Tamotsu Yato, born circa 1928, died 1973, left behind three important but virtually forgotten books of photography -- "Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan" (1967), "Naked Festival: a photo essay" (1969) and his masterpiece, "Otoko: Photo-studies of the Young Japanese Male" (1972). While the first two books have a definite appeal with their barely-clad subjects, they are still rather straightforward presentations of their subjects. On the other hand, "Otoko" was very definitely the work of a gay man taking photographs meant to appeal to other gay men.
More to come from Mr. Yato soon...!
