In “JP-01 SPK,” acclaimed photographer Taiji Matsue presents an exacting, aerial survey of Sapporo, Hokkaido. As part of his “JP” series documenting Japan by prefecture, this volume focuses on the snowy winter topography of Sapporo. Matsue’s signature style—a horizon-less, top-down perspective—strips the landscape of traditional romanticism, instead offering a geological “skin of the earth” view. The photographs capture temporary human interventions, such as tents on a snowfield, rendering them as abstract cells within a broader environmental topology. The book features text by Natsuki Ikezawa, which contextualizes Matsue’s work within the ancient Japanese tradition of “kunimi” or land-viewing, transforming the act of looking into a form of benediction.
