Opening: Saturday, July 5, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Remarks and Tour at 5 p.m.

This exhibition is a staging of the work of Kohei Yasu (Juan José de Jesús Yas) and Masahiro Umoto, two Japanese photographers who captured Guatemala’s natural landscape, architecture, and cultural life through photography. This selection of images also emphasizes the different photographic techniques used by both.

It is worth noting that both artists lived in Guatemala during a turn of the century: Kohei Yasu from 1895 until his death in 1917, and Masahiro Umoto during the summers from 1981 to 2005. Each experienced the evolution of analog photographic techniques and the massive technological changes each century brought to human history.

The themes of these images reflect a different use of photography. And although Mr. Yas mainly focused on studio photography and Mr. Umoto on documentary and landscape photography, both were fascinated by Guatemala’s natural beauty, traditions, and people.

In 2025, we commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Guatemala. Throughout this significant year, and in celebration of the strong friendship that binds them, the Embassy of Japan in Guatemala is honored to organize a series of cultural, academic, and economic exchange activities.

As part of this commemorative program, we begin the celebrations with the opening of this photographic exhibition dedicated to the first Japanese migrant in Guatemala, YASU Kohei, and the contemporary Japanese photographer UMOTO Masahiro, whose collections are preserved in the Fototeca Guatemala of the Center for Regional Research of Mesoamerica (CIRMA).

We invite you to enjoy this exhibit, which celebrates not only the shared history between these two countries but also the art and vision of two outstanding Japanese photographers who found inspiration in Guatemala.

Better known as J. J. Yas, a diminutive of the Catholic name he adopted, the Japanese immigrant Kohei Yasu (1846–1917) worked for over three decades as a commercial photographer in Guatemala. Yas was born in Fujisawa, part of Iwate Prefecture, and grew up in a Japanese society marked by political upheaval and modernization. In 1874, he worked as a Spanish interpreter for Mexican astronomer Francisco Díaz Covarrubias, who had arrived in Japan on a scientific mission. Yas traveled to the Americas with Díaz Covarrubias and arrived in Guatemala in 1878. In Guatemala City, he apprenticed under the renowned German photographer Emilio Herbruger and, in 1880, opened his own photography studio. After several trips, Yas chose Guatemala as his permanent residence in 1890. In 1891, he married María Noriega and, in 1895, moved with his family to La Antigua Guatemala, where he produced most of the photographs now preserved in CIRMA. His portraits are an excellent snapshot of the social composition at the end of the 19th century. Likewise, his images of churches, buildings, and religious sculptures are of high heritage value and show the close connection he developed with this colonial city. J. J. Yas died in 1917 in La Antigua Guatemala, and his legacy, both in Japan and Guatemala, contributed to the formation of social memories about migration, religious devotion, and photography.

Masahiro Umoto was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1943. From a young age, he showed interest in photography, an art that led him to explore and capture the cultural and landscape diversity of various world regions. He graduated from the prestigious Tokyo College of Photography in 1969, solidifying his technical and artistic training at an institution known for producing some of Japan’s best photographers. Throughout his career, Umoto developed a special connection with Guatemala, a country he visited regularly between 1981 and 2005. During this time, he documented with his lens the cultural richness, traditions, and landscapes of Guatemala, creating a visual legacy that combines artistic sensitivity, regional diversity, and anthropological depth — especially through the visual record of traditional dances and portraits of important people in each community he visited. Umoto has presented his work in multiple photographic exhibitions in Japan. These exhibitions showcase his ability to tell stories through images, reaffirming his narrative talent. A significant part of his work is preserved in CIRMA’s photographic archive and offers an invaluable visual testimony of Guatemala at the end of the 20th century. His photographs reflect his commitment to preserving and sharing the cultural richness he captured through his lens.

For press release, please click HERE.

The Center for Regional Research of Mesoamerica (CIRMA) is a nonprofit Guatemalan foundation with educational, scientific, academic, and cultural purposes, unrelated to any political or religious activity. Since its founding in 1978, its efforts have focused on rescuing, organizing, preserving, safeguarding, and disseminating the visual and documentary heritage of the Mesoamerican region, with an emphasis on Guatemala.

Image: Masahiro Umoto, Sin título (Untitled), Totonicapán, 1992. Masahiro Umoto Archive. Fototeca Guatemala, CIRMA.