SARUTAHIKO

• Prize
  Gold in Events/Other, 2nd Place winner in Events
• Photographer
  Kazuyuki Toriumi

Tengu no hiwatari (fire-walking of tengu) is held every year in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The masked firewalkers represented a hellish scene in which a masked firewalker emerges from the fire.Sarutahiko, who stood at the crossroads between heaven and Earth, is both a god of travel as well as a guardian of boundaries. Sarutahiko’s unusual appearance not only helps him to be a guide, but also to overcome opposition and prevent “evil” from approaching.

Born in Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido in 1968. Started photography in 2004 at the age of 36 with family portraits. In 2013, I submitted my work to the international photography community 500px, which led me to deepen exchanges with overseas photographers and to seek more originality in my work, switching to Sony equipment and limiting locations to the Hokkaido area. Since 2016, I have been exhibiting portrait photographs and geometrical architectural photographs at some art galleries overseas.