# Tamotsu Yato artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/tamotsu-yato/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T13:46:28.114Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1973-05-20
- Nationality: Japanese
- Common media: Black-and-white photography, Photographic books and photo-essays

## About Tamotsu Yato

Tamotsu Yato, also catalogued as Tamotsu Yatō and 矢頭 保, was a Japanese photographer born in 1928 who died in 1973. He is chiefly associated with black-and-white studies of Japanese men and is described by reference sources as an early figure in Japanese homoerotic photography. His documented work places the male figure and Japanese festival culture at the center of his photographic practice. The photo-essay Naked Festival, published in book form with an introduction by Yukio Mishima, is an important bibliographic reference for identifying his work and context. Collectors may encounter Yato through photographic works and publications rather than through a broad range of media. Authority records maintained by Wikidata, VIAF, IdRef, and the Library of Congress help distinguish him from similarly named makers. Precise print dates, processes, publication histories, and edition status should nevertheless be established from the individual object and its documentation.

## Common works and media

Yato is best documented for black-and-white photographs centered on the Japanese male figure, including homoerotic imagery, and for the photo-essay Naked Festival. Photographs, photographic reproductions, and book-format material may therefore appear in appraisal contexts. For any example, determine the photographic process, image and sheet dimensions, print date, whether it is vintage or later, edition status, inscriptions, condition, and provenance rather than assuming that visually similar images are equivalent.

## Market and appraisal context

The collected Appraisily market extract is limited: its data-basis section reports 15 matched records, only four with recorded prices, across 2023–2026 and an observed range of $225 to $1,750. These figures should not be treated as a price forecast. An appraisal should compare the same photographic medium and dimensions, then consider date, condition, provenance, inscriptions, edition or printing details, and attribution confidence. A photograph's documented relationship to a publication such as Naked Festival may also be relevant, but that connection must be demonstrated through the object and supporting records. Public comparables are most useful when lot descriptions, work characteristics, and the treatment of buyer fees are genuinely comparable.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist-identity research with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Tamotsu Yato, the current evidence includes several authority records, a documented publication, and a limited Appraisily market extract; object-level catalogue information should be verified before appraisal.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7681654
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/8914870/
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/223550493
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamotsu_Yat%C5%8D
- Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamotsu_Yat%C5%8D
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/tamotsu-yato/