Tokyo Art Book Fair, 2015

The Tokyo Art Book fair was one of the most stunning gatherings of creativity I’ve experienced in one place since coming to Japan. Although I love living in the countryside, it’s the masses of creativity that can be experienced in the city that I miss, so I was determined to visit. I set off early in the morning on the three hour train to Tokyo, ready to read.

The fair was being held at Tohoku University of Art and Design (Gaien Campus), on three beautifully sunny days. The campus was easy to find, just a few minutes’ walk from the station. I visited on the final day, a Monday, 21^st of September. Apparently, the first two days had been quite packed, so I was glad to be there early Monday to avoid the crowds. There were still a lot of people around, so my giant hiking bag was a little distracting, but I later managed to put it behind a table and wander around more freely. The fair started out in the courtyard with a selection of delicious looking food (and each stall with some cookbooks or trinkets that matched the culinary theme) and led into a corridor, with a number of rooms to choose from.

The ground floor held one large “international” room, with vendors selling photobooks from all over the world, whereas the smaller rooms were dedicated to less well-known exhibitors, some tended to by the photographers themselves. It was great to see some zines and university students displaying their wares, and I was impressed by the sheer talent and creativity crammed into one building.

The upper floor held even more stalls, separated into smaller rooms, and one larger area dedicated to printing. The printing room – oh the printing room! There were reams of paper, from stacks of B5 to paper that could have served as a small bed, carefully piled on wooden pallets. It was stationery heaven. Although I resisted buying any books for myself (buying a single one would have unleashed a floodgate), I did pick up a rather interesting notebook. Rather than paper, it’s a few whiteboard pages spiral-bound together. It came with a thin whiteboard marker and eraser, and seemed rather useful for classes, so I parted with ¥2,000 yen for it – rather pricey for a normal notebook, but not that bad when you consider that it’s good just about forever! When I took it home and opened it up, I noticed four squares on each page, one on each corner – very much like what you see for QR codes. Following that line of thought, I did a brief internet search on the brand and figured out that there was an accompanying application that allowed me to scan and upload any notes I wanted to save onto my phone! Very handy. I could easily just snap a photograph, of course, but the app cleans up the note a little and organizes it a bit better. I think it’s a bit like Evernote.

 I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of poetry postcards either. As I browsed through the rooms (I genuinely went through each one at least thrice, finding new things to catch my eye each time), I was hearing a mix of both Japanese and English, but a particular accent caught my ear as I walked by a table. It was Singlish, so I stopped to have a chat and look through what they had to offer. I have an especial soft spot for anything from Malaysia and Singapore, so I may have just… bought the entire set. Um. Moving on. Sarah and Schooling were the company present at the school, and I discovered an excellent Singaporean poet, Joshua Ip, whose poetry was embossed on the cards. I tried to purchase a book online, but it seems they’re all sold out.

Spoils of Singapore

I also found an old friend working the stalls at Shashasha, a photography gallery based in Shibuya. They showcase Japanese and Asian photographers, and even offer an app to view the photographers they publish! It’s pretty forward thinking, and they had a good range of books. I was fascinated by the dreamy black and white photos by Kiyoshi Suzuki

Kiyoshi Suzuki, Aus Mind Games, 1982

 Kiyoshi Suzuki, The town of circus tent 1983

Another of my friends is doing an internship with a German publisher, Kehrer. I’m so glad he found me (I drifted past the stall before he spotted me and called me back), because I discovered a new photographer who I’ve become slightly obsessed with – Vee Speers. Her style is very light and exposed; simple backgrounds, focusing on a single subject in a photo. The book I saw, Bulletproof, was a 6 year project in the making. Speers took photos of children in dress-up, posed, masked, uncertain, young. Then, years later, she returned to do the same, but showing their growth and change, adding strange, fighting props to signify how they have to adapt to the world around them. Some might call it pretentious and unoriginal, but I felt she really captured the atmosphere and vulnerability of the current generation. The fairy-tale vibe works well with their bizarre costumes.

Vee Speers, Bulletproof

The Tokyo Art Book fair is an annual event, and one well worth visiting. Keep your calendars free in 2016 mid-September, and go have a look at the mad stacks of creativity for yourself! I felt pretty inspired by the whole thing and went out for a photowalk with a friend the following weekend. But that is another post for another day.

~x.jaz.x.~