[Signed book] "Always Dream" by Yoshihiko Ueda

About the productJapanese

Concierge carefully selected products

Book Design: Kaoru Kasai, Yoko Nakamoto
Published by: Akaakasha Jiazazhi
Size: H257mm x W182mm
Page: 584 pages
Binding: Cloth hardcover
Published in August 2023

Product Information

release date 2023年8月8日

Part numberMbk9784865411584-sign

Specification The journey of a dream from 1990 to 2011, advertising photos for Suntory Oolong Tea and records in China

Yoshihiko Ueda's Suntory Oolong Tea series remains a monumental work of advertising photography. The images, which depict the tranquil light, the landscapes of the continent, and the lives and existence of the people there, strike a chord with viewers and leave an unforgettable impression. Each photograph tells us that the beauty of life and the richness of moments are the same, regardless of distance.

This series was shot between 1990 and 2011, during a period of great transformation in China, and was born out of travels that took the photographer long to travel to various parts of China, including Guilin, Shenyang, Shanghai, and Dalian. It also includes scenes and images that the photographer encountered by chance, and the way in which people he encountered on his travels appear directly in the advertisements and the local scenery guides the photographs gives a sense of the soil at the time when advertising culture was being nurtured.
Ueda describes the Chinese landscape of that time as "a sense of distance." The unique view from Beijing Airport, with a vague layer of hazy air floating over the vast land, the human drama of the people living in that era, and the beautiful landscapes inspired many of his famous scenes.
This book contains a chronological series of photographs of oolong tea as well as snapshots of China taken by Ueda during his travels, creating a book that is filled with a broad range of time and space from a shared perspective.


When I think of oolong tea,
For some reason, I always remember the time I landed at Beijing Airport in the winter.
Beijing Airport in the 1980s was much smaller than it is today.
At that time, when you landed there, you could smell the aroma of burning charcoal and coal used for heating.
It was always floating faintly in the air. And every time I smelled it,
A quiet joy began to well up within me at being in China again.
Through the glass windows of the old lobby,
I was staring at the distant horizon, smoky and white,
The word "distant feeling" naturally came to my mind,
Each time, I would quietly whisper those words to myself somewhere in my mind. (From the preface)

Yoshihiko Ueda

[Profile of Yoshihiko Ueda]
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1957. Photographer and professor at Tama Art University. Studied under Masanobu Fukuda and Taiji Arita. Became an independent photographer in 1982. Since then, he has been working on a variety of subjects based on his own clear-sighted aesthetic. His work, which transcends categories such as portraits, still lifes, landscapes, architecture and performance, has been highly praised both in Japan and overseas. His editorial work led him to work on a number of advertising photographs and commercial films, winning various awards both in Japan and abroad, including the Tokyo ADC Award Grand Prize, the New York ADC Award and the Cannes Graphics Award Silver Prize.

In 2011, he established his own space, Gallery 916. He received the Photographic Society of Japan Writer's Award in 2014. His first film, "The Garden of Camellias," which he directed, wrote, and shot, was released in 2021 and received a great response, and his work as a film director has also attracted attention.

He has continued his work as an artist since going independent, and has published 40 photobooks by 2023. His major photobooks include "QUINAULT" (Seigensha, 1993), "AMAGATSU" (Korinsha Publishing, 1995), "at Home" (Little More, 2006), "Materia" (Kyuryudo, 2012), "A Life with Camera" (Hatori Shoten, 2015), "FOREST Impressions and Memories 1989-2017" (Seigensha, 2018), "Camellia Garden" (Akaaka Art Publishing, 2020), and "Mater" (Akaaka Art Publishing, 2022).

His major solo exhibitions include "Yoshihiko Ueda 'Photographs'" (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2003), "Chamber of Curiosities" (The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, 2006 / National Taiwan University of Arts Museum, Taipei, 2011 / Musée de la Gadagne, Lyon, France, 2011), "QUINAULT" (G/P Gallery, Tokyo, 2009 / Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, 2010 / TAI modern, Santa Fe, 2010), and "Science of Landscape: The Fusion of Art and Science" (National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, 2019).

His works are included in the collections of Hermes International (France), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (USA), New Mexico Museum of Art (USA), Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), and Stichting Art & Theatre (Netherlands).