Sohei Nishino | Diorama Map Tokyo, 2024

Nishino’s process—walking the city for months, photographing countless locations, and meticulously collaging them—recalls Inō Tadataka, the 18th-century cartographer known for his empirically precise yet elegant maps. But where Inō aimed to fix the terrain, Nishino privileges subjectivity: his psychogeographic maps reflect drift, memory, and personal encounter. His Tokyo is not static, but a dynamic, shifting mosaic of lived experience.

The work also draws from Yamato-e, the classical Japanese painting style of the Heian period (794–1185), known for its vivid color, oblique perspective, and narrative flow across space. These qualities resonate with Nishino’s own approach, where geography merges with story and perception, unfolding like a contemporary scroll that invites viewers into a richly layered urban journey.

Tokyo, 2024 completes a trilogy of works mapping Nishino’s evolving relationship with the city. Tokyo, 2004 marked the series’ beginnings; Tokyo, 2014 captured its expansion and deepening complexity. This latest iteration offers both reflection and reinvention—bridging tradition and personal experience, and renewing his ongoing inquiry into how cities are felt, remembered, and represented.

Rather than a conclusion, Tokyo, 2024 signals continuity. It affirms Nishino’s unique position within both contemporary photography and Japanese visual culture, while opening new ways of seeing and mapping urban life.