Located in Kumamoto City on the Japanese island of Kyushu, and in continuous operation since 1872, it is the oldest photographic studio in Asia. Started by Rihei Tomishige (1837-1922), who learned his craft from Japan's photographic pioneer Hikoma Ueno, it has been handed down from father to son—Rihei to Tokuji to Kiyoshi to Seiji—remaining in the Tomishiges' possession to this day. The family has preserved a repository of photographic materials from the incunabula of Japanese photography: old negatives, prints (including rare documents of the ancient Kumamoto Castle before it burned down), cameras, wet-plate darkroom apparatus and materials, and other studio equipment. Many items were originally imported from Europe via Dutch traders in Nagasaki by Ueno and provide important evidence for the history of trade between East and West, as well as insights into the spread of photography in the non-European world.
— Osamu Hiraki
