Photo Exhibition and Visual Ethnography - "Tachinomiya: There Are Two Sides to Every Noren"

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Thesis/Purpose: This photo exhibition is a visual ethnography of a traditional Japanese standing bar, or tachinomiya (literally “standing drinking shop”). Tachinomiya are numerous in Japan and are usually characterized as inexpensive and convenient spots for a quick drink and snack either alone or with friends. One charm of the tachinomiya, especially in the Osaka area, is socializing with the people next to you whether you know them or not. The specific tachinomiya presented in this exhibition, Tenbun, is a popular shop over 37 years old located near a busy train station on the boarder between Osaka and Kyoto prefectures. Tenbun features many kinds of food and drink and a plethora of interesting characters including the owner, employees and regular customers. Another characteristic of the tachinomiya is the use of a noren, a kind of fabric curtain that signals that the shop is open for business and provides partial seclusion for the shop and customers. The noren can be seen as a fluid wall; when calm it blocks much of the view from the outside, but when the wind blows its separated partitions offer more glimpses of the inside. The glimpses can be narrow or revealing. One cannot control the wind; this fluid wall illustrates the complexities of personal privacy in public spaces in Japan, especially in the context of taking photographs in public and image rights.

Key words: photo exhibition, visual ethnography, tachinomiya, noren, personal privacy

Wednesday, February 3 - Sunday, February 14, 2016
(closed on Monday and Tuesday)
12:00 - 18:00 (Closes at 17:00 on the final day)

Sewing Gallery
2-11-18 Hoshigaoka
Hirakata-shi, Osaka-fu, 573-0013
(inside Hoshigaoka Gakuen)
Tel: 072-840-2476　 Fax: 072-840-2492
E-Mail : info@sewing-g.com
URL: http://sewing-g.com/sg/2016/01/post-288.html

Take the Keihan Train Line to Hirakata-shi station and transfer to the Katano Line (platforms 5 & 6). Get off at Hoshigaoka station (2 stops from Hirakata-shi) and then walk up the hill for about 3 minutes. The gallery (inside Hoshigaoka Gakuen) is on the left hand side of the road.

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