Renjo Shimo-oka Memorial

Public Art: Renjo Shimo-oka Memorial

Sculptor: © Mitsuaki Tanabe

Description: The bronze sculpture of a box camera balanced atop a oval type plinth is dedicated to Renjo Shimo-oka (1823-1914), the first Japanese photographer.

Date Unveiled: 1987

Location: The Renjo Shimo-oka Memorial is located outside the Bashamichi Square Building, Yokohama, Japan.

Inscription:

Things You May Not Know About Renjo Shimo-Oka:

Shimo-oka is famous for photographing the fire which broke out on SS America while docked in Yokohama harbor.

He is also the founder of lithography in Japan.

Shimo-oka learned the art of photography from Dutchman Henry C.J. Heusken, who was an interpreter for the first U.S. Ambassador to Japan.

Trivia:

Japanese Sculptor Mitsuaki Tanabe is well known for creating wild rice seed sculptures. On April 1, 2008 his 9metre, 250kg  "A Seed of Wild Rice MOMI-2008," sculpture was installed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust at its headquarters in the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) building in Rome.