IBASHO is pleased to present a solo exhibition of UK-based Japanese photographer Sayuri Ichida, titled ‘Semitone’, featuring two series: ‘Playing the Piano Upstairs’ and ‘Ctrl Shift + J’.
The series ‘Playing the Piano Upstairs’ grew out of Ichida’s relationship with her sister and their shared memories of childhood in Niigata, one of Japan’s snowiest regions. After losing mother in their late teens, the sisters slowly rebuilt a fragile but enduring closeness. Photographing her sister became a way for Ichida to trace that transformation — how silence, conflict, and care have shaped their bond. Set against quiet landscapes of snow, sea, and fields, ‘Playing the Piano Upstairs’ reflects on memory, connection, and the quiet endurance of affection.
The series is printed as a mix of archival pigment and photopolymer photogravure prints on Japanese Kozo and Shiramine papers. Each gravure print was hand-printed by the artist — a slow, tactile process that mirrors the reflective nature of the work. The title comes from a childhood memory of hearing her sister practising the piano upstairs — a sound that stayed with her over the years.
‘Ctrl Shift + J’ explores the psychological impact of relocation and emigration that Ichida has experienced throughout her life. The title, drawn from the keyboard shortcut she often uses when typing in Japanese, serves as an indirect reference to her cultural background. The work traces Ichida’s personal narrative, beginning with her family’s move to Niigata Prefecture when she started elementary school. After her father was transferred there, her mother made the courageous decision to leave their hometown in Kyushu and join him in the rural town. The family’s strong southern dialect and urban background accentuated their sense of being outsiders, making adaptation a challenge for everyone.
Frequent relocations during childhood fostered in Ichida a deep-rooted dissonance with any single place, shaping an enduring tension between belonging and displacement that remains central to her identity. Years later, a DNA test revealed a small percentage of British ancestry—a discovery that led her to the very country where her great-great-grandfather once lived. This unexpected link prompted reflections on shared experiences of migration and estrangement across generations.
The series weaves together architectural details, family photographs, and geometric forms that appear deliberately out of place, evoking the unease of not fitting in. Through ‘Ctrl Shift + J’, Ichida invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences of displacement and belonging.
‘Semitone’ reflects the fragile half-step between closeness and distance. In ‘Playing the Piano Upstairs’, the piano becomes a metaphor for sisterhood — keys that sit side by side, sounding almost alike yet distinctly different, just as two siblings can grow up together but struggle to find harmony. This subtle musical shift also resonates with ‘Ctrl Shift + J’, whose black-and-white images echo the piano’s alternating keys. Across the exhibition, Semitone evokes the delicate intervals that shape relationships, memories, and absence.
