The 25th edition of European Eyes on Japan | Japan Today features photographs taken in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, in 2025 by Finnish photographer Sanna Krook and Slovak photographer Dominika Jackuliaková.
Launched in 1999, the project invites European photographers to capture overlooked aspects of contemporary Japanese life and environment. Their work is exhibited in Europe and Japan, creating a visual record of Japan for future generations. The project is scheduled to continue to cover all 47 Japanese prefectures. The artistic director is Mikiko Kikuta.
Sanna Krook: Small Stitches
As a photographer, I often focus on places and communities. I am interested in how places shape us: how they leave their mark on us, just as we leave ours on them.
But we also leave traces in one another. We form communities because we need each other and a sense of connection.
I was born and have spent most of my life in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. This region and its people have left their mark on me, perhaps in the form of sarcastic humour and sincerity, but also a certain sense of shame.
In this project, I set out to photograph a social fabric woven from the people connected to a place, like the tiny stitches of Mokko sashiko. Through my photographs, I also explore the marks Fukui leaves on its people. How does living in a particular place shape our thinking, sense of humour, language or even our aesthetic sensibilities?
The exhibition was held at Galleria MABD in Oulu, Finland, from 1–30 April 2026, followed by FOR MAAT in Trenčín, Slovakia, from 15 May to 28 June 2026, with an exhibition in Japan planned for 2027.
You can order the book from: https://www.eu-japanfest.org/en/report/photocollection/
Dominika Jackuliaková
