Toi and Masato

An autobiographical essay by Masato Seto. This book, through photographs and text, traces the memories of a boy called "Tooi" in Thailand who came to Japan and lived as "Masato," along with the history of his family across four generations.

Seto was born in Thailand to a Japanese father and a Vietnamese-Thai mother. At the age of eight, he moved to his father's hometown, Fukushima Prefecture, in Japan. Moving between different lands—his childhood in Thailand, his life in Japan, and later visits to Thailand and Vietnam after becoming a photographer—he uses his two names, "Masato" as a Japanese person and "Tooi" from his time in Thailand, as clues to trace his roots and family memories.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of his father's life, who remained in Southeast Asia after World War II. After Japan's defeat, his father did not return to Japan, immersing himself in Vietnamese society and eventually running a photo studio in Thailand. Later, the family moved to Japan, and Seto grew up in Fukushima. Through the memories of an individual and a family, larger historical themes such as war, migration, borders, and ethnicity quietly emerge.

This book is a greatly expanded and retitled version of "Kazoku" (Family), which was serialized in Asahi Graph from January 17 to December 5, 1997. It is a work where Seto, who has always focused on the distance between himself and his subjects as a photographer, turns his gaze towards himself and his family. Moving back and forth between photographs and text, it is a family portrait and a record of exploring one's own roots, continually questioning where one comes from and who one is living as.

Book design by Atsuhiro Yoshida. Photographs by Masato Seto.
In 1999, this work received the 12th Shincho Gakugei Prize.

[Title] Tooi to Masato
[Publisher] Asahi Shimbun Company
[Publication Date] September 5, 1998 (1st printing)
[Page Count] 200 pages
[Size] Approx. 140 x 195 x 20mm / 325g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] TOOI TO MASATO
[Author/Editor] Masato Seto/Author & Photographer, Atsuhiro Yoshida/Book Designer
[Printing] Tosho Printing/Printer
[ISBN] 9784022572653
[Condition] Used [5] Good (Obi: crease marks, cover: light fading, body: age-related tanning on edges)
[Accessories] Dust jacket
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Masato Seto (1953-)

Born in Udon Thani, Thailand. Photographer.

Moved to Japan in 1961. After graduating from Tokyo School of Photography (now Tokyo Visual Arts) and working as an assistant to Masahisa Fukase, he became a freelance photographer in 1981. In 1987, he co-founded Gallery PLACE M in Shinjuku, Tokyo, with Michio Yamauchi and others.

He continues to create works centered on Asia and Japan, cities, and human life, which are related to his own origins. Examples include "Living Room, Tokyo," which photographed people living in Tokyo apartments; "Bangkok/Hanoi," which observed cities and people in Southeast Asia; and "binran," which photographed betel nut vendors in Taiwan.

In 1989, he received the Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award for his photobook "Bangkok/Hanoi." In 1996, he received the 21st Kimura Ihei Award for his photographic activities, primarily "Silent Mode" and "Living Room 1989-1994." In addition to photographic works, he has also published literary works tracing his own and his family's memories, releasing the autobiographical essay "Tooi to Masato" from Asahi Shimbun Company in 1998.

His major works include "Bangkok/Hanoi," "Silent Mode," "Living Room, Tokyo," "Tooi to Masato," "picnic," "binran," "Cesium-137Cs-," and "Masahisa Fukase Den."

His major awards include the Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award, Higashikawa Award New Artist Award, Shashin no Kai Award, 21st Kimura Ihei Award, Shincho Gakugei Prize, Photographic Society of Japan Annual Award, and the 37th Higashikawa Award Domestic Artist Award.

His major collections include the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Kawasaki City Museum, J. Paul Getty Museum, and Fukushima Prefectural Museum.

< Related Figures >

Masahisa Fukase, Michio Yamauchi, Daido Moriyama, PLACE M