Summary
- Shin Noguchi and Fulton’s Playing Cards created a 56-card photographic deck featuring everyday Japan.
- Fuji, Oni and gilded editions are available.
Japanese street photographer Shin Noguchi has brought 56 images of everyday life in Japan to a deck by Fulton’s Playing Cards, turning each card into a page of a pocket-sized photo book.
Born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1976, Noguchi has been based in Kamakura and Tokyo since 2002. His work focuses on moments of beauty and humanity in everyday life, and it has been included in Leica’s “M is M” campaign marking 70 years of the Leica M-System as well as the touring exhibition celebrating 100 years of Leica.
Noguchi announced the Fulton’s collaboration on September 17, 2026, explaining that the idea was to create an object that felt like a photo book you could always carry in your pocket.
56 cards, 56 photographs
Fulton’s describes the deck as a portable selection of Noguchi’s work: each of the 56 cards carries a different photograph, curated by Shin Noguchi and Brad Fulton. Noguchi says the images were placed with very little cropping so that the original framing is preserved as much as possible.
The deck can of course be used normally, but Noguchi also suggests a more photographic way of engaging with it: simply looking through the images, shuffling them, or even inventing games that connect subjects and scenes across the cards.
Fuji Box, Oni Box and a gilded edition
The standard Fuji Box is listed by Fulton’s at $25. The limited Oni Box, featuring a photograph of Noguchi’s young daughter playing cards while wearing an Oni mask, costs $35. Fulton’s states that only 50 alternate Oni boxes were produced.
Fulton’s also lists a separate limited gilded edition at $52, with a metallic finish applied to the card edges. The edition is shown with multiple colours of edge treatment.
Price and availability
The official prices we found are $25 for the Fuji Box, $35 for the Oni Box and $52 for the limited gilded edition. We did not find an official European price in euros.
More information is available here.
Everyday Japan as the central subject
The deck works because Noguchi’s photography itself is built around small, self-contained observations of everyday life. He describes his practice as looking for moments of beauty and humanity without staging, with attention to the intricate and delicate aspects of Japanese culture.
Fulton’s presents the deck as a “portable book” of his work. Unlike a conventional photo book, however, the order of the images can keep changing: the experience is not linear, and every shuffle creates a different small sequence.
What we think
The project is interesting because it moves street photography from the book or gallery into an everyday object without reducing the photographs to decoration. It does not replace a carefully sequenced photo book, but it offers a different way to discover Noguchi’s work and interact with individual images.
Frequently asked questions
How many photographic cards are included?
The deck contains 56 photographic playing cards, with a different Shin Noguchi photograph on every card.
What is the difference between the Fuji Box and Oni Box?
The standard Fuji Box uses an image featuring Mount Fuji, while the limited Oni Box shows Noguchi’s daughter playing cards in an Oni mask. Fulton’s states that 50 alternate Oni boxes were produced.
How much do the editions cost?
The official prices are $25 for the Fuji Box, $35 for the Oni Box and $52 for the limited gilded edition.
Who is Shin Noguchi?
He is a Japanese street photographer born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1976 and based in Kamakura and Tokyo. His work focuses on everyday life and has been shown internationally, including in Leica campaigns and exhibitions.
