Japan in Pictures
Boyd was a prolific and keen-sighted documentarian, as captured by his large slide collection. The gallery below explores scenes that caught Boyd’s eye on his four trips to Japan in 1961, 1965, 1969 and 1970. Explore his images of cutting edge modernist architecture, his fascination with the unconventional architecture of Osaka’s Expo 70 pavilions, as well as his interest in traditional architecture and everyday street scenes. Boyd used many of these slides to illustrate his talks and lectures. Use the buttons below to filter slides by topic.
Hiroshima Children's Library (Kenzo Tange, 1953)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Tokyo Monorail (1964)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1965 Modern
Takara Beautilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969 Expo
Readers Digest Building, Tokyo (Antonin Raymond, 1951)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Midorikan Pavilion (Astrorama), Expo 70, Osaka (Yoshiro Ohbayashi, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Public transport
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Street Scenes
Former Shizuoka Convention Hall, now Gymnasium (Kenzo Tange, 1961)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
St Mary's Catholic Church, Tokyo (Kenzo Tange, 1964)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1965 Modern
The New Kabuki Theatre, Osaka (Togo Murano, 1958)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Former Sogetsu Hall and Office, Tokyo (Kenzo Tange, 1958)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Garden at Sogetsu Artistic Center, Tokyo (Isamu Noguchi, 1961)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Italian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Renzo Piano. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1923)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Kyoto International Convention Center (Sachio Otani, 1966)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Modern
Interior staircase of Kurashiki Town Hall (Kenzo Tange, 1960)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Lobby, Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1923)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Kenzo Tange, 1953)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Kurashiki Town Hall (Kenzo Tange, 1960)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, (Kenzo Tange, 1953)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Modern
Takara Beautilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969 Expo
Sumitomo Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Sachio Otani, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Airport
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Street Scenes
Kofukuji Temple, Nara
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961 Traditional
Main Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kenzo Tange, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Japanese Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal (Yoshinobo Ashihara, 1967)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1967 Expo
Inner gateway and inner garden, Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto
Photo: Commercial, 1960 Traditional
Fuji Group Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Yutaka Murata, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Space Tube, Australian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Robin Boyd, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969 Expo
Elevated moving walkway, Expo 70, Osaka
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo
Toshiba-IHI Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970 Expo