biography of innerfocus

Tsutomu Endo Fine Art photography

Japanese art photography

Tsutomu Endo | Visual Artist / Photographer

Tsutomu Endo is a Japanese visual artist whose work explores the profound intersections of nature, spirituality, and industrial civilization. Based in the foothills of the Northern Alps in Nagano, Japan, Endo’s practice is rooted in a deep, physical engagement with the landscape.
Since the 1990s, he has utilized snowboarding not merely as a sport, but as a universal language to harmonize with nature and connect with global communities-starting from his roots in Japan to the remote reaches of the Arctic Circle. His early immersion in 90s counterculture and shamanism evolved into his core creative concept: “inner focus” a meditative yet critical dialogue with the planet’s dynamic life.
Endo is the recipient of the 2024 Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer’s Award and the 2024 Tsuneko Sasamoto Photo Award, recognizing his significant contribution to contemporary photography.

“The Boundary of White and Black”
I believe that humanity is an inseparable part of the Earth’s vast life force. My work archives the shifting global environment and the cultures being lost in its wake, seeking the deep psyche of our era through the fleeting medium of photography.
For years, I sought integration with the pristine “White” of the mountains.
However, I have now entered a new phase of inquiry, confronting the industrial “Black” realities that sever the cycle of water and threaten the very existence of snow.
By documenting the tension between two extremes-divine silence and relentless erosion-my practice explores what remains when the boundaries between nature and civilization finally dissolve. It is a journey that transcends mere intellectual context, harmonizing with primal instincts through the five senses-and a sixth sense honed in the profound quiet of the peaks.

-Tsutomu Endo

■EXHIBITION

Solo

2026 "雪が紡ぐもの” (what the Snow weaves) Photo gallery Sirius Tokyo JP
2025 “SHAKE-UP THE OLD FUTURE” Canon gallery Tokyo and Osaka JP
2024 “MIAGGOORTOQ” Sirius. Tokyo JP
2024 "世界の果てに見えるもの” Izura. Nagano JP
2024 “MIAGGOORTOQ” Fuji film Photo salon. Tokyo JP
2023 “MIAGGOORTOQ” Gallery AL. Tokyo JP
2019 “Tsutomu Endo” Symposium Hakuba / Wing 21 culture hall.Nagano JP
2018 “The northern limit : Living in the present” / Fiji film Photo salon. Tokyo JP
2018-2019 Tsutomu Endo / 82 Bank street gallery / Nagano JP
2016 "inner peace" ASAKURA Gallery. Omachi JP
2016 "inner peace" Creative space Hayashi. Kanagawa JP
2016 "Art of snow players" Gallery AL. Tokyo JP
2015 “MIZUNOKIOKU” (Memory of water) Fuji Film Gallery.Tokyo JP
2012 "Snow meditation" Fire king cafe .Tokyo JP
2011 “YUKIIRO” snow colors / Gallery “IIZURA”Nagano JP
2011 “MANATSUNOYUKI” (Snow in Summer) Hakuba JP
2011 “ユキノヌクモリ" Hakuba JP
2008 "Love it” Cajon Ishikawa JP
2008 "Love it” Bamboo cafe Hakuba JP

Group

2024 GRAPHGATE EXHIBITION 2024 Canon gallery S. Tokyo JP
2024 HIGASHIKAWA OUTDOOR FESTIVAL, WALL GALLERY. Hokkaido JP
2024 Photographic Society of Japan Awards “MIAGGOORTOQ” Tokyo JP
2020 星の肖像 / The Chain Museum / NEWoMan . Yokohama JP
2018 MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL / Hakuba JP
2017 INDIVIDUAL ACT / Gallery “IIZURA”.Omachi JP
2017 Boarders Photo Jurnal / Wag gallery .Tokyo JP
2016 New-Nature Photo Festival / KAWABA . Gunma JP
2016 Snow meditation / INA cultural hall .Nagano JP
2015 FUJI FILM EXHIBITION / Fuji Film.Tokyo JP
2015 FUJI FILM EXHIBITION / CP＋ .Tokyo JP
2011 SHIBUYA STYLE / SEIBU SOGO.Tokyo JP
2011 EXHIBITION/MANLY.Australia
2009 SNOW CREATION / Kyoto JP
2007 Live Naturaly / Ibaragi and Kyoto JP
2007 FOCUS ALL / Tokyo JP　　　　　　　　　

■SLIDE SHOW

2024 HIGASHIKAWA OUTDOOR FESTIVAL. Hokkaido JP
2023 POLAR EXPOSURE / Patagonia Kyoto, Fukuoka, Karuizawa JP
2018 雪の民族と100年先を考える / Patagonia / Hakuba JP
2018 Tsutomu Endo with 350 / Patagonia /Tokyo JP
2017 Snow festival in Nabekura kogen / Nagano JP
2017 “Live positive” Tsutomu Endo×Yone film / Hakuba JP
2016 横ノリ文化交流会　Tsutomu Endo×Kiichi Sugai / Tokyo JP
2016 Hokuriku Riders meeting　Tsutomu Endo×Yuu Nishiyama / Ishikawa JP
2016 ALPS BOOK CAMP 2016 / Omachi JP
2016 Cross talk with Kasetsu 華雪 / B&B/Tokyo JP
2016 Slide photo show and Guiter session・Tsutomu Endo×Katsuhiko Sato / AL Tokyo/Tokyo JP
2016 Crosstalk with・Humihiro Hoshino 星野文絋 / HMV Shibuya.Tokyo JP
2016 Back to the roots / Mocking bird .Hakuba JP
2015 横ノリ文化交流会 / Shizuoka JP
2015 Pastime / Osaka JP
2015 FUJI FILM / CP＋/Tokyo JP
2013 THE BROTHER HOOD / OLIMPIA/ U.S.A.
2013 TENJIN BANKED SLALOM / Minakami JP
2013 F-STOP SHOOTING / Hakuba JP
2012 TENJIN BANKED SLALOM / Minakami JP
2012 NORTH WEST TO JAPAN / Shizuoka & Tokyo JP
2012 HOLY BOWLY / Hakauba JP
2012 “MOUNTAIN WAVE” Tsutomu Endo×DJ TICO / Hakuba JP
2009 “SNOW CREATION” Tsutomu Endo×DJ Yuu / Kyoto JP