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
Tokyo Monorail (1964)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1965
Takara Beautilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969
Readers Digest Building, Tokyo (Antonin Raymond, 1951)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Midorikan Pavilion (Astrorama), Expo 70, Osaka (Yoshiro Ohbayashi, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Public transport
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Former Shizuoka Convention Hall, now Gymnasium (Kenzo Tange, 1961)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
St Mary's Catholic Church, Tokyo (Kenzo Tange, 1964)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1965
The New Kabuki Theatre, Osaka (Togo Murano, 1958)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Former Sogetsu Hall and Office, Tokyo (Kenzo Tange, 1958)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Garden at Sogetsu Artistic Center, Tokyo (Isamu Noguchi, 1961)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Italian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Renzo Piano. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1923)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Kyoto International Convention Center (Sachio Otani, 1966)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Interior staircase of Kurashiki Town Hall (Kenzo Tange, 1960)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Lobby, Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1923)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Kenzo Tange, 1953)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Kurashiki Town Hall (Kenzo Tange, 1960)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, (Kenzo Tange, 1953)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Takara Beautilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969
Sumitomo Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Sachio Otani, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Airport
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Kofukuji Temple, Nara
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Main Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kenzo Tange, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Japanese Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal (Yoshinobo Ashihara, 1967)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1967
Inner gateway and inner garden, Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto
Photo: Commercial, 1960
Fuji Group Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Yutaka Murata, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Space Tube, Australian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Robin Boyd, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969
Elevated moving walkway, Expo 70, Osaka
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Toshiba-IHI Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Kisho Kurokawa, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Australian Pavilion in distance, Expo 70, Osaka (James Maccormick, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
USSR Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Mikhail V Posokhin Ashot Mndoyants, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Construction workers sleeping
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1969
Taisekiji Temple, Fujimiya City (Kimio Yokoyama, 1962)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Mitsui Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Takamitsu Azuma, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Italian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Renzo Piano. 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Canadian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Erickson/Massey Architects, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Electrical Power Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka (Yutaka Murata, 1970)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1970
Department store
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Hiroshima Peace Dome, formerly Industrial Promotion Hall, (Jan Letzel, 1915)
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961
Ko-shoin: Moon-Viewing Platform, Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto
Photo: Robin Boyd, 1961