Japanese Playground Equipment Lit Up at Night

Stephan van Kuyk
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

Back in 2005, Japanese office worker Kito Fujio decided one day that he should quit his job and become a freelance photographer. Ever since, he has been wandering around his homeland searching for potentially engaging snaps. Fujio has taken himself beyond the norm and explored the overlooked pockets of interest in Japan, such as department store rooftops and children’s playgrounds with uniquely designed play equipment. These cement moulded sculptures often take up the shapes of familiar wild animals, toy robots, abstract geometric forms and random household appliances.

Fijio visits these playground sites in the night and sets up the scene using different lighting from both the inside and outside of the sculptures. This technique creates a menacing ambiguity to the seemingly innocent, child-friendly play equipment. Ever-present in Japan, the sentimental, ageing cement moulds have never been replaced or doubted for any safety concern. The sculptured cement equipment was first created as far back as 1933 by Isamu Noguchi, and has been popular with designers ever since. Noguchi’s style can be found in Sapporo and Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

Photobooks consisting of these images can be bought on Fijio’s website for 800 yen each. (Syndicated from Spoon and Tomago)

Azucar

High quality cultural content.

Stephan van Kuyk

Written by

Artist Manager, Art Dealer, Curator & Artist // CEO @azucarmag.com // stephan@vankuyk.art

Azucar

Azucar

High quality cultural content.

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