Shingo Wakagi

Directing

Born March 26, 1971 · Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Shingo Wakagi (若木 信吾, Wakagi Shingo, March 26, 1971) is a Japanese photographer and film director. After graduating from the Department of Photography, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, he has been active as a photographer in various media such as magazines, advertisements, and music media. He made his debut as a film director in the family movie Waltz in Starlight, which was the subject of the photo book Takuji released in 1999 and modeled on his grandfather who passed away in 2004. In 2009, he released the documentary work Totemu: Song for Home that follows a band called Totem, which was formed by young indigenous people who have lived in Taiwan for a long time, and has been highly acclaimed both at home and abroad. He then directed his third film titled Asleep. In addition to publishing a number of popular photo books that have been trusted by many celebrities, he also edited and published the magazine Young Tree Press in 2004. In April 2010 he set up a bookstore, Books and Prints, in his hometown of Hamamatsu, and on October 10, 2012, a second bookstore, Books and Prints Blue East, was opened in the same city (both stores were integrated in the Kagiya building in 2013).