photo by Yasuhiro Ogawa
112 pages including 78 Black & white photos
Hard cover
23.3cm x 28.3cm, 1.3kg
Printed in Japan 2026
ISBN 978-1-9169054-9-8
Publisher : Photo Editions
Tales of the Islands by Japanese photographer Yasuhiro Ogawa is a quiet, atmospheric journey through Japan’s remote inhabited islands — places where time seems to move slowly, and traces of memory, history, and human presence linger in the landscape.
Many of these islands have faced depopulation and economic decline, with younger generations leaving for the mainland. Through Ogawa’s sensitive black-and-white photographs, weathered houses, silent coastlines, empty streets, and fragments of daily life become poetic records of places once filled with movement and community.
The project began after Ogawa visited Miyake-jima in 2005, five years after a volcanic eruption forced the entire population to evacuate. Drawn to the island’s suspended atmosphere, he continued photographing Japan’s remote islands over many years.
This edition is a revised and expanded version of Ogawa’s long sold-out 2014 photobook Shimagatari. Intimate, melancholic, and restrained, Tales of the Islands is a visual elegy on memory, disappearance, and the quiet resilience of place.
‘On Japan’s outlying islands, scattered beyond the archipelago’s larger main islands, history seems to accumulate like a bank of snow. Emotions, memories, and fragments of time settle layer upon layer, creating an atmosphere unique to the islands. At times, as I wander among them, that distinctive air becomes overwhelming, and I find myself hurrying to catch the return ferry. Yet once back on the mainland, I am seized by the feeling that I have left something precious behind, and before long I am drawn back to the islands once again.’ -- Yasuhiro Ogawa
《島嶼物語》，日本攝影師小川康博作品，是一趟安靜、充滿氛圍感的旅程，走訪日本多座偏遠有人居住的離島 —— 在這些地方，時間彷彿緩緩流動，記憶、歷史與人類生活的痕跡，留存在大地風景之中。
這些島嶼當中，許多正面臨人口外流與經濟衰退，年輕一代紛紛遷往本土。透過小川康博細膩的黑白攝影，飽經風霜的屋舍、寂靜的海岸、空蕩的街道與日常碎片，都化作詩意的記錄，留存這些曾經人來人往、社群活躍之地。
這項攝影計劃始於 2005 年，當時小川造訪三宅島；五年前，這座島因火山爆發，全島居民被迫撤離。被島上那種暫停靜止的氛圍深深吸引，他在往後多年持續拍攝日本各處偏遠離島。
本書是小川 2014 年早已售罄的攝影集《島語り》（Shimagatari）的修訂增訂版本。親切、憂鬱而節制，《島嶼物語》是一闋視覺輓歌，述說記憶、消逝，以及土地那種沉默而堅韌的生命力。
「在日本列島主島之外散落的離島，歷史彷彿積雪般層層堆疊。情緒、記憶與時間碎片一層層沉澱，造就島嶼獨有的氣息。有時漫步島上，那獨特的氛圍壓得人喘不過氣，我會趕緊趕上回程渡輪。然而一旦回到本土，又會強烈感覺自己遺落了珍貴的東西，不久之後，便再次被召喚回到島上。」 —— 小川康博
photo by Yasuhiro Ogawa
112 pages including 78 Black & white photos
Hard cover
23.3cm x 28.3cm, 1.3kg
Printed in Japan 2026
ISBN 978-1-9169054-9-8
Publisher : Photo Editions
Tales of the Islands by Japanese photographer Yasuhiro Ogawa is a quiet, atmospheric journey through Japan’s remote inhabited islands — places where time seems to move slowly, and traces of memory, history, and human presence linger in the landscape.
Many of these islands have faced depopulation and economic decline, with younger generations leaving for the mainland. Through Ogawa’s sensitive black-and-white photographs, weathered houses, silent coastlines, empty streets, and fragments of daily life become poetic records of places once filled with movement and community.
The project began after Ogawa visited Miyake-jima in 2005, five years after a volcanic eruption forced the entire population to evacuate. Drawn to the island’s suspended atmosphere, he continued photographing Japan’s remote islands over many years.
This edition is a revised and expanded version of Ogawa’s long sold-out 2014 photobook Shimagatari. Intimate, melancholic, and restrained, Tales of the Islands is a visual elegy on memory, disappearance, and the quiet resilience of place.
‘On Japan’s outlying islands, scattered beyond the archipelago’s larger main islands, history seems to accumulate like a bank of snow. Emotions, memories, and fragments of time settle layer upon layer, creating an atmosphere unique to the islands. At times, as I wander among them, that distinctive air becomes overwhelming, and I find myself hurrying to catch the return ferry. Yet once back on the mainland, I am seized by the feeling that I have left something precious behind, and before long I am drawn back to the islands once again.’ -- Yasuhiro Ogawa
《島嶼物語》，日本攝影師小川康博作品，是一趟安靜、充滿氛圍感的旅程，走訪日本多座偏遠有人居住的離島 —— 在這些地方，時間彷彿緩緩流動，記憶、歷史與人類生活的痕跡，留存在大地風景之中。
這些島嶼當中，許多正面臨人口外流與經濟衰退，年輕一代紛紛遷往本土。透過小川康博細膩的黑白攝影，飽經風霜的屋舍、寂靜的海岸、空蕩的街道與日常碎片，都化作詩意的記錄，留存這些曾經人來人往、社群活躍之地。
這項攝影計劃始於 2005 年，當時小川造訪三宅島；五年前，這座島因火山爆發，全島居民被迫撤離。被島上那種暫停靜止的氛圍深深吸引，他在往後多年持續拍攝日本各處偏遠離島。
本書是小川 2014 年早已售罄的攝影集《島語り》（Shimagatari）的修訂增訂版本。親切、憂鬱而節制，《島嶼物語》是一闋視覺輓歌，述說記憶、消逝，以及土地那種沉默而堅韌的生命力。
「在日本列島主島之外散落的離島，歷史彷彿積雪般層層堆疊。情緒、記憶與時間碎片一層層沉澱，造就島嶼獨有的氣息。有時漫步島上，那獨特的氛圍壓得人喘不過氣，我會趕緊趕上回程渡輪。然而一旦回到本土，又會強烈感覺自己遺落了珍貴的東西，不久之後，便再次被召喚回到島上。」 —— 小川康博
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