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The Annex > The Briefing Room > The Kantei Photography Office > The Residential Area > The Government Aircraft
The Kantei Photography Office
Born out of an order straight from the top
Kantei Photography Office
Kantei Photography Office
Photo No.1 Kantei Photography Office
The Kantei photography office was created in October 1968. During a visit to the United States for a summit meeting in 1967, then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato was thrilled to receive a photo album as a present from the White House official photographer, prompting him to order the creation of a Kantei photography office.

Since then, all the Prime Ministers have been captured on film and well over 300,000 photos have been snapped. The office has four staff who always follow the Prime Minister on official engagements, and along with interpreters, bodyguards and official photographers from other countries, they stick close to the Prime Minister's side, right through to deep inside particular events.

The photography office began to use digital cameras from August 2000, when then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited southwest Asia. The idea behind using digital cameras was that pictures taken of the Prime Minister's activities could be uploaded to the "What's Up Around the Prime Minister" section of the Kantei homepage as soon as possible.

Photographers in the Kantei photography office have to be quick off the mark to grab the right camera dangling from their necks to snap that all-important moment when the Prime Minister shakes hands.
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