Information

Screening from March 2, 2021 (Tue)

Nikon Museum is screening a new movie, “Investigating the Structure of the Galaxy and the Nikon 91 cm Reflector Telescope”, in the Private Viewing Room from March 2, 2021.

The 91 cm Reflector Telescope was a photoelectric equatorial reflector telescope that was manufactured by Nikon (then Nippon Kogaku) in 1959, and installed in 1960 at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory (now the Subaru Telescope Okayama Branch Office). Its diameter of 91 cm made it the largest domestically produced telescope in Japan at the time. Today, it has been converted to a wide-field camera, and supports near-infrared observation of the galactic structure.

This movie is an interview with Mr. Kenshi Yanagisawa, who researches stars using the 91 cm Reflector Telescope, and introduces the history and current role of the telescope, which has contributed to astronomical observations for over 60 years.

Filmed using Nikon Z 7 and Z 50

With the exception of some reference material, this movie was filmed using Nikon Z 7 and Z 50 cameras, at 4K UHD image quality.

Screening from December 8, 2020 (Tue)

Nikon Museum is screening a drama commemorating the 5th anniversary of the Nikon Museum. “The lie detective — The sunken NIKONOS Ⅲ” can be seen in the private viewing room from December 8, 2020.

This is a mystery drama, in which the detective Daisuke Ieno and his buddies solve a murder case taking a cue from the amphibious camera NIKONOS Ⅲ, that was washed ashore. It is based on the theme “human lies”, and illustrates human emotions and relationships. It is based on the short story “The Land NIKONOS”, written by Ms. Sanaka Hiiragi, the author of the “Days with Mysteries of the Retro Camera Shop in Yanaka” series. The drama production, including casting, script writing, filming, music production and editing, was directed by “playApart”, a movie production group whose concept is “Gather young actors and produce movies and dramas by ourselves”. The work of the promising actors, and the camera work of the director (who took charge of the movie shooting) are also highlights of this drama. This drama was fully filmed using the Nikon Z 6 full-frame mirrorless camera. Please enjoy this 4K UHD high-definition, beautiful movie.

The purpose of the drama

The Nikon Museum opened in 2015, and celebrated its 5th anniversary in October 2020. More than 150,000 people have visited the museum thus far. This drama was created to entertain Nikon fans and camera enthusiasts, commemorating the anniversary and expressing our gratitude.

Synopsis

One day, a client visits detective Daisuke Ieno and his assistant So Wato, and asks them to find her missing husband. The only clue is an old film camera that was found washed up on a shore. Daisuke and So talk with Airi Futako, a camera and photo expert. Airi explains that the camera is an amphibious camera NIKONOS Ⅲ. With Airi’s advice, Daisuke develops the sunken film roll. On the film, as well as underwater and landscape photos, a selfie of the missing husband and photos of the client herself were recorded. With these photos, they identified the location of the husband, and found his body at the police station after searching for him. It is thought that he accidentally died, but Daisuke notices that this case is warped by someone’s lies.

Dates: September 29, 2020 (Tue) – Late September, 2021

Nikon Museum is exhibiting some mementos and the last photograph of photojournalist Taizo Ichinose until late September 2021.

Exhibited mementos include his Nikon F SLR camera, which was damaged while he was reporting from a battlefield in Vietnam, a press armband, a helmet, boots and others. The exhibited photograph is called “Taizo's last photo”, taken in 1973. It is a photograph of faraway Angkor Wat taken from the window of his boarding house in Cambodia.

These were exhibited at Nikon Museum’s “Taizo Ichinose, the Reality of War, the People Who Live Within the Smoke of Gunpowder” special exhibition held from January 6, 2020 to September 26, 2020, and attracted great interest from visitors. This long-term exhibition has been organized with the cooperation of Ichinose’s family.

With this exhibition, we hope you can understand how Taizo Ichinose lived, running through battlefields hoping to take exclusive, world-class photographs.

Taizo Ichinose

Taizo Ichinose was born in Takeo, Saga, in 1947. He worked as a photojournalist for approximately two years in tumultuous areas such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, trying to get worldwide scoops. In November 1973, he wrote a note to his friend with the words “One step on a mine, It's all over,” before travelling to Khmer Rouge militia-controlled Angkor Wat, where he disappeared.