Watanabe Katsumi

Photo: Watanabe Katsumi

The New York Times Magazine this week has a feature on Japanese photographer Watanabe Katsumi whose book Gangs of Kabukicho documents the East Shinjuku area of Tokyo's "hostess bar and yakuza heyday."

"Watanabe was not well known at all,” says Andrew Roth, who is now the caretaker of the Watanabe estate, “but, by their own admission, Japanese photography stars like Keizo Kitajima, Nobuyoshi Araki and Daido Moriyama are all indebted to him. Hopefully this book shows that Japanese street photography did not start with the current interest in Harajuku and gives Watanabe the recognition he did not enjoy in life.”

Gangs of Kabukicho by Watanabe Katsumi ($55) is distributed by D.A.P. and is available at artbook.com.