Why a 70-Year-Old Photo of Aomori from Instagram Has Reached a Global Audience

It’s just like our village. “ Just like our village” and “Cool!

Now, 70 years later, many people have been moved by Shoichi’s photos. Since he uploaded the photos on Instagram, he has been receiving various comments from overseas.

One person from Chile told me, “It’s just like the scene in our village right now,” which made my heart beat faster. I’ve also been contacted by people from France and Spain, and rather than feeling nostalgic, they say things like, ‘I like the expression on this girl’s face,’ or ‘The fishermen look cool. They seem to approve of the photos, and I’m grateful for that.

Kanako is the director of the TV program “Sekai Fushigi Hakken! Kanako is the director of the TV program “Sekai Fushigi Hakken! Before his death, Shoichi said this about Kanako when he saw the programs she was in charge of.

Before he died, Shoichi said of the programs that Kanako worked on, “My father was a bitter man, and most of the time he would say, ‘It’s not interesting,’ but he would praise them when they showed the lives of ordinary people or depicted human beings. I also think that it would be more interesting to introduce not only rare things, but also the life of each country and small happiness. It’s not something that my father taught me for my work, but I think I’ve learned it unconsciously.

Mr. Shoichi’s photographs reflect the image of Japanese people in the mid-Showa period, who believed that “tomorrow will be better than today. The strength and freedom of being able to believe in the future is dazzling. The photographs of “Aomori” evoke even a choking feeling in my heart. There are indeed “miraculous moments” engraved on them.

All photos ©shoichi_kudo_aomori（Aomori 1950-1962: A Collection of Photographs by Masaichi Kudo, Misuzu Shobo. A collection of 366 photographs from the remaining paper and film. The book also includes a map showing the points of Aomori city where the photographs were taken. The map can be compared with the present state of the city. )