Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography

The Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography is an art gallery that houses and displays 12,000 photographic works by photographer Shoji Ueda (1913-2000), who was born in Sakaiminato City, Tottori.
Opened in 1995, the museum features collection exhibitions and three special exhibitions per year. Throughout his life, Ueda never left his hometown and continued taking photographs in Tottori Prefecture. His signature style featured staged photography where people were arranged like objects against the backdrop of the San'in region's skies, horizons, and sand dunes. This distinctive approach is widely recognized even in France, the birthplace of photography, where it's referred to as "Ueda-cho" (Ueda style) using the original Japanese characters.
The building was designed by architect Shin Takamatsu and features three ponds, four structures, and distinctive large curved walls. This museum won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for architecture. With Mount Daisen out front, on clear days you can see the magnificent inverted reflection of Mount Daisen in the three ponds, making it a popular photography spot.