Background information

"During the 1960s and 1970s in Japan, the photobook — through a combination of excellence in design, printing, and materials — overtook prints as a popular mode of artistic dissemination. This process has expanded to an extent where any discussion of Japanese photography now has to include the book. Today, the most famous works — such as 'Sentimental Journey' by Nobuyoshi ARAKI and 'Man and Woman' by Eikoh HOSOE — continue to inspire artists internationally.

Content

The long out--of-print and sought-after photo book compendium 'Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and '70s' by Ryuichi Kaneko and Ivan Vartanian presents forty definitive publications from the era, piecing together an otherwise invisible history. Included are some of the most influential works along with forgotten gems, placed within a larger sociological context.
Each book, beautifully reproduced through numerous spreads, is accompanied by in-depth explanatory text highlighting important editors, designers, and themes. Lavishly produced, this unique publication is an ode to the distinct character and influence of the Japanese photobook. (© Aperture, 2009)

Customer reviews

"I really can't add much to the glowing reviews of this book you can find on the eyecurious, nyartbeat, 5B4, Conscientious, freelibrary (from Afterimage), and newyorker Internet sites. Suffice it to say that if you like photography, especially artistic photography, especially artistic photography books, this is something you'll want on your shelf.
It's 9x12 inches and 240 pages of information and enjoyment. Ryuichi Kaneko in the 'Introduction' reflects on the personal impact of Japanese photobooks. The essay 'The Japanese Photobook: Toward an Immediate Media' by Ivan Vartanian gives a great scholarly overview of the book's topic.
An interview with famed photographer and photobook maker Daido MORIYAMA provides an interesting artist's perspective.
The body of the book describes forty-three Japanese photobooks. Among them are 's 'Sentimental Journey', 'Okinawa: Araki Nobuyoshi Photobook 2', and 'Tokyo: Araki Nobuyoshi Photobook 3' by Nobuyoshi ARAKI; 'The Children Of Chikuho' by Ken DOMON; 'Ravens' by Masahisa FUKASE; 'Man And Woman by Eikoh HOSOE; 'Someday, Somewhere' by Yasuhiro ISHIMOTO; 'The Map' by Kawada KIKUJI; 'Japanese Theater' by Daido MORIYAMA; 'For A Language To Come' by Takuma NAKAHIRA; as well as 'Towards The City' by Yutaka TAKANASHI.
For each book, you get a photo of the slipcase (if available) and of the front cover; a description of the book's publisher, size, method of printing, etc; a 1-2 page essay about the book; and photos of several page spreads. The page spread photos are high-quality and can be up to half the size of the book's pages, so they allow the reader to appreciate nuances of the photobooks." - "I definitely recommend it. As I flipped through the book a couple of times trying to decide on whether to buy it or not, I just made up my mind, based on the beautiful images of beautiful books, the amount of text there and beautiful layout. This is not just a book filled with some nice reproductions of strong work, it's also informative and if this is something you feel interested about (Japanese photographers/photobooks) then this will be an enjoyable read. I knew of a few Japanese photographers before, but after buying this book (and I have only read parts of it so far) I know a lot more about photography in Japan in 1960s and 70s, and some of the amazing photographers still working today."

About the Japanese photographers with their works inside the book

Nobuyoshi ARAKI, Ken DOMON, Masahisa FUKASE, Shigeo GOCHO, Graphic Shudan (Takashi KIJIMA & Shozo KITADAI), Hiroshi HAMAYA, Eikoh HOSOE, Tetsuya ICHIMURA, Kenji ISHIGURO, Yasuhiro ISHIMOTO, Miyako ISHIUCHI, Kikuji KAWADA, Ihei KIMURA, Keito KITAJIMA, Ichiro KOJIMA, Fumiaki KUWABARA, Kineo KUWABARA, Yoichi MIDORIKAWA, Jun MORINAGA, Daido MORIYAMA, Takuma NAKAHIRA, Ikko NARAHARA, Yasuzo NOJIMA, Hajime SAWATARI, Kishin SHINOYAMA, Teiko SHIOTANI, Issei SUDA, Yasushi SUGINO, Kiyoshi SUZUKI, Yutaka TAKANASHI, Shuntaro TANIKAWA, Shomei TOMATSU, Hiromi TSUCHIDA, Hitoshi TSUKIJI, Kanendo WATANABE, Katsumi WATANABE, Yasuhiro YOSHIOKA

Photo books by the Japanese photographers with their works inside the book

About the authors

Ryuichi Kaneko is a curator at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and an expert on Japanese photography and Japanese photobooks.
Ivan Vartanian anthologized and translated 'Setting Sun: Writings by Japanese Photographers' (Aperture, 2006). He lives in Tokyo and founded his own publishing imprint, Golige Books."During the 1960s and '70s in Japan, the photobook—through a combination of excellence in design, printing, and materials—overtook prints as a popular mode of artistic dissemination. This process has expanded to an extent where any discussion of Japanese photography now has to include the book. Today, the most famous works—such as Nobuyoshi ARAKI's 'Sentimental Journey' and Eikoh HOSOE's 'Man and Woman' - continue to inspire artists internationally.

Ed(s)/Author(s): Ivan Vartanian, Ryuichi Kaneko
Book design: Rita JULES + Miko McGINTY
Format: HC (no dust jacket, as issued), 23,5 x 31 x 3 cm., 240 pp., 400 four-colour & duotone ills., text language: English

Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and '70s - IN ORIGINAL SHRINK WRAP!