Hamaya Hiroshi is best known for his studies of the landscape, daily life, and customs and folklore in rural parts of Japan, as demonstrated in his books Yukiguni (Snowland, 1956) and Ura Nihon (Japan's Black Coast, 1957). A Record of Grief and Anger is his documentation of the protests that took place outside the National Diet Building in Tokyo against a passage in the 1960 renewal of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (Anpo) between the United States and Japan, which allowed the presence of US military bases in Japan. Between 20 May, when the security treaty was approved, and 22 June 1960, millions of people took part in a series of demonstrations organised by the Zengakuren student association, the Japanese Communist Party, the Japan Socialist Party, and the Japan Labor Unions General Council, who united to organise some of the largest protests in Japan's history. Sympathy towards the protester's cause led Hamaya to photograph the Anpo demonstrations in great detail. On 15 June, demonstrators attempted to storm the National Diet Building and met with a strong police presence, during which a female literature student named Kanba Michiko was beaten to death.

First edition; 8vo (257 x 181 mm, 10 x 7¼ in); black-and-white photographs printed in gravure, design by Sugano Umezaburo; photo-illustrated wrappers, light wear, publisher's printed wraparound band, near-fine; [104]pp.

The Photobook A History III, p53; Provoke: Between Protest and Performance 2; The Japanese Photobook 1912-1990 p300.