Untitled, from the October 21, 1969, International Anti-War Day

On October 21, 1969, Daido Moriyama photographed protestors at one of Japan’s largest protests in its post-1945 history. Known as the 10.21 International Anti-War Day Struggle, it took place in downtown Tokyo. More than 80, 000 protesters, mostly university students and labor union members, protested against Japan’s upcoming renewal of the Japan-US Security Treaty, the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and many other issues. Against this background, numerous artists and photographers defied traditional modes of making art and sought out new ways of expression. Moriyama helped define the are-bure-boke (grainy, blurry, and out-of-focus) style.