka (What can I do?), 2023
— Michiko Matsumoto, Nobiyakana onna tachi / Women Come Alive, 1978
— Satomi Nihongi, ’70s Tokyo Transgender, 2021
— Kayo Ume, Ume-me: Today’s Happening, 2006
— Aya Fujioka, I don’t Sleep, 2009
— Izumi Miyazaki, Watashi to watashi (Me and Me), 2018
— Mari Katayama, Gift, 2019
— Mayumi Hosokura, Kurisutaru rabu sutāraito (Crystal Love Starlight), 2014
— Mayumi Hosokura, New Skin, 2020
— Moe Suzuki, Sokohi (Glaucoma), 2022 (trade edition)
— Miki Soejima, The Passenger’s Present, 2016
— Miwa Yanagi, White Casket, 2004
— Tomoko Sawada, ID400, 2004
— Tomoko Sawada, Omiai ♡ (Matchmaking♡), 2004
— Hiromix, Hiromix, 1998
— Mika Ninagawa, Ninagawa Mika: 17 9 ’97, 1998
— Yurie Nagashima, Kazoku (Family), 1998
— Yurie Nagashima, SWISS, 2024 (3rd edition)
— Rika Noguchi, Tori wo miru (Seeing Birds), 2001
— Rika Noguchi, Kono hoshi (The Planet), 2004
— Rika Noguchi, Fushigi na chikara (Small Miracles), 2022
— Mikiko Hara, Small Myths, 2022
— Lieko Shiga, Canary, 2007
— Lieko Shiga, Canary mon (Canary gate), 2009
— Lieko Shiga, Rasen Kaigan | notebook (Spiral coast | notebook), 2012
— Lieko Shiga, Rasen Kaigan (Spiral coast), 2013
— Rinko Kawauchi, Hanabi (Fireworks), 2001
— Rinko Kawauchi, Utatane (Naptime), 2001
— Rinko Kawauchi, Cui Cui, 2005
— Rinko Kawauchi, Illuminance, 2021 (10th Anniversary Edition)
— Rinko Kawauchi, Sheets, 2013
— Rinko Kawauchi, Ametsuchi, 2013
— Rinko Kawauchi, Halo, 2017
— Rinko Kawauchi, M/E, 2025
— I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now, Pauline Vermare and Lesley A. Martin (eds.), Aperture, 2024
