Special exhibition: Joe Honda | 24 Heures du Mans: To the Limit — and Beyond (June 8 to 22, 2023 & June 9 to July 9, 2023)

24 Heures du Mans: To the Limit - and Beyond (1967 - 1971) by Joe Honda brings to life the people, marques and memories that have shaped one of the most iconic endurance races in the world as it marks its centenary. 

Established in 1923 as a "Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency", Le Mans allowed car manufacturers to prove the durability of their machines in competition. The endurance race – famous for its legacy of brutally testing drivers and their teams – has one condition for victory: the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours is the winner.

An exhibition of Joe Honda's photographs – held in parallel at the Maison Franco-Japonaise and Fuji Motorsports Museum – reflects back on the "golden age" of Le Mans, marked by the final years of the dramatic Ford-Ferrari duel, until the Porsche's new contender, the 917, arrived on the scene. 

By transporting the viewer back to these years when Europe faced off against America, Honda's photography commemorates some of the people and technology that played a crucial role in shaping the course of today's global automotive industry.

Joe Honda, born in 1939 in Tokyo, is known as Asia's father of motorsport photography. In 1967, he traveled to Europe to document the global motorsport scene and became the first Asian regional representative of the International Racing Press Association (IRPA). Inspired by a diverse range of art forms, his images – captured over close to five decades – range from the visceral to the purely functional, immortalizing the raw experiences, developments and memories of the international world of motorsport through one artist's perspective.

Organization: FRIJ-MFJ
Co-organization: Fuji Motorsports Museum
Support: French Embassy in Japan, Shashin Kosha 
For more information: https://www.mfj.gr.jp/agenda/2023/06/08/2023-06-08_exposition_24heures/

June 8 to 22, 2023 | Monday to Sunday from 10h00 to 18h00 at Maison Franco-Japonaise, Ebisu, Tokyo

June 9 to July 9, 2023 | Monday to Sunday at Fuji Motorsports Museum, Shizuoka

Joe Honda’s work on the 24 Heures du Mans on display in the exhibition space of the La Maison Franco-Japonaise, a cultural research institute in Tokyo, Japan.

Exhibition: Joe Honda - Temple of Speed — FCCHK (March 1 to 31, 2021)

When 26-year-old Joe Honda went to document Asia's first IndyCar race in 1966, he never expected it would change the course of his life. But a chance encounter with Scottish driver Jackie Stewart triggered his resolve to venture abroad to document the people, culture and technology at the heart of the global motorsport scene.

The American Indianapolis 500 is known as the "greatest spectacle in racing." Organizers of the Indy 200 in Japan wanted to promote it as the embodiment of a new kind of avant-garde art form that fused color, sound and speed. To the Japanese cognoscenti, showcasing the first international Indy event in Asia heralded their country's arrival as an industrial power.

In partnership with award-winning Tokyo photography atelier Shashin Kosha, this exhibition at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong (March 1 to 31, 2021) brings to life memories of motorsport's golden age. It also casts a spotlight on a race that shaped Joe's career and the art of motorsport photography. 

Joe Honda’s work showcased on the FCCHK Club’s Van Es Wall, named in memory of the legendary Vietnam War photographer Hugh Van Es.

In March 1967, with just $500, two cameras and only a few words of English, Joe embarked on a journey to Europe. He shipped his Toyota Corolla (which he later drove around Europe) ahead of him, hopped on a Soviet sea liner, and never looked back.

Born in 1939 in Tokyo, Joe graduated from Nihon University's Department of Fine Art. He trained with Yuji Hayata, a photographer to the Showa stars, before going freelance. In 1967, Joe became the regional representative of the International Racing Press Association (IRPA). He has exhibited in major art galleries such as the Nikon and Canon Salons in Tokyo and published extensively on Formula One and the automotive industry.

Over a prolific career spanning close to five decades, Joe captured iconic shots of Formula One stars such as Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna and every type of motorsport. 

His archive of over 300,000 35 mm negatives spans the grit and glamour of motor racing's golden years through its evolution into a techno­lo­gical arms race funded by big business. But the cars were only ever one part of a larger human narrative he wanted to tell. His images range from the visceral to the purely functional, immortalizing the raw experiences, developments and memories of the interna­tional world of motorsport through one artist's perspective.

Arrangements: The exhibition space is open to the public between Monday and Sunday from 10am-12noon and 3pm-5pm daily. Details on how to access the venue can be found here.

Exhibition (December): Remembering Japan's Temple of Speed — FCCJ

Total Recall: Remembering Japan's Temple of Speed brings to life memories from motorsport's golden age through a series of historic and rare photographs from Joe Honda's rediscovered archive.

In partnership with award-winning Tokyo photo atelier Shashin Kosha, the exhibition shines a light on a landmark international non-championship race at the Fuji Speedway in October 1966. It offers a rare and intimate glimpse of the nation's emergence on the global motorsport scene. And it does so through the lens of Asia's father of motorsport photography.

Poster: © Joe Honda Initiative, 2020

To the Japanese cognoscenti, the American Indianapolis 500 was a celebrated race, and hosting the first international Indy event in Japan would signal their country's arrival as an industrial power. The foreign drivers who came to Japan for the event were unaware of their role in a new kind of avant-garde art form that fused color, sound and technology. One photo in Honda's series captures British driver Jim Clark relaxing in his vehicle while receiving advice from his friend Colin Chapman, an influential designer and founder of Lotus. In another, we see motorsport legend Jackie Stewart racing along the precarious bends of the speedway as he raises a hand in victory to excited Japanese onlookers.

As well as sparking Japan's golden age of motoring, this landmark race was also pivotal in launching Honda's photography career. His chance encounter with three-time British Formula One world champion Jackie Stewart at the Fuji Speedway that day triggered his resolve to venture abroad to document the people, culture and technology at the heart of the global motorsport scene.

In our fast-evolving world, individual and collective memories – including those of era-defining events – are at risk of disappearing. Even photographic film, which provides a window to the past, is vulnerable to the passage of time. But through the interplay of lived experience and imagery, Total Recall commemorates a defining event in Japanese history and a meeting that shaped one photographer's career and, ultimately, the art of motorsport photography itself.

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This exhibition is supported by award-winning Tokyo-based photo atelier Shashin Kosha. It is curated by Emiko Jozuka and Takuji Yanagisawa, the president of Shashin Kosha.

Exhibition dates: Dec. 5, 2020 - Jan 8, 2021

The exhibition space is open Monday to Saturday between 10H and 22H. Access info can be found here.