Higashikawa Youth Fest
Each August, SENKŌ's winning team of three students and their supervising teacher joins the
Higashikawa Youth Photo Festival, alongside student photographers from over 15 countries, all
expenses paid. A week of shooting Hokkaido's landscapes, mentorship from professional artists, and
cultural exchange, closing with an exhibition of the photos they made there.
About the town
Higashikawa is the only town in Japan to officially declare itself the "town of photography," a title it has held since 1985. Set inside Daisetsuzan, Japan's largest national park, it's home to the country's longest-running photography festival, drawing photographers from around the world to a town of just over 8,000 people. Faced with the same population decline many rural areas in Japan struggle with, Higashikawa chose photography as a way to stay connected to the world rather than fade from it, and that spirit is exactly what SENKŌ's winning team steps into each August.
"I'd never even left Thailand before this trip. Standing in Higashikawa with kids from 15 other countries, all of us just trying to get the same sunset shot, that's when it hit me how big the world actually is."
SENKŌ student (placeholder)
"I'd never even left Thailand before this trip. Standing in Higashikawa with kids from 15 other countries, all of us just trying to get the same sunset shot, that's when it hit me how big the world actually is."
SENKŌ student (placeholder)