Japan

Japan is a prominent country in photography today, and especially regarding the desiging and  publishing of photography books; this position is not recent. Since the post-war period in particular, Japanese photographers, publishers and designers have been very productive and very innovative in the design of photography integrated into a book ob...
Japan is a prominent country in photography today, and especially regarding the desiging and  publishing of photography books; this position is not recent. Since the post-war period in particular, Japanese photographers, publishers and designers have been very productive and very innovative in the design of photography integrated into a book object, with particular attention to the manufacture, layout, papers, bindings, slipcases and boxes...
For example, some still think that Ed Ruscha's book Every Building on the Sunset Strip (self-published, 1966) is the first photobook in Leporello format ("accordion binding"), while the book Ginza Kaiwai / Ginza Haccho by Yoshikazu Suzuki & Kimura Shohachi, with two panoramas on two separate accordions from Tokyo's Ginza district, was released by Toho-Shuppan, Tokyo in 1954, 12 years earlier!
Great Japanese photographers have become known through their books and collaborations, between photographers on the Provoke magazine project (three volumes in 1968 and 1969, created by Takuma Nakahira and Yukata Takanashi among others, and a collaboration with Daido Moriyama, etc.) or with renowned designers such as Eikoh Hosoe's Kamaitachi casing by Tadanori Yokoo (published by Gendai Shicho Sha, Tokyo, 1969).


Japanese photography, and the Japanese edition of photography books, are still extremely dynamic today. Only a small part of the books published in Japan are available in bookstores around the world, but many photographers - like their elders Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki who still publish with the same regularity - are today recognized and widely followed beyond Japan.

Examples include Rinko Kawauchi, Koji Onaka, Atsushi Fujiwara, Toshio Shibataand more recently Daisuke Yokota and Kazuma Obara.

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Japan There are 188 books.

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Showing 1 - 32 of 188 items
  • Quick view Kajioka, Miho
    59,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by IBASHO Gallery: " Miho Kajioka was delighted and very surprised that her book so it goes won the French Prix Nadar in 2019. This book was published by the(M) éditions & IBASHO in a limited edition of 500 and was quickly sold out. Kajioka regretted that not more people could see or own her so it goes book. She has therefore requested us...

    59,00 €
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  • Quick view Lai, Joe
    40,00 € In Stock

    Presentation by Art Paper Editions: " For his new publication, Joe Lai creates scenes where light and dark, in combination with different characters, determine the atmosphere. Scenes where emotions are revealed, hidden, questioned, betrayed, exposed. Nostalgia is what guided Joe Lai to make this newest publication, called ‘Pinku’. Nostalgia is a...

    40,00 €
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  • .Last signed copy available. Presentation by Mack Books: " Kawada's The Map / Chizu is the most famous and sought after book in the history of Japanese photography. Designed with the noted graphic designer Kohei Sugiura, Chizu has seen numerous editions since its original publication in August 1965 (Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, Tokyo). In November 2001, New York...

    160,00 €
    In Stock
  • Quick view Fukase, Masahisa
    90,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by IBASHO Gallery: " In 1961 Masahisa Fukase's first solo exhibition Kill the Pig was held in Tokyo. The exhibition consisted of two series of photographs: one titled Kill the Pig and another series titled Naked. The series Kill the Pig featured photographs set in a slaughterhouse in Shibaura, Tokyo. Huge numbers of ravens also congregated...

    90,00 €
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  • Quick view Collectif
    89,00 € In Stock

    .Back in stock. Presentation by 10x10 Photobooks: " What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843 – 1999, 10×10's most recent “book-on-photobooks” anthology in its ongoing examination of photobook history, explores photobooks created by women from photography's beginnings to the dawn of the 21st century. Presenting a diverse geographic and ethnic...

    89,00 €
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  • Presentation by Atelier EXB: " How do we perceive our environment, what is our relationship to the sensitive world? How to capture the elusive in photography? For this new series, Terri Weifenbach has examined living things, nature, water, air, light, fire, and questions the ability of photography to capture the evanescence of natural and sensitive...

    45,00 €
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  • Presentation by APE / Art Paper Editions: " Universal Tongue celebrates the great diversity of the global dance kaleidoscope in the era of the Internet. It was born from visual artist Anouk Kruithof's fascination with dance videos distributed online as a representation of self-expression, cultural identity, empowerment and fun. In collaboration with a...

    45,00 €
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  • Presentation by Chose Commune: " The book Painting reveals 16 unpublished colour photographs by Toshio Shibata, a Japanese photographer who is known for his rigorous and meticulous compositions. The representation of intimate yet spectacular landscapes — natural, and especially artificial — are at the core of Shibata's work. In keeping with the tradition...

    55,00 €
    In Stock
  • .This book is IN FRENCH. Presentation by Atelier EXB: " This book brings together the photographs that Bruce Gilden took in Japan during two residencies and several trips between 1995 and 1999, presenting both the most iconic and half unpublished. As always, on an impulse of a few fractions of a second, the Magnum photographer approaches his subjects as...

    45,00 €
    In Stock
  • .Sold out. Presentation by Chose Commune: " In 1973, Seiichi Furuya left Japan for Europe on board of the Trans-Siberian train. He arrived in Austria where he first settled in Vienna, before moving to Graz where he met Christine Gössler in 1978. From this day forward, he started photographing her, in the intimacy of their home in Graz but also during...

  • Quick view Fukase, Masahisa
    45,00 € Book available with different options

    .NB: Our stock of tote bags has run out, sorry. Presentation by Atelier EXB: " Following the survey monograph, this publication is dedicated to Masahisa Fukase's emblematic series on his two cats: Sasuke and Momoe, combining unpublished and iconic images. In 1977, Fukase turned his lenses on his new companion Sasuke. Growing up with felines, he decides...

    45,00 €
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  • Quick view Suda, Issei
    22,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Fw: Books: " For Issei Suda (1940–2019), photography was a means to document the ordinary and reveal the extraordinary. Traditional country festivals were a favourite subject, but he also saw theatre in Tokyo's street life. Suda had a talent for square format compositions and is known for the technical perfection of his black-and-white...

    22,00 €
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  • Quick view Katayama, Mari
    32,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Fondation Antoine de Galbert: " The monographs in this collection titled Un certain désordre are published by the Antoine de Galbert Foundation. Each book, published in a numbered edition of 300, features numerous reproductions of artworks alongside a text written by the artist him or herself. The first edition of this collection is...

    32,00 €
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  • Quick view 9mouth
    72,00 € In Stock

    Text from the front cover: " Menstrual project started in 2011, in which I took pictures by invading girl's private life with my own sight. And that project kept going till now. The reason why this project called Menstrual is because I took one girl every month at the beginning. The number of girl I shoot increaed in 2012 because of my open attitude....

    72,00 €
    In Stock
  • .Sold out. Presentation by Akina Books: " Immerse is the final chapter of the Teikai trilogy, started in May 2014 with the release of Linger, followed by Teikai (Wandering at Midnight) in September 2014. « With the blood of the wound, rushing like the river to the sea – oh life orgasm – the river is damned.The banks do not overflow and the lice chokes as...

  • .Sold out. Published in March 2021, Flowers Bloom, Butterflies Come is a collaboration between Japanese photographer Miho Kajioka and British musicians Ian Hawgood and Craig Tattersall. This book is already sold out by the publisher, before its actual release! We are offering IIKKI's books since 2018 and we are now also offering the music in physical...

  • Quick view Yamamoto, Masao
    55,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Editorial RM: " Born in 1957 in Gamagori, in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, Masao Yamamoto is a photographer who began his art studies as an oil painter under the supervision of Goro Saito in his hometown. Masao subsequently discovered that photography was the ideal medium for the theme that most interested him: images with the ability...

    55,00 €
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  • .Sold out. Presentation by Ibasho Gallery: " Mukayu has been Cupido's spiritual guideline during his most recent travels to Japan, resulting in his latest publication. The concept of mukayu is beautifully explained in a quote by the famous Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, who lived 2,300 years ago: « An empty room will be filled with light because of its...

  • Quick view Kawauchi, Rinko
    55,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Chose Commune: " A blue sky. A shimmering river. The birth of a new life. These are the first three photographs from Rinko Kawauchi's book As it is. This new body of work returns to Kawauchi's earlier photographic focus on her personal universe through family, memory and time. This book presents a succession of mundane moments and gestures...

    55,00 €
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  • Presentation by Libraryman: " The clouds serve as a common denominator in Osamu Yokonami's (b. 1967, Japanese) continued exploration of youth, collectivity and anonymity. The utopian settings in Kumo depict an analogy of the cultural homogenization of society's interconnecting networks; the social system—as a visual metaphor, the strength of a group can...

    54,00 €
    In Stock
  • Quick view Collectif
    69,00 € In Stock

    .Available..PLEASE NOTE: Texts in this book are IN FRENCH ONLY, and we are offering copies of the 2021 reprint of the book which quickly sold out before Christmas 2020. Presentation by Editions Textuel :          [translation by L'Ascenseur Végétal] " A fabulous collective sum, a manifesto, a book of reference. This book includes over 450 images and...

    69,00 €
    In Stock
  • Presentation of the Seasons Series collection by Libraryman: " Seasons Series is a quarterly book series, in which a group of artists are brought together under one vision with a focus on each artist’s singular way of seeing. Each of the books in the series will focus on differing subjects and all monographs will showcase the artist’s unique approach to...

    40,00 €
    In Stock
  • Quick view Yamamoto, Masao
    85,00 € Out of stock

    .Very last two copies available (book only). Published in September 2020, Sasanami is a collaboration between photographer Masao Yamamoto and musician Akira Uchida. This book is almost sold out with the publisher before its release (notification of "last copies" on their website)! We are offering IIKKI's books since 2018 and it is the first time that we...

    85,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • .Copies of the second edition in stock!. Presentation by Witty Books: " « I am like a waiter who was given a special identity. At this time, I may be a stranger, perhaps a maker of taste and emotion, maybe a peeper next door, maybe just a recorder using a camera to invade others. The young flesh came in and out. Our communication was limited to the...

    36,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • Quick view Okabe, Momo
    120,00 € Out of stock

    .LAST COPY!. NB: The title of this book is sometimes spelled "Irmatar" in Roman letters. Presentation by Mandarake: " It's been six years since Dildo (2013) and Bible (2014), both published by Session Press in New York. With no advertising or publicity, Momo Okabe's works have become highly acclaimed and have won various national and international...

    120,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • Quick view Ghirri, Luigi
    65,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Case Publishing: " This catalogue accompanies Luigi Ghirri's solo exhibition « Works from the 1970s » at Taka Ishii Gallery and is centered around photographs created during the 1970s, arguably Ghirri's most important creative period. By redefining photography as a concept and as an act, Ghirri's work has played an important role in...

    65,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • .Last copy!. Presentation by Session Press: " We Have No Place to Be (originally published by Soshisha in 1982) launched Hashiguchi's illustrious 40-year career, and remains widely regarded as one of the photographer's seminal early works. This new edition from Session Press, supervised and edited by Hashiguchi himself, is comprised of 139 black and...

    85,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • Presentation by Chose Commune: " The story behind 78 tells of a promise kept after the passing of the Japanese master of photography Issei Suda, to publish a book with an original approach. Although the project originated in January 2019, 78 presents a selection of unseen photographs selected from the Suda archive in November 2019. Shot between 1971 and...

    60,00 €
    In Stock
  • Quick view Obara, Kazuma
    68,00 € Out of stock

    Presentation by Editiorial RM & Kazuma Obara: " Thirty years have passed since the world's worst nuclear accident, which occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in the former Soviet Union (now Ukraine). Photojournalist Kazuma Obara traveled in Ukraine from February 2015 to April 2016. His project titled « 30 » portrays people with a...

    68,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • Quick view Petersen, Anders
    58,00 € Out of stock

    .LAST COPY!. Presentation by T&M Projects: [adapted by L'Ascenseur Végétal] " Anders Petersen photographed Okinawa, the island in southern Japan famous for its traditional Ryukyu culture, beautiful beaches, and American bases; it is his first series made in an Asian country. He was invited by the European Eyes on Japan project in 2000 for a...

    58,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • Quick view Moriyama, Daido
    120,00 € Out of stock

    .Copy sold!. Presentation by the publisher: " The very first photobook by legendary Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, Japan: A Photo Theater, is finally available again in a renewed edition. Originally published in 1968 – the year which also saw the launch of the influential Provoke magazine – the book already demonstrates Moriyama's trademark visual...

    120,00 €
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    Out of stock
  • .Sold out. Portraits and nudes by Lin Zhipeng. The book is designed as a choice between hidden (over-pixelated) images, and the « normal » images that are accessible only by cutting the paper of the Japanese binding (uncut pages). The book comes with a C-Print signed by the artist. This book is sold out and hard to find. We are offering our last copy,...

Showing 1 - 32 of 188 items

Three photo books that are milestones in the history of Japanese photography

There is a wide array of photobooks to chose from, not an easy task! But some of the most important Japanese photography books include:

-          Chizu / The Map by Kikuji Kawada (Bijutsu Shuppansha, 1965), a complex book published for the 20th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, which traces, between abstraction and realism, the post-Japanese war and, among others, the very peculiar relationship with the United States.

-          Kitarubeki kotoba no tame ni / For a Language to Come by Takuma Nakahira (Fudosha, 1970 and Osiris, 2010) and Daido Moriyama's Sashin yo Sayonara / Bye Bye Photography (Shashin Hyoron-sha, 1972which reproduce some of the photographs published in Provoke and contrast completely with the pre-existing photographic language, leaving aside the technique, for the energy of the moment, and sometimes violence or banality.

-          Karasu / Ravens / Solitude of Ravens by Masahisa Fukaseoriginally published in 1986 by Sokyusha, then Bedford Arts / Chronicle Books, 1991, then Rat Hole, 2008 and finally Mack, 2017. A book on the mourning of a relationship break up, on the return to his origins to find a meaning in life, and the raven as an omen, an augur, as a symbol of distress and melancholy.