Naoki Ishikawa: Rebirth at the Roof of the World
Naoki Ishikawa, an explorer and photographer, was born in Tokyo in 1977. He completed his doctoral studies at Tokyo University of the Arts’ Graduate School of Fine Arts in 2008, having previously earned his degree from Waseda University’s Department of Literature in 2002. In 2001, he reached the summit of Mount Everest, making him the youngest person at that time to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents. His photography and writing are shaped by a deep interest in anthropology and folk culture, with a primary focus on travel and mountaineering.
At age 22, he traversed both the North and South Poles. His *Himalaya* series—comprising *Lhotse*, *Everest*, *Manaslu*, *Makalu*, and *K2*—features photographs taken at 8,000 meters, and it is for these that he is well known. His photographs are part of the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, among other institutions. He has earned many honors, such as the recent Japan Photo Award for Artists and its Lifetime Achievement Award. His personal website is [http://www.straightree.com/index.html].
Born in Tokyo in 1977, Naoki Ishikawa commuted by train for roughly 50 minutes each day during his elementary school years. That daily ride fostered a deep love for adventure stories, with *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* and *Robinson Crusoe* serving as major influences that sparked his ambition to travel the globe. At age 17, he set off on his own to India and Nepal.
At the age of 22, he took part in the *Pole to Pole 2000* expedition, which brought together 80 individuals from across the globe. Their goal was to travel from the Arctic to the Antarctic in nine months using only their own physical power—on foot, skis, and bikes. On that trip, he ascended Vinson Massif, at that time the tallest peak in Antarctica, and also tried to capture the experience in photographs. He once said, "I love exploring uncharted territories.
Always drawn to new challenges, Naoki Ishikawa has summited Mount Everest twice. In 2001, he succeeded in climbing numerous peaks across the globe, including Everest, and at that time became the youngest person to conquer the highest mountains on all seven continents. A decade later, he returned to Everest via the Nepalese side. His driving impulse is captured in his own words: "Wherever there is undiscovered land, I want to go there—to listen with my own ears, see with my own eyes, and experience it firsthand.
In his book "Everest," Naoki Ishikawa wrote that when he asks himself why he climbs mountains and why he keeps returning, his only answer is a simple love for the activity. He described long mountaineering expeditions as forces that remove the burdens clinging to his body and restore him to his most essential condition. As for Everest itself, he said his goal was to reach its peak, yet arriving there by helicopter would hold no significance. The climb itself is what matters, not the vista from the summit, and even failing to reach the top does not strip the ascent of its purpose.
Naoki Ishikawa has spent two decades journeying across the globe, yet the Himalayas are a destination he returns to annually. Travel alters how the world appears before and after each journey, and the course of one's life is transformed. If these changes constitute the essence and reward of exploration, then ascending Everest twice stands as the most significant expedition of all—a rebirth found among the Himalayan peaks.
With the rapid advancement of digitalization, everything has moved faster. Ishikawa believes Himalayan climbing resembles a vertical journey, engaging all the body's muscles in a way that ordinary travel cannot. For him, the Himalayas have been a school that gave new perspectives on life: human beings and all other living creatures are equal, and even when one stands atop a mountain peak, one must still keep one’s feet on the ground, breathe the air, and listen to one’s heartbeat.
Smartphones can instantly pull up countless beautiful images, yet this only fosters a false sense of familiarity and presence—seeing pictures online bears no resemblance to encountering a place in the flesh. *"I think relying solely on daily internet searches dulls human sensitivity. Nothing can replace the richness and diversity gained from real experience. I want to see with my own eyes, listen, and feel it with my body. I am alive, yet each time I feel reborn in the Himalayas.
Vertical Journey, Vertical Photography" – Naoki Ishikawa's "Vertical Journey" is inseparable from photography. He still takes pictures with a Plaubel Makina medium-format film camera. His words: *"I'm accustomed to shooting with film. With a digital camera, if I take a photo I don't like, I can delete it—but I refuse to do that. Life is the same way. You can't just erase it because of failure."* He also said, *"That is the greatest truth my journeys there have given me."* Folk culture and anthropology are of deep interest to Ishikawa.
The photo book "Naoki Ishikawa – Himalayas" recounts an expedition into an unreachable margin of the world: through temperate forests, along rivers, across grasslands and glaciers, over treacherous rock and ice, and finally to the planet's summit. His work portrays humans and nature in balance, and his portraits of Sherpas have been praised as "photographs that capture the soul." Far above our cities, this pure and sacred range stands in silence, indifferent to human destiny—it simply remains.