DELTA Kyoto

DELTA was born from the desire of its founders, Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, to give a permanent place to the international photography festival KYOTOGRAPHIE, which was created in 2013 and attracts more than 170,000 visitors from Japan and abroad each spring for a month. As an emblem of the revival of Kyoto, DELTA is a hybrid space meant to permanently encapsulate the concept and the activities of the festival.

Born in the fall of 2020 in the heart of the Demachi Masugata shōtengai (shopping mall) with its old-fashioned charm, DELTA takes root in the premises of a former fish market and mixes it with the small shops of the street, between booksellers, greengrocers, and florists.

DELTA takes its name from the "Kamo River Delta", where the Kamo river and the Takano river meet. It was designed as a place of sharing, creativity, and encounters to extend the KYOTOGRAPHIE experience and to enhance the local community and its craftsmanship. Its objective is to help spread new ideas, born from the meeting of opposites: tradition and innovation, East and West, mainstream and underground, local and global.

DELTA is the latest project born from the union between Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi.

Born in Lyon, Lucille Reyboz is a French photographer with multicultural inspirations. She began her photographic career in Africa, where she spent most of her childhood and met the singer Salif Keita, who led her to create numerous album covers for the Blue Note and Verve labels. From there, she discovered Japan in 1999, invited by Ryuichi Sakamoto to collaborate on his opera “Life”. A portrait photographer, she developed her practice and quickly exhibited her work around the world, notably in Visa pour l'image (2001), Phillips de Pury in New York (2007), and CHANEL NEXUS HALL, Tokyo (2011). Seduced by Japan, she decided to settle there in 2007, first in Tokyo, then in Kyoto, in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. She co-founded KYOTOGRAPHIE there with Yusuke Nakanishi in 2013.

Born in Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan, Yusuke Nakanishi is a lighting designer and director of photography who travels the world to nurture his practice. He has worked as a lighting designer for feature films, concerts, fashion shows, and interior designs. He also created the series of Eatable Lights objects and exhibited his works at the Hara Museum, the School Gallery Paris and Nuit Blanche Kyoto.

Located above the gallery space and the coffee corner, DELTA STAY is a guest room that allows you to extend the KYOTOGRAPHIE experience and immerse yourself in the world of photography. Designed with quality materials and decorated with care, to the point where a selection of Japanese photographs is renewed each season.

By combining photography, local life, design, and contemporary Japanese crafts, DELTA STAY becomes a peaceful haven in the heart of a lively shopping district, close to many places of interest in Kyoto: the Kamogawa River, the Imperial Palace, and the Shimogamo Shrine.

In the area are also a wide variety of shops and excellent restaurants that offer local dishes and specialties of Kyoto. Thanks to the accommodation's small kitchen, it is also possible to prepare meals using fresh local produce.

DELTA Café-Gallery, which is located just below, can also provide room service during opening hours.

DELTA STAY is equipped with a bedroom with twin beds or a double bed, a bathroom with a shower and bathtub mixing a traditional and modern style, as well as a small kitchen. Located in the heart of the Demachi Masugata shōtengai (shopping arcade), DELTA STAY offers stunning views of the surrounding neighborhood.

To bring forth the concept and activities of KYOTOGRAPHIE, DELTA Gallery, hosts a new exhibition on the ground floor every month. The works and collections of Japanese and international photographers, emerging or established, are highlighted. They invite you to explore new frontiers and to question your relationship with the world.

This is also where the KYOTOGRAPHIE Academy is held, a collection of events, workshops, and educational programs taught by renowned personalities in their fields. In collaboration with art schools and surrounding universities, DELTA also encourages and promotes young talents by hosting exhibitions created and organized by students.