Japanese photographer Hiroji Kubota studied Political Science at Waseda University, Tokyo. Kubota then moved to Chicago and began working as a photographer’s assistant and freelance photographer. He returned to Japan in 1968 and became a Magnum associate in 1971. After waiting several years for permission to photograph in China, in 1979 Kubota embarked on a 1,000-day tour of the country during which he took more than 200,000 photographs resulting in the exhibition and book ‘China’ published in 1985. In 1982 Kubota was awarded the Nendo Sho Annual Award from the Photographic Society of Japan. He won the Mainichi Art Prize in 1983.