Background
Yoshio Watanabe was born on April 21, 1907, in Sanjō, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
(Bruno Taut ranks the Ise Shrine with the Parthenon in arc...)
Bruno Taut ranks the Ise Shrine with the Parthenon in architectural importance. John Burchard, in his preface, characterizes Ise as "one of the great architectural achievements of history. "I suppose," he comments "Ise has many lessons for contemporary architects once they get over being embarrassed by it." The Ise Shrine, situated some 270 miles west of Tokyo, is both old and new. The shrine dates from at least 685 A.D. but every twenty years it is completely rebuilt. Each rebuilding - there have been 59 so far - is scrupulously undertaken to guarantee an exact and identical reproduction of the preceding shrine. In 1953, after the most recent renewal but prior to the transfer of religious objects, not only were the authors allowed to inspect the prohibited area - it is ringed by four fences and contains the most important buildings - but they were granted unprecedented permission to photograph it.
https://www.amazon.com/Prototype-Japanese-Architecture-Kenzo-Tange/dp/B003UHSXTK
1965
https://www.amazon.com/Ise-Shrine-Watanabe-4062071428-Japanese/dp/4062071428/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Yoshio+Watanabe&qid=1607614255&s=books&sr=1-1
1994
渡辺 義雄
Yoshio Watanabe was born on April 21, 1907, in Sanjō, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
From 1925 to 1928 Yoshio Watanabe attended the Tokyo School of Photography.
From 1928 to 1930 Yoshio Watanabe worked in the photography department at Oriental Photo Industry Company in Tokyo, Japan. He was a Photo Times editor from 1930 to 1934. Established Watanabe Studio in Ginza, Tokyo, from 1935 to 1936, he worked for government departments, including the International Tourist Bureau, International Culture Promotion Organization, and Foreign Ministry Intelligence Bureau. From 1936 to 1940 Watanabe was a photographer for the International Report Photographers Society in Tokyo.
Since 1940 he had been a freelance photographer. From 1940 to 1952 Watanabe was a lecturer at Nihon University, an assistant professor from 1952 to 1958, and a professor of art in 1958. From 1941 to 1945 he served as a director of the Japan Press Photography Society. In 1943 he was affiliated with the International Culture Promotion Organization. In 1958 Watanabe was a chairman of the Japan Professional Photographers Society and an honorary chairman since 1981. In 1959 he served as a director of the Photographic Society of Japan, and a vice-chairman in 1973. In 1978 he was appointed a director of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 1990 he worked as a director of the Tokyo Municipal Museum of Photography.
He published several books, including Jingu to Iseji (1979), The Imperial Palace and Guest House (1980), Nihon no to: Shinko to Sono Shocho: Watanabe Yoshio Shashinshu (1982), Overview of the Byodoin - Volume I: Architecture (1988), Shashinka Watanabe Yoshio Ten (1989), Ise Jingu: Watanabe Yoshio no me (1994), etc.
(Bruno Taut ranks the Ise Shrine with the Parthenon in arc...)
1965Yoshio Watanabe was a prime mover in promoting photography as fine art in Japan. He was also a key figure in convincing the government that photography deserved a museum of its own. His efforts culminated with the construction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu, Tokyo.
Yoshio Watanabe was a founder of the Japan Photographic Arts Society.
Yoshio Watanabe was married. His wife's name was Yoshiko.
