Born 1928 in Nishinomiya

Lived with an American living in Japan, Meredith Weatherby, a housemate of Donald Richie's

Worked as an extra in films by Nikkatsu Studios

"Yato" was his assumed name

Published 3 collections of photographs

Friends with Yukio Mishima

Died in 1973

Tamotsu Yato, a photographer working in Japan from the mid-60s to the early 70s, created images of Japanese men that had a currency and evocativeness that were rare for his time. In his less-than-a-decade-long career, he photographed constantly and sometimes furiously, pointing his camera at friends, friends of friends, bodybuilding competitions, mens' festivals and non-professional models from Tokyo's thriving urban culture. Eventually, he developed the photographs into three distinct bodies of work which were published as "Young Samurai", "Naked Festival" and "Otoko". The last, "Otoko", was inspired to a great degree by the photographer's close friendship with novelist Yukio Mishima.