“I would like to separate my religion from my photography. However, I have the feeling that there is a similarity between photographing the waves and reciting Buddhist sutras.”
- Syoin Kajii
Syoin Kajii (born 1976 in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese photographer and ordained Buddhist monk. He studied Esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō) at Koyasan University in Wakayama Prefecture and trained within the Shingon tradition on Mount Kōya. Kajii began taking photographs at the age of 16, and after his ordination, he travelled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and England – experiences that deeply shaped both his artistic and spiritual paths.
He later settled on Sado Island, where he continues to live and work as both a monk within the Shingon community and a photographic artist. In 2004, Kajii received the inaugural FOIL Award for his striking wave series photographed along the coast of Sado. That same year, he published his first photobook, Nami, which was awarded the “Rookie of the Year” Prize by the Photographic Society of Japan in 2004.
His second book, Kawa (River), was published in 2010 and features powerful images of rivers captured across Japan and during his travels. In 2011, he created Tsuki (Moon/Month) as both a photographic series and a video work, the latter shown in the exhibition Mysticism: Longing for the Absolute at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich.
Kajii’s work is characterised by its contemplative gaze, formal clarity, and spiritual depth. Rather than documenting nature, he seeks to distil moments of presence and transition. His works have been exhibited internationally and are held in several prominent public collections, including the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
Education
1999
BA Mikkyo (Esoteric Buddhism), Koyasan University, Koyasan, Japan
Solo Exhibitions
2012
Water and Land; Niigita Art Festival (Japan)
HARBIN 2009-2012; Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama (Japan)
FOIL Gallery, Tokyo (Japan)
2011
Tsuki; Christophe Guye Galerie at Ditting Raum Zurich (Switzerland)
2009
Shikamura; Tohoku University of Art and Design, Yamagata (Japan)
2008
NAMI; Niitsu Art Forum, Niigata (Japan)
Marginal Village; FOIL GALLERY, Tokyo (Japan)
2006
NAMI; epSITE, Tokyo (Japan)
2005
NAMI; The Art & Natural History Museum of SADO, Niigata (Japan)
2004
1st FOIL Award winners’ exhibition, Tokyo (Japan)
"NAMI" Little More Gallery, Tokyo (Japan)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Fading into Fullness; Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich (Switzerland)
2024
Artists of the Gallery; Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich (Switzerland)
2012
ACQUA; Paris photo, Paris (France)
2011
Mysticism – The Longing for the Absolute; Museum Rietberg, Zurich (Switzerland)
2010
Inaugural Exhibition; Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich (Switzerland)
2008
Water in Photography; Huis Marseille stichting voor fotografie, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Oasis; Gana Art Busan, Busan (South Korea)
2007
Spitting image; V1 Gallery, Copenhagen (Denmark)
FOIL vol.1 Co-exist; FOIL Gallery, Tokyo (Japan)
"Views of Water: From Monet and Taikan to the Present": Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama (Japan)
2006
Whisper Not!; Huis Marseille stichting voor fotografie, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
2005
Landscape; Gana Art Center, Seoul (South Korea)
The month of Photography, Tokyo (Japan)
Fuji Photo Salon, Tokyo (Japan)
Publications
2023
"お寺のハナちゃん(Temple's Hana-chan)" (Little More)
2019
"DIVE TO BANGLADESH" (Little More)
2012
HARBIN 2009-2012, Foil Gallery
2010
KAWA, Foil Gallery
2008
Marginal Village, Foil Gallery
2005
The Photographic Society of Japan; The Rookie of the Year Award
2004
NAMI, Little More
Awards
2009
20th the Rookie of the Year by Gotoh Memorial Foundation
2005
The Photographic Society of Japan, the Rookie of the Year award
2004
1st FOIL Award
Collections
Huis Marseille, Amsterdam
