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Mika Ninagawa
蜷川 実花
Head and shoulders shot of Mika Ninagawa
Mika Ninagawa in July 2012
Born (1972-10-18) October 18, 1972 (age 52)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupation Photographer, film director

Mika Ninagawa (born October 18, 1972) is a famous Japanese photographer and film director. She is well-known for her super colorful photos. Her pictures often show beautiful flowers, shiny goldfish, and amazing landscapes.

About Mika Ninagawa

Mika Ninagawa is the daughter of Yukio Ninagawa. He was a very famous theater director. Mika became well-known in the late 1990s. This was thanks to a trend called the 'Girly Photo' movement. In this movement, people took photos of everyday things.

Her art was first shown outside Japan in 1997. This happened at a cool store in Paris called Colette. In 2001, she won the 26th Kimura Ihei Award. This is Japan's most important award for photography. In 2014, she joined the board for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. These games took place in 2020.

Mika Ninagawa's Creative Work

Mika Ninagawa has been very successful in fashion and advertising. She started directing full-length movies in 2007. Her first movie was Sakuran. In September 2010, she directed a music video. It was for the AKB48 song "Heavy Rotation".

She also directed a live-action movie in 2012. This movie was based on the manga Helter Skelter. In 2020, she directed her first web series. It was called Followers for Netflix.

Photography Style and Influence

Mika Ninagawa was a key artist in a 1990s photography trend. Other photographers like Hiromix and Yurie Nagashima were also part of this. This trend was shaped by new cultural ideas. It also used easy-to-use cameras and 'Purikura' (Print Club) photo booths. Japanese teenagers, especially girls, created a fresh visual style.

Awards and Recognition

Mika Ninagawa has won many important awards for her work. These awards show how talented she is as a photographer and director.

  • 1996: Grand Prize, 9th Shashin Hitotsubo Ten
  • 1996: New Cosmos of Photography Excellence Award, Canon
  • 1998: Photo Encouragement Award, Konica
  • 2001: The 26th Kimura Ihei Award, Asahi Shimbun Publishing Co.
  • 2006: Ohara Museum of Art Prize
  • 2012: Kaneto Shindo Award 2012

Photography Projects

Mika Ninagawa has also created album covers and artist photos.

  • Shikao Suga's "Aitai" album cover and artist photo (2013)

Art Exhibitions

Her photographs have been shown in many art exhibitions around the world.

  • Into Fiction/Reality, Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima, Japan, April 13 - May 26, 2019
  • Taichung World Flora Exposition, Taichung, Taiwan, November 03, 2018 - April 24, 2019
  • Hotel Anteroom Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, July 14, 2016 - Present
  • Mika Ninagawa: Self-image, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, January 24 – May 10, 2015
  • Mika's daydreaming theater
    • Parco Factory, Shibuya Tokyo, Japan, March 20, 2008 - April 7, 2008
    • Sapporo Parco, Sapporo, Japan, April 25, 2008 - May 11, 2008
    • Nagoya Parco, Nagoya, Japan, May 17, 2008 - June 2, 2008
    • Sendai Parco, Sendai, Japan, August 21, 2008 - September 15, 2008

Film and TV Work

Mika Ninagawa has directed several movies and TV shows.

Movies Directed

  • Sakuran (2007)
  • Helter Skelter (2012)
  • Diner (2019)
  • Ningen Shikkaku (2019)
  • xxxHolic (2022)

TV and Web TV Series Directed

Music Videos Directed

Mika Ninagawa has directed many music videos for popular artists.

Year Music video Artist Notes
2007 "Ashita Tenki ni Naare" (明日天気になぁれ) Yuzu
2010 "Heavy Rotation" AKB48 Also designed the CD jacket.
2011 "Yobisute Fantasy" (呼び捨てファンタジー) AKB48 Team B Found on the "Ue kara Mariko" single.
2012 "Hanabi" (花火) Sandaime J Soul Brothers Also designed the CD jacket.
"Sugar Rush" AKB48 Soundtrack for the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph.
"Powder Snow (Eien ni Owaranai Fuyu)" (Powder Snow ~永遠に終わらない冬~) Sandaime J Soul Brothers Also designed the CD jacket.
2013 "Girl on Fire" Alicia Keys Special video made for Japan.
"Pink Spider" Kumi Koda Also made a short drama for UULA.
"Sayonara Crawl" AKB48
"Issen Ichibyō" (一千一秒) Exile Takahiro
"Ame nochi Harelujah" (雨のち晴レルヤ) Yuzu
2015 "Kaguya" News
2016 "Kimi wa Melody" AKB48
2017 "Flame of Love" Taemin

Books by Mika Ninagawa

Mika Ninagawa has published many photography books. These books showcase her unique style.

  • ピンク・ローズ・スウィート : 蜷川実花写真集. Pink Rose Suite. Tokyo, Japan: Editions Treville, 2001. ISBN: 9784309904177.
  • A Piece of Heaven. Tokyo, Japan: Editions Treville, 2002. ISBN: 4-309-90493-9.
  • Liquid Dreams. Tokyo, Japan: Editions Treville, 2003. ISBN: 4-309-90556-0.
  • On Happiness - Contemporary Japanese Photography. with Midori Mitamura and Toshihiro Komatsu, eds. Tokyo, Japan: Editions Treville, 2003. ISBN: 9784309905518.
  • Acid Bloom. Portland, Ore.: Nazraeli Press, 2004. ISBN: 1-59005-066-5.
  • Floating Yesterday. Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha, 2005. ISBN: 4-06-213075-0.
  • Mika's daydreaming theater Tokyo, Japan: Shueisha, 2008 ISBN: 4087712222 ISBN: 978-4087712223.
  • Fever - Mizu Natsuki. Bangkok, Thailand: Hankyu Communications, 2008. ISBN 978-4484085081.
  • Ninagawa Baroque. Tokyo, Japan: Artbeat Publishers, 2010. ISBN: 9784902080308.
  • Mika Ninagawa. New York : Rizzoli, 2010. ISBN: 9780847833979.

Other Exciting Projects

Mika Ninagawa has also worked on other creative projects.

She helped design the inside of a cafe and bar. This place is called Bar & Cafè on the Bund in Shanghai, China. She also helped design the outside of a special train. This train is called the Genbi Shinkansen. It started running in Japan in spring 2016.

In 2019, she appeared in a TV drama. It was called Futatsu no Sokoku (Two homelands). She played a couple with fellow director Yūichi Fukuda.

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