Given the number of people around who ask for recommendations, I thought it was time I started building up a page for the best Japanese photobooks I have met so far.
While there are a number of reference books dedicated to Japanese photography, only a few are available which deal with Japanese photobooks — even the Parr/Badger volumes, because of their quite annoying focus on "avant-garde" publications, miss a great number of them and are only partially completed by Kaneko & Vartanian's own selection.
So here we are. I won't argue objectivity or comprehensiveness: you'll just find here my favorite books among those listed on AJB. Of course, since I get only books I like, be sure that all the rest is also well worth collecting: I'll just give here a short evolutive list guided by a strong personal preference. It is just a start.
Also, a quick tip to those that just met this fantastic world and wish to dig further, shape their own collection: ask for directions, and trust your own taste !
Enjoy!
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Puisque d'aucuns me demandent souvent d'orienter leur choix, me vint avis qu'il était temps de commencer de créer une page pour les meilleurs livres de photographie japonais rencontrés jusqu'à présent.
Alors que la documentation concernant la photographie japonaise n'est pas peu importante, celle concernant les livres de photographies laisse à désirer — même les Parr-Badger, du fait de leur biais "avant-gardiste" quelque peu agaçant, manquent un grand nombre d'excellents volumes, et ne sont que partiellement complétés par la sélection de Kaneko & Vartanian.
Donc voilà. Je ne prétends ni à l'exhaustivité ni à l'objectivité : vous trouverez simplement ici mes préférés parmi les livres disponibles sur AJB. Bien entendu, puisque j'acquiers uniquement les livres que j'aime, soyez sûr que le reste vaut également le détour et l'acquisition : je ne donnerai ici qu'une courte liste, qui évoluera au fil des découvertes, que guide une forte préférence personnelle. C'est juste un début.
Un petit conseil à ceux qui découvrent ce monde fantastique et souhaitent s'y intéresser de plus près, constituer leur propre bibliothèque : demandez le chemin, et faites confiance à votre propre goût !
Bonne promenade !
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To start off with, a few of the most impressive photobooks I have met, in no particular order. Some are most probably little-known. Encountering those books is what drives me.
I'll alternate these, arranged into thematic sequences, with series of works from more famous photographers.
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As some may have noticed, one of my favorite photographers is Kishin SHINOYAMA. More detail here. Some of his books are just works of art, mastership of portrait and mise-en-scene. Here are a few of them.
His first two photobooks : great ground-breaking, now classics.
 SHINOYAMA Kishin28 Girls (1968) |   SHINOYAMA Kishin Nude (softcover / hardcover /1970) |
Some of my favorite b/w :
And some great color works :
His TOKYO series — like Tokyo Nude (1990) and Tokyo Mirai Seiki (1992) — and travel photobooks — such as his Arabia (1976) or Paris (1977) — are also great pieces of art.
 SHINOYAMA KishinArabia (1976)  SHINOYAMA KishinTokyo Mirai Seiki (1992) |  SHINOYAMA KishinParis (1977)  SHINOYAMA KishinTokyo Nude (1990) |
In fact, just have a look at the complete review!
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The 1960s and 1970s gave birth to a great deal of very fine photobooks. Here are a very few of them :
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I absolutely love all of SHIMADA Kinsuke's photobooks. They are all large-sized, extremely well-crafted volumes and there are not so many of them. Here are two magnificent works, one in b/w one in color, just for the kick :
 SHIMADA KinsukeYukiguni (1962) |  SHIMADA KinsukeOka (1976) |
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There are gems among the works of the photographers who took part in the VIVO experiment :
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I am very fond of ARAKI Nobuyoshi's work — his endeavour to women and photography, his humour, his despair too. He would be the true biased recorder of Tokyo's life. Here are some of my favorites :
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On the other hand, MIDORIKAWA Yoichi is a true, original landscape artist — but not only : his Tour in Europe and Setonaikai are very much great avant-garde works to me, and his magazine- or recently-published portraits are superb.
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Here are some of my favorite urban photobooks. Most focus on either the beauty of tradition — Kyoto will be a bottomless source of inspiration for them — or the greatness and chaos of megacities — Tokyo being the natural given object here. I particularly enjoy those books — on Japanese festivals for instance — which also entail street shots and portraits. Another sort, more difficult to find, depicts the rural life not only through a documentary bias. Up to you to build a contrasting library where the four sorts meet.
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I love the more tranquil photobooks dealing mostly with traditional Japan / Kansai, published by Tanko-shinsha in the 1960s-70s : abundant iconography, numerous great monochrome shots (I am particularly fond of KUZUNISHI Sosei's works), served by great helioprinting.
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I always come back to ASAI Shimpei, especially to these four great photobooks :
 ASAI ShimpeiShadow (1986)  ASAI ShimpeiKairyu no Naka no Shimajima (1977) |  ASAI ShimpeiBeatles Tokyo : 100 Jikan no Roman (1966)  ASAI ShimpeiWinds (1981) |
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OKURA Shunji is another photographer to whom I am always drawn to. Three absolute favorites :
 OKURA ShunjiMusashino (1997) |  OKURA Shunji / SUGIMOTO EmmaEmma (1971)  OKURA ShunjiTokyo X (2000) |
His Onnagata (1983) is also very impressive.
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The Japanese 1980s and 1990s are proficient in quality photobooks of all sorts. In the early 1990s, a generation of young female photographers starts, in the wake of Araki Nobuyoshi's groundwork and Ishiuchi Miyako's growing renown, a new trend of intimate photography. On the opposite side of the spectrum, a darker, more obsessive, compulsive and psychotic type emerges — as Japan's economic growth worries and actualizes fear as the bubble pops, as one light analysis may claim; but there is more to it. On the other hand, new generations of artists — such as kabuki's, following the successful example of Bando Tamasaburo's lasting collaboration with Shinoyama — call for freshness and movement and step out of the trodden paths for great photographic portrait works. Rich years indeed. An additional short selection.
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MORIYAMA Daido may be seen as ARAKI's opposite and complement. He is just passing, wherever he is, passing and shooting — just as others would breathe — a snapshot master. His 1960s-1970s works are widely and wildly appraised as Japanese avant-garde chef-d'œuvres — the Provoke period, of course, and all his magazine work. Trademark : very contrasted monochrome and (rare) bland color shots. High-paced publishing activity since the late 1990s. Again, no space to put every work I like here. A short selection :
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In my opinion there is much in common between landscape and portrait / body photography, and photobooks that encompass both are most welcomed. See also the review:
Japanese Photographers & EROS : Nude Photography in Japan 1950s-90s
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KOBAYASHI Shinichiro's concern towards ruins and the clash between human artefacts and nature in Japan is very peculiar and the occasion of fantastic photography.
 KOBAYASHI ShinichiroTokyo Bay Side (1991)  KOBAYASHI ShinichiroDeathtopia / Haikyo Yugi (1998) |  KOBAYASHI ShinichiroJapan New Map (2003) |
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That's not all folks : this Subjective Best-of Japanese Photobooks will evolve as time passes, and as new books are being listed on AJB — much yet to be done. Feel free to drop by from time to time.
Cheers!
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For a reminder, here are the Japanese photobooks entailed in Martin Parr & Gerry Badger's selection — those of which are listed in our catalogue can be found under the PARR-BADGER label or by clicking on the links below.
Vol. 1 — Provocative Material for Thought: The Postwar Japanese Photobook
ISHIMOTO Yasuhiro. Aru Hi Aru Tokoro (1958)
DOMON Ken. Hiroshima (1958)
TOMATSU Shomei / DOMON Ken. Hiroshima-Nagasaki Document 1961 (1961)
TOMATSU Shomei. 11.02 Nagasaki (1966 / 1968)
DOMON Ken. Chikuho no Kodomotachi (1960)
HOSOE Eikoh. Otoko to Onna / Man and Woman (1961)
HOSOE Eikoh / MISHIMA Yukio. Barakei (1963)
HOSOE Eikoh / MISHIMA Yukio. Barakei Shinshuban (1971)
HOSOE Eikoh. Kamaitachi (1969)
KAWADA Kikuji. Chizu (1965)
MORIYAMA Daido. Nippon Gekijo Shashincho (1968)
ISHIMOTO Yasuhiro. Chicago, Chicago (1969)
TOMATSU Shomei. Oo! Shinjuku (1969)
OHARA Ken. One (1970)
NAKAHIRA Takuma. Kitaru beki Kotoba no tame ni (1970)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Xerox Shashincho 24 (1970)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Sentimental na Tabi (1971)
TAKASE Yoshio. Benjo (1971)
KIMURA Ihei. Paris (1974)
MORIYAMA Daido. Shashin yo Sayonara (1972)
MORIYAMA Daido. Karyudo (1972)
MORIYAMA Daido. Mo Kuni New York (1974)
MORIYAMA Daido. '71-NY (2002)
TAKANASHI Yutaka. Toshi e / Tokyojin (1974)
SHINOYAMA Kishin. Hareta Hi (1975)
ISHIUCHI Miyako. Yokosuka Story (1979)
KURATA Seiji. Flash Up (1980)
FUKASE Masahisa. Karasu (1986)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Tokyo Lucky Hole (1990)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. The Banquet / Shokuji (1993)
SUGIMOTO Hiroshi. Time Exposed (1991)
SUGIMOTO Hiroshi. Sea of Buddha (1997)
MATSUE Taiji. Taiji Matsue (2001)
HIROMIX. Girls Blue (1996)
Vol. 2
YOKOO Tadanori. Waterfall Rapture (1996)
MIYAMOTO Ryuji. Kobe 1995 (1995)
YOSHIYUKI Kohei. Document Kouen (1980)
HASHIGUCHI Joji. Seventeen's Map / Juunana-sai no Chizu (1988)
KITAJIMA Keizo. A.D. 1991 (1991)
SANAI Masafumi. Wakaranai (1998)
HOMMA Takashi. Tokyo Suburbia (1998)
KAWAUCHI Rinko. Utatane (2001)
KANEMURA Osamu. Spider's Strategy (2001)
ISHIUCHI Miyako. Mother's (2002)
SUGIMOTO Hiroshi. Theaters (2000)
Of course, this is a very short list. The Photobook: A History volumes are not books dedicated to Japanese Photobooks specifically, even though vol.1 entails a whole chapter dealing with 'avant-garde' / 'provocative' photobooks. In addition to what we said of it elsewhere, one cannot but notice the void in the 1980s, which vol.2 certainly doesn't make up for... The main point is that this selection, be it as it may, has had a huge, worldwide impact on prices of both the prints and photobooks included... A piece of advice: trust your own taste, ask the bookseller, and think and feel for yourself.
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To complete advantageously the previous, here are the books listed in KANEKO Ryuichi & Ivan VARTANIAN's Nihon Shashinshu-shi 1956-1986 / Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and '70s (Akaaka / Aperture, 2009) — those listed in our catalogue can be found under the KANEKO-VARTANIAN label or by clicking on the links below —, a recommandable reading with lots of page spreads:
HAMAYA Hiroshi. Yukiguni / Snow Land (1956)
TANIKAWA Shuntaro. Ehon / Picture Book (1956)
ISHIMOTO Yasuhiro. Aru Hi Aru Toko / Someday, Somewhere (1958)
Graphic Shudan. [Untitled] (mid-1950s)
HOSOE Eikoh. Man and Woman (1961)
DOMON Ken. The Children of Chikuho (1960)
KOJIMA Ichiro. Tsugaru (1963)
MIDORIKAWA Yoichi. Seto Inland Sea (1962)
YOSHIOKA Yasuhiro. Yasuhiro Yoshioka (1963)
NOJIMA Yasuzo. Yasuzo Nojima: Posthumous Works (1965)
KUWABARA Fumiaki. Minamata Disease (1965)
KAWADA Kikuji. The Map (1965)
TOMATSU Shomei. Nihon / Japan (1967)
SHINOYAMA Kishin. 28 Girls by Kishin Shinoyama (1968)
SHINOYAMA Kishin. Nude (1970)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Sentimental Journey (1971)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Okinawa: Araki Nobuyoshi Photobook 2 (1971)
ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Tokyo: Araki Nobuyoshi Photobook 3 (1973)
MORIYAMA Daido. Japanese Theater (1968)
NARAHARA Ikko. Europe: Where Time Has Stopped (1967)
NARAHARA Ikko. Japanesque (1970)
NAKAHIRA Takuma. For a Language to Come (1970)
Underground Generation (1968)
WATANABE Katsumi. Shinjuku Thievery Story, '66-'73 (1973)
What is 10/21? (1969)
ISHIGURO Kenji. Hiroshima Now (1970)
ICHIMURA Tetsuya. Come Up (1971)
SUGINO Yasushi. Impressive Landscape (1970)
KIMURA Ihei. The Eye of Ihei Kimura (1970)
TAKANASHI Yutaka. Towards the City (1974)
SAWATARI Hajime. Nadia (1973)
SHIOTANI Teiko. Teiko Shiotani: Album, 1923-1973 (1975)
KUWABARA Kineo. Tokyo 1936 (1974)
SUZUKI Kiyoshi. Soul and Soul (1972)
TSUCHIDA Hiromi. Zokushin / Gods of the Earth (1976)
TSUKIJI Hitoshi. Perpendicularly, (Territory) (1975)
GOCHO Shigeo. Self and Others (1977)
ISHIUCHI Miyako. Apartment (1978)
SUDA Issei. Fushi Kaden (1978)
MORINAGA Jun. River: Its Shadow of Shadows (1978)
KITAJIMA Keizo. Photo Express: Tokyo, No.1-No.12 (1979)
WATANABE Kanendo. A Town of Déjà-vu (1980)
FUKASE Masahisa. Karasu / Ravens (1986 / 2008)
Unfortunately, although the authors did a better job, the same remarks and caution words may apply (meaningful informative content is seriously lacking).
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See also / Voir aussi :
Japanese Photographers / Photographes japonais
Du Japon des régions / Of Japan's Regions
Les villes du Japon / Japan's cities
Du Japon des gens / Of Japan's People
Travels in Gaikoku-land
Japanese Idols and Photography
Temples, Shrines & Religions
Arts & Crafts in Japan
Japan & History
To inquire about or order a book, contact me !
Pour information ou commander un livre, contactez-moi !
