JAPANESE ONLY - Yann Stofer
JAPANESE ONLY EXHIBITION BY YANN STOFER
"In Japan, the sex trade is everywhere: at the exit of a Tokyo subway station, at the bend in a snowy suburban alley in Hokkaido, in the middle of the rice fields of the aging countryside. The " fuzoku ", a global term to evoke sexual service, has invaded the buildings covered in nocturnal neon lights as well as the discreet "tea houses". For each fantasy, for each desire, an immediate physical, geographical solution. Entering these places is to better understand the fantasy of a country, of an era. For years, we have tried to push open the doors of the Japanese night, systematically encountering a firm and definitive refusal: "Japanese only ".
The discovery of this coded environment was like a slow progressive slide of pleasure, over the years spent decoding its rules and prohibitions. Representing this hidden but omnipresent industry photographically involved photos stolen from the heart of these establishments , moments posed in the company of the fuzoku hosts and hostesses , long drifts to document this floating world inherited from the industrial wealth of the Japanese economic bubble of the 1980s. We closed the glowing doors of Kita-Shinchi , Ikebukuro , Shinjuku , Tobita-Shinchi and other red light districts of the country, taking with us a few visions of these capsules of time and desire.
– Jerome Schmidt
The exhibition can be seen from September 5 to October 5 at 119 rue Vieille du Temple, Paris
Press opening
Thursday September 5 at 10:30 a.m.
Public opening
Saturday, September 7, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Signature and meeting with the authors
Saturday, September 28, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
---
'In Japan, the sex trade is everywhere: right outside a Tokyo underground station, around the bend in an alleyway in the snowy suburbs of Hokkaido, right in the middle of rice paddies in the aging countryside. Fuzoku', the all-encompassing term for sexual service, has invaded the neon-lit buildings of the night, as well as the discreet “tea houses”. For every fantasy, for every desire, there is an immediate physical and geographical solution. To enter these places is to better understand the fantasies of a country, of an era. For years, we tried to push open the doors of Japanese nightlife, only to be met with a firm and definitive refusal: 'Japanese only'.
Discovering this coded environment was like a slow, gradual slide into pleasure, as we spent years deciphering its rules and prohibitions. Photographing this hidden but omnipresent industry meant stealing photos from the heart of these establishments, posing in the company of fuzoku hosts and hostesses, and spending long periods documenting this floating world inherited from the industrial wealth of the Japanese economic bubble of the 1980s. We closed the glowing doors of Kita-Shinchi, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Tobita-Shinchi and the country's other red-light districts, taking with us a few visions of these capsules of time and desire'.
- Jerome Schmidt
The exhibition runs from 5 September to 5 October at 119 rue Vieille du Temple, Paris.
Press opening
Thursday September 5 at 10.30am
Public opening
Saturday September 7, 3pm - 7pm
Signing and meeting with the authors
Saturday September 28, 3pm - 5pm