On September 5, 2025, Typhoon No. 15, Peipah, struck the Kanto region, bringing record-breaking rainfall and strong winds to Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy rain and flood warnings, urging strict vigilance against landslides and flooding in low-lying areas.
A linear rainband formed over the city for the first time that year, leaving large parts of Wakamiya Oji, the main avenue leading from Kamakura Station to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, submerged. Roads turned into rivers, with police directing traffic and many areas closed off. Transportation came to a standstill, visitors were few, and many shops and facilities were forced to shut down. Stripped of its usual bustle, Kamakura was left in eerie silence, with the storm’s scars lingering across its streets.
About Shin Noguchi
Shin Noguchi, born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1976, is a street photographer based in Kamakura and Tokyo since 2002. His work focuses on capturing moments of beauty and humanity within everyday life. Without staging or using viewfinderless shooting, he depicts the intricate and delicate aspects of Japanese culture through a poetic and contemplative approach.
He has been invited to exhibit in France, Italy, London, and China, including exhibitions hosted by Leica Camera, and has been featured more times than any other Japanese photographer on the official Leica Camera blog. His work has been covered by publications and institutions such as Courrier, The Independent, The Guardian, and the FIFDH International Human Rights Film Festival, among others. He has also been commissioned or featured by Libération, The Wall Street Journal, and global brands including Leica, Apple, Hermès, and ZARA.
He was selected for Leica’s 70th-anniversary campaign M is M, and his photographs are currently included in the worldwide touring exhibition The 100 Years of Leica. Reflecting on his practice, Noguchi states that his subjects reveal to him the meaning and value of life. For him, taking a photograph is an affirmation of the existence of people—their human nature and karma—as well as an opportunity to affirm his own existence and accept it as it is. [Official Website]
