Japanese Photobooks

• the(M) éditions / IBASHO 2025
• Softcover, 1st edition
• New

"This series explores the psychological imprint of migration and uprooting that have marked my life. The title is inspired by the keyboard shortcut I use to write in Japanese, an indirect evocation of my origins.

This series brings together a multiplicity of subjects: architectural fragments, an old passport photo of my grandfather, faces of unknown relatives in the family album... Incoherent geometric forms emerge in the images to amplify this sensation of non-belonging, disturbing the gaze through their strangeness.

With Ctrl Shift + J, I invite the viewer to introspection, to confront their own experiences of displacement and the search for a place to be oneself."

- Sayuri Ichida

• the(M) éditions / IBASHO 2025
• Softcover, 4th edition, 160pp
• New

This new book is a revised and expanded edition of the book so it goes, so it goes, itself a revised and expanded edition of the book so it goes, which won the Nadar Prize in 2019. This edition features a completely renewed series of images and a new cover.

In this book, Miho Kajioka presents work relating to the concepts of time, memory, and place. As in her previous works, the series reveals intuitive images of fragments from her daily life, across different periods. It was while reading Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, that Miho Kajioka became truly interested in this subject. Miho Kajioka is fascinated by chronology and the meaning of events. According to her, photography captures moments and freezes them; displaying prints is like playing with the sense of time and getting lost in this chronology.

• PCT 2025
• Softcover, 1st edition, 280p
• New

In January 1991, Keizo Kitajima began a year-long series for the Japanese magazine Asahi Graph, traveling to all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union accompanied by the journalist Kazumasa Nishioka. Kitajima, then at a turning point in his career and about to give up on snapshot photography altogether, unexpectedly found himself documenting the final months of the USSR. Only days after the final installment of the series was published in an Asahi Graph issue in December 1991, the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist.
In his photographs, Kitajima captured something essential about each place he visited, not through symbolic locations or famous figures, but by focusing on ordinary people, whose stories would otherwise never be told.

This 2025 publication of "USSR 1991" is part of an ongoing re-examination of Kitajima’s past work, following books such as "European Diary 1983-1984" and "New York (New Edition)." As part of this process, Kitajima decided to pair his USSR 1991 photographs with a series he shot between 1983 and 1984 in various Eastern European cities.

In addition to an afterword by Keizo Kitajima, "USSR 1991" also includes an essay by Shino Kuraishi.

Signed copy.

• Photo Editions 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 96p
• New

'I have been obsessed with Kyoto over the years because of the dense atmosphere the ancient city holds. That atmosphere must be the result of the essence of history that has gradually seeped into the land, brewing over time. In the 1,200 years since Kyoto was founded, many battles have been fought, much blood has been shed, and many people have died. The joys, sorrows, prayers, wishes, tears and struggles of so many people are layered on top of each other like a stratum, and as time goes by, the weight of these layers accumulates.

It is this kind of history of Kyoto that I have been trying to visualize over the past decade. Not history as a superficial record, but history as a "living creature" that has been nurtured and cultivated throughout people's lives. Yes, Kyoto's history deserves to be called a "living creature." It has a pulse; it breathes. I believe that the richness of Kyoto's air is generated by the body heat of history, history as a"living creature".' 

- Yasuhiro Ogawa

Hardback with swiss-binding (open spine). 305mm x 191mm. 

Signed copy.

A range of print options are available from the dropdown, all prints are 7"x5", signed and stamped on the reverse.  All prints are exclusive to Photobookstore.

In stock now.

• Blue Lotus / Photo Editions 2025
• Hardback, 3rd edition, 100p
• New

Yasuhiro Ogawa’s new photobook Into the Silence captures the rugged yet timeless beauty of Japan’s northern region as he follows in the footsteps of the 17th Century poet Matsuo Bashō.

The story of Matsuo Bashō's journey through the northern provinces of Japan in the 17th century, is recounted in his travelogue "The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” ("Oku no Hosomichi”). In the summer of 1689, Bashō set out on his journey with his traveling companion Sora. They traveled on foot, carrying only minimal provisions and staying in humble lodgings along the way. Bashō was seeking inspiration for his poetry, and he found it in the natural beauty and cultural richness of the places he visited.

Like Bashō before him, Ogawa set out on a journey through the Tōhoku region, unlike Bashō, who traveled on foot with pen in hand, Ogawa preferred to move by train with camera in hand.  His photographs capture the rugged beauty of the landscape, from snow-covered mountains to misty forests and along deserted roads with glimpses of wild oceans, often shot through foggy windows on a train in motion. Through his lens, Ogawa reveals a world that is both remote and timeless, a world in stillness and motion.

Despite the passage of centuries, the challenges faced by Bashō on his journey are still evident in Ogawa’s photographs. The loneliness and isolation of the road are palpable in the shots of empty trains, lone tracks or roads and desolate hotel interiors. So are the physical challenges of traversing rough terrain and inclement weather documented in his muted photographs.  There is a marked contrast between the beauty and tranquility of the landscape and the harsh realities of life in this remote region. From plain coastal towns to empty streets, Ogawa’s images reveal the toll that economic decline and depopulation have taken on the area. Yet there remains a sense of hope and resilience.

Hardback 3rd edition.

Signed copy. 

Copies of Into The Silence (2nd edition), with a signed print are available here.

• Dashwood / Session Press 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 232p
• New

Over the past four decades, Takashi Homma has become one of the most influential figures in Japanese photography. From his early exploration of Tokyo’s suburban landscape in Tokyo Suburbia (1998) to conceptual investigations of architecture, nature, and urban history, Homma’s work continues to challenge and expand photography’s role in visual culture. His influence extends far beyond Japan, with exhibitions and publications that contribute to a global conversation around identity, place, and the evolving language of the photobook.

Portrait of J joins the rich tradition of socially engaged portraiture, echoing seminal works such as August Sander’s Face of Our Time, Irving Penn’s Small Trades, and, more recently, Wolfgang Tillmans’s Portraits, Rineke Dijkstra’s studies of adolescents and Paul Graham’s End of an Age. In Japan, similar approaches resonate in the work of Shomei Tomatsu, whose postwar portraits offered intimate glimpses into daily life; Yoshihiko Ueda’s Portrait, which documented leading cultural figures; and Hiroh Kikai’s Asakusa Portraits, as well as Issei Suda’s Tokyo-kei and Katsumi Watanabe’s Shinjuku Guntōden 66/73—all of which captured the individuality and quiet dignity of anonymous Tokyoites.

What distinguishes Portrait of J is its intentional focus on ordinary individuals photographed with the same care and reverence often reserved for cultural icons. Shot across a variety of familiar, recognizable locations, mainly in urban environments, Homma’s portraits have an illuminating quality that reveal a psychological depth in their subjects. His approach is less overtly political than Tomatsu’s, more nationally reflective than Kikai’s or Watanabe’s, and more humanistic than Ueda’s. His portraits are guided by empathy and a desire to observe people as they are—free from manipulation or staging. The result is a more inclusive, nuanced visual representation of Japanese identity—expanding the lens through which Japanese people are seen both within Japan and internationally.

While Japan has long fascinated audiences in the U.S., Europe, and beyond—often admired for its aesthetics, traditions, and technological innovation—the lived realities of its people are often idealized, misunderstood, or overlooked. Portrait of J is especially meaningful in that it offers a platform for a Japanese photographer to speak directly, intentionally, and reflectively through his work—presenting a grounded and authentic portrait of contemporary Japan.

At once systematic and deeply personal, Portrait of J is a quiet yet powerful milestone in Takashi Homma’s enduring career—and a poignant, timely archive of the people who shape Japan toda

• Akio Nagasawa 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 96p
• New

Despite the fact that I usually have all kinds of things and ideas on my mind, the lifestyle that I’m leading is quite simple. I find myself swinging back and forth between worrying if I’m alright, and reassuring myself that I’m doing just fine. Today I wonder whether there’ll be that one great shot among the photos that I take, and tomorrow... well that’s another day. So I wander about with my little camera in my hand, and when I’m at home at night, I sit down in my chair and grumble. “Hmm… Well… Yeah…”

– excerpt from the afterword by Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

Due back in stock mid-December, available to pre-order now.

• IBASHO & the(M) éditions, 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 136p
  
• New

Norio Takasugi’s first artist book As the twig is bent, so grows the tree  is published by IBASHO & the(M) éditions and focuses on silver leaf artworks. 

Takasugi’s subjects are always nature related and although the photographic negative of an image remains the same, its reproduction produces subtle differences, resulting in unique pieces of work. In earlier works he had been experimenting with various analogue photographic techniques. A turning point came with his silver leaf works, where Takasugi merges classical photography with ancient Japanese craft of printmaking. Using screen printing and sulphur reactions on silver leaf, the artist creates luminous botanical and landscape images that blur the line between image and object, reproduction and uniqueness. Because of the unpredictability of the chemical reactions between the silver and the sulphur, the outcome is different every time and never perfect. Sepia tones and control strips embedded in the work serve as both aesthetic and technical markers, underscoring the handcrafted nature of each piece.

• Benrido, Inc 2025
• Set of 6 collotype prints
  
• New

Known for his tranquil and poetic photographs and installations, Yamamoto Masao’s new portfolio marks his second installment, following his 2020 release of “Birds.” The selection was made in collaboration with Benrido and the artist, and, like his previous works, the prints have been faithfully reproduced from the sepia-toned originals. Furthermore, some of the works in this portfolio have already sold out in his original editions, making them available exclusively as collotype prints.

Set of 6  collotype prints printed by Benrido, Inc.

Print Size: 25.4 x 20.3cm. Case Size: 20.6 x 25.8 x 0.8cm

Video courtesy of Benrido Inc.

• Zen Foto  2020
• Softcover, 1st edition, 156p
• New

Part two of Tamiko Nishimura’s photographic journey through 1960s-80s Japan.

Japanese photographer Tamiko Nishimura has never ceased to travel, and has never stopped documenting her journeys in photographs. Since her first photobook Shikishima in 1973, she has continued to develop her own style of snapshot photography, capturing her surroundings, her impressions as well as her personal life in brilliantly composed photographs. In this second volume of snapshots taken between 1968 and 1989, Nishimura, accompanied by her young daughter, takes us with her to Okinawa, Tohoku, Hokkaido, the Joto and Johoku areas of Tokyo, and many other regions in Japan. In each of her photographs, Nishimura manages to weave together layers of stories and moods, creating images that echo both the external as well as her internal world.

“As we walked along the seashore, we saw a solitary lady gathering seaweed on the rocks in the cold wind. She noticed us and gave us some freshly picked seaweed in a plastic bag. After arriving at our accommodation, I asked the owner to add them to our miso soup for dinner. The flavor of the sea was fragrant; I was grateful for its deliciousness.” — from Tamiko Nishimura’s afterword (included in Japanese & English translation)

• Akio Nagasawa 2018
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 120p
  
• New

"As I get older with the camera in my hand, I realize that all the different things that I depict in my photographs are ultimately rooted in my childhood memories, the various things I have seen and experienced in the postwar years of the early 1950s.
My memories of wandering from one town to another for a while after the war have piled up at the bottom of my conscious mind, and it appears to me that they are reflected in the myriad images I’ve been capturing as a street snap photographer, responding to my index finger as it releases the shutter. In other words, regardless of whether I was aware of it at the place and time of shooting, it seems that the majority of my photographs represent an instant communion with the here and now that is established through some kind of time tunnel."  - Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Mack 2025
• Softcover, 1st edition, 96p
• New

Synthesis is a striking artist’s book that brings together six years of work by acclaimed Japanese multimedia artist Mari Katayama. Created between 2019 and 2025 – a period marked by the birth of her daughter and a return to Gunma, the rural province where she grew up – the book brings together nine photographic series, including the brand new Tree of Life, all produced in her home studio. This space becomes both a site of meditation and a stage for transformation. 

In these intricately composed self-portraits, Katayama places her own body in relation to hand-sewn sculptures, threaded forms, and delicate paper collages. The resulting images are dense with material and memory, each one an act of making in which identity, history, and gesture are stitched together. ‘How do we perceive others, and how are we perceived by others?’ she asks. ‘What is “correct”? What is “natural” and “artificial?”’ 

Across the book, her practice unfolds as a continual act of transformation – where nothing is fixed or discarded, but rather reshaped and carried forward. This process resonates with the philosophical notion of synthesis in its dialectical sense: a holding-together of opposites, where past and future, beginning and end, presence and absence, are preserved and transcended in new form. At its core, Synthesis is a fierce and intimate celebration of the body – not as static or whole, but as a shifting, powerful site of beauty, resilience, and becoming. 

The signed edition includes an extra image plate signed by the artist and glued into the inside back cover.

• Roshin 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 120p
• New

Published by roshin books in 2017, Untitled was a culmination of Shin Yanagisawa’s travel photography. Now, Tracks of the City returns to print, his first and most iconic photobook, originally published in 1979 by Asahi Sonorama. It captures Tokyo in the 1960s, at the height of the country’s rapid economic growth.

The photographs in this book were taken between 1965 and 1970, during a time when Tokyo was engulfed in a wave of “scrap and build” redevelopment. As old neighborhoods disappeared and new structures rose in their place, Yanagisawa turned his lens toward this transitional moment. Through precise and composed framing, he revealed the evolving forms and atmosphere of the city, without relying on narrative or symbolism.

“Photographs don’t need words”, Yanagisawa remained unwavering in this belief throughout his career. His work was neither part of the Provoke movement nor the so-called Konpora trend. What emerges here is not a category, but a singular vision—one that could only belong to Shin Yanagisawa.

Edition of 900 copies, of which 50 are solely available from Photobookstore, with an exclusive cover image as shown.

• Thames & Hudson 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 440p
• New

Quartet explores Daido Moriyama’s early career through four foundational photobooks that highlight his place as one of Japan’s most radical photographers: Japan: A Photo Theater,  A Hunter, Farewell Photography and Light and Shadow.

Rooted in the complexities of Japan during a transformative era from 1968 to the early 1980s, these seminal photobooks not only offer profound insights into the nation’s evolving cultural, economic and social landscape, but also trace the emergence and development of Moriyama’s distinct style.

Slipcased hardback.

• Akio Nagasawa 2018
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 120p
  
• New

As you have probably recognized, the photo across the last two pages of this issue shows a young Nobuyoshi and Yoko Araki. When I met Mr. Araki for the first time in years in connection with my recent business for a certain magazine, the photo was pasted into a handmade scrapbook he had brought with him, in accordance with the theme of that particular project. He jokingly showed it around among the staff, and I seized the opportunity to make a copy of it. It is such a magnificent picture of the two of them together that I just had to do it. The photo must have been taken around the time of Araki’s early photo book, Sentimental Journey, and I was totally captured by the impact and the message that the genuine print of that snapshot of two youthful naked fellows conveyed. - Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Getsuyosha 2017
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 176p
  
• New
  

“The dog in me tells me to seek out bustling streets, the cat tells me to enter every back-alley I come across, and the bug in me drags me towards the red-light quarters. Copying the world from the view of a lowlife, particularly loitering through Tokyo every day, I feel that this is all the meaning there is to my life and my taking photographs.” (from Daido Moriyama’s afterword)

“K” (from the Japanese “kei” for “view, vista”) collects Daido Moriyama’s latest photographs (2017), fragments of the city, its corners and crannies of the city, the figures that populate it.

• Roshin 2017
  
• Hardback, 1st edition
  
• New
  

Roshin Book’s seventh publication focuses on Japanese photographer Shin Yanagisawa (1936-2008), whose photography was highly regarded by contemporaries such as Daido Moriyama and Ryuichi Kaneko. From 1963 on, after having recovered from an illness, Yanagisawa focused on photographing a variety of places throughout Japan. It was Yanagisawa’s philosophy to create photos that require no further commentary, that already say and contain everything there is to convey.

Yanagisawa held only four exhibitions in his lifetime and published only three photobooks. He chose to focus on his work at his own pace, ignoring trends in contemporary photography. In the 1970s, this work ethic has even led him to decline a request by Shoji Yamagishi, editor at the influential Camera Mainichi magazine, to publish new work.

Shin Yanagisawa - Untitled collects photography shot throughout Japan between the years 1965 and 1992 and includes a short essay by Naomi Yanagimoto in Japanese and English.

Edition of 1000 copies.

Out of print recommended title.

• Akio Nagasawa 2017
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 114p
  
• New

 In early November, I had some business to do in the town of Zushi.
I have a house there and usually visit Zushi two or three times a year. The more I drive along the coast and down the roads in town each time, the more images of a young Takuma Nakahira inevitably flash across the back of my mind.
And that’s just natural, considering that some fifty years ago in the summer we were close friends who eagerly discussed their photographic dreams while walking together morning, noon and evening.- Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2017
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 124p
  
• New

This past June, a photo book titled “Pretty Woman” was published by Akio Nagasawa Publishing. Containing color and black-and-white photographs on 400+ pages, this hardcover book with a colorful poppy design is in a way an encyclopedia of Tokyo vulgarities from my own personal point of view. Then, in July, I received a copy of the compilation “RECORD” from the London-based publisher Thames & Hudson, who had finally completed their year-long project collecting all previously published volumes of the “RECORD” journal from 1 to 30. After the initial five volumes of “RECORD” that I conceived and put together back in 1972, the journal was put on ice for quite a long time, until Akio Nagasawa’s request in 2006 encouraged me to continue with number 6, up to number 35, for which I am now writing these notes. If Thames & Hudson included all pages of “RECORD” in their book, it would have become an enormously massive tome, so they did select to some extent, but the result is still an impressively voluminous book.

Looking repeatedly at both of these two new photo books at the same time, I got a bizarre kind of feeling, as if looking at my own photographs and at once watching a totally strange world, full of sceneries that I had never seen before. It seemed as if the time that had passed between the photos taken in 1972 and those shot in 2017 had been erased, so that all the printed images in these two books suddenly appeared on the same level without that temporal depth. Rather than being a natural effect, considering that they were all made by the same photographer, it appears to me that this was a phenomenon that has to be attributed to something other than the primary recording capacity of photography as a duplication mechanism. Browsing through these two books, I was once again reminded of the sheer breadth and depth of the tool that is photography.

- Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2025
• Softcover, 1st edition, 120p
• New

"Most of the images that I have been capturing in my photographs, have appeared in the journal “Record” over the twenty years from its launch up to this latest issue, No. 60. In other words, rather than a “Record,” one may actually understand it as my “ID” proper. In addition to the photos shot here in Japan, there are quite a few that I took in other countries, and with 120-180 pages each, each volume of this journal is very much a personal record and memento of my own life and memories.

Me, I will again be clicking away with my camera tomorrow, and the day after that. After all, photography is such a wonderful thing."

- extract from the afterword by Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Bookshop M 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 168p
• New

Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog — The Rediscovered Slides

A rare visual record, rediscovered after 25 years.

In 1999, Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, a groundbreaking exhibition that later toured the U.S. and Europe. It marked a pivotal moment in Moriyama’s career, launching him onto the international stage. As part of the show, 140 of Moriyama’s own hand-selected works were transferred onto slide film and presented as a slideshow.

Now, a quarter century later, the original film has been unearthed—prompting the creation of this long-awaited publication.

The book faithfully reproduces all 140 images from the original slideshow. Its cover features Moriyama’s iconic Stray Dog, Misawa in two versions: a standard print (LEFT) and its reverse (RIGHT), reflecting the duality that emerged as the photo spread through the world after it was taken in 1971.

Also included are essays by four internationally renowned curators who share their personal encounters with Moriyama’s work. Each story is followed by a rare commentary from Moriyama himself, reflecting on the past through their words. (All texts in English.)

Includes a separate booklet with full Japanese translations of all texts.

Right hand image on cover.  

Unsigned (signed copies no longer available).

Final few copies.

Please advise if you have preference for left or right printed image on the front cover.

• Chose Commune 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 168p
• New

Between agitation and lightness, Fusako Kodama depicts the effervescence of modern Japan. From 1960 to 1980, she captures the atmosphere of places and the energy of people. 

Movement is constant; disorder occurs at times; gestures are carefree and instinctive: Fusako Kodama captures forward momentum. Her spontaneous photographs summon surprising perspectives where subjects appear slightly out of sync.

Between restlessness and lightness, Fusako Kodama portrays a certain effervescence of modern Japan. From 1960 to 1980, she captures the atmosphere of cities and villages inhabited by animated beings. Through her unusual and spontaneous framing, the prolific photographer casts a gaze that is both gentle and vibrant over twenty years of Japan.

1960-1980 is the first book by Fusako Kodama published in the West, where she is still relatively unknown. This work aligns with the ongoing efforts of Chose Commune, which aims to shed light on contemporary Japanese photographers beyond their country of origin.

• Delpire & Co 2025
• Hardback, 1st edition, 216p
• New
  

Upon visiting Iceland in 2019, Kawauchi encountered geysers like the breadths of Earth, glaciers surpassing human time, and the inner space of a dormant volcano that was reminiscent of the inside of a womb. She had thus experienced the connection to this planet she had never felt before. Iceland was her point of departure; she continued to experience similar sights such as the nature around her home after the COVID-19 pandemic and the winter land of Hokkaido. She opened her majestic solo exhibition “M/E On this sphere Endlessly interlinking” and showcased a fraction of the “M/E” series. Even today, this body of work is been exhibited around the world.

The title “M/E” comes from the first letters of the words “Mother” and “Earth”, “Mother Earth” if read in sequence, and also hints at the word “Me”. It reminds us of the certainty that nature as an infinite existence and the small ubiquitous occurrences from our daily lives are not unrelated, but inseparably connected. As the most recent body of work by Kawauchi who returned to her point of origin –the connection between nature and human beings– and thus took a different look at the world during this turbulent time, this series goes beyond “Ametsuchi” and “Halo” through which she had established her perspective by contemplating nature. Bound by Hans Gremmen, the book appears to be a singular book object. A beautifully written essay, the like of a heartfelt letter, by author, photographer, and art historian Teju Cole concludes this publication.
　

Text in French and English.

• Akaaka 2024
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 112pp
  
• New

Japan promised by law to adhere to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles not to possess, produce, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. But nuclear weapons were brought here. Nuclear bombs were stored and retrieved here. Something that shouldn't be had existed here. Nagasawa's photographs of this place bring to our attention faint memories that lie behind what is shown in the photographs. The people who knew that time are disappearing, giving way to a new generation of Bonin Islanders. It is a past of loss and forgetfulness. Nagasawa has unearthed and made visual the secret room-a void severed from time and space.

Nagasawa photographed the series on the island of Chichijima, part of a remote archipelago south of mainland Japan.

For twenty-three years after the end of World War II, Chichijima was occupied by the U.S. military. During this time, only military personnel, their families, and the people already living there were allowed on the island. Most of what happened in this period remains unknown, but it was later revealed that the U.S. placed a nuclear warhead called “Mary’s Lamb” on the island.

In his series, Nagasawa enters the bunker where Mary’s Lamb was once kept. His photographs interrogate the halls, the floors, the flaking paint, the rusting metal surfaces, as if asking them for clues or their memories.

Slipcased softcover, H224mm x W343mm.  Text in English and Japanese.

• Akio Nagasawa 2017
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 112p
  
• New

I am crisscrossing the central Tokyo area taking snapshots in the streets more or less on a daily basis. Within this routine, every once in a while it happens that I am suddenly overcome by a sense of bewilderment, just like a student in his first year at a photography school. What exactly am I trying to see through the finder of my camera? What is that photo that I just shot? It’s questions as utterly naïve and elementary as these that occupy my mind in such situations.

– Daido Moriyama, afterword 

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2016
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 88p
  
• New

October 29 was for me a Saturday just like any other Saturday. As usual, I put my camera into the pocket of my jacket in the morning, and walked down to the coffee shop near the park at Ikebukuro station’s West Exit to have my coffee, while shooting the occasional picture as I leisurely passed through familiar sceneries.
...
While sitting there and absent-mindedly sipping my coffee, a certain thought literally flashed across my mind. It was a thought that had never occurred to me before. The idea was to fill one issue of Record exclusively with the photos taken on this particular day. For a very long time I’d been bragging about how I’d only need a single day to shoot enough material to fill an entire photo book, but in reality it never was that easy. But as this was the plan that I hatched over my coffee, it dawned on me that I had no other choice this time.

– Daido Moriyama, afterword 

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2012
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 80p
  
• New

Last April I went to Los Angeles.
L.A. means for me, more than anything else, the staggering view from Beverly Hills down on the city; the downtown area around the "Mexican street" with its various tasty smells; Little Tokyo, a neighborhood that could have been used as a movie set; and finally, the Santa Monica Pier amusement park further down on the coast.
The original purpose of my visit to L.A. was the opening of a solo exhibition and talk show at the LACMA's Pavilion for Japanese Art, as well as the opening of another solo show at a gallery on Beverly Boulevard.
Each and every day was a hot and sunny one, and the light and wind, the people and places, and just about everything else I saw just seemed to be screaming "Los Angeles" at me. So loud it almost made me laugh.

– Daido Moriyama, afterword 

Signed copy.

• Akaaka 2025
• Hardback, reprinted edition, 168p
• New

Masahisa Fukase's timeless masterpiece "Yoko" finally available again

Originally published in 1978, Masahisa Fukase's "Yoko" stands as a defining series in his body of work, yet it had long been out of print. Now, nearly half a century later, this extraordinary photobook returns, brought to life with the full support of Yoko Miyoshi (formerly Fukase), Fukase's model and muse, and under the careful supervision of Tomo Kosuga, director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives. This new reprint edition faithfully includes all photographs and texts from the original edition.

Additionally, it includes contemporaneous texts referenced at the time of the original publication, an essay by Masako Toda (photography critic and historian), and a heartfelt message from Yoko Miyoshi on the occasion of this reissue. Every aspect of the book's design and composition has been meticulously crafted to reaffirm the significance of this masterpiece and the passage of time it has endured.

Fukase and Yoko met in 1963 and were married in 1964. In the 1960s, they lived together as newlyweds at the Soka-Matsubara public housing complex, where Fukase began photographing Yoko. In the 1970s, he continued to capture her in various locations, including his hometown of Hokkaido, her birthplace of Kanazawa, as well as Izu, Kyoto, and other places. In the autumn of 1973, Fukase created a series titled "Untitled (From the Window)," capturing Yoko's elegant poses every morning as she left for work, taken from the fourth-floor window of their home using a telephoto lens. These photographs were published intermittently between 1964 and 1976 in the magazine Camera Mainichi.
In 1974, Fukase's works were included in the "New Japanese Photography" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. During this period, the couple traveled to New York, and the scenes from this journey were also captured in his photographs.

For this new reprint edition, the book's format has been expanded to amplify the presence of each photograph, and the cover has also been renewed. In addition, the pages featuring ravens – ominous yet poetic symbols that seemed to foretell the future of the couple – are now arranged with greater stillness and deliberation, inviting viewers to engage more deeply with every image.

In revisiting "Yoko," one must ask: What, ultimately, did Fukase capture through his lens? Against the backdrop of the era's spirit, the photobook contemplates the essential question of photography - the nature of relationships between two individuals.

• Akaaka 2025
• Hardback, reprinted edition, 128p
• New

Homo Ludens, Masahisa Fukase's first photobook, finally revived after half a century.

This anthology of photographs, taken over more than ten years and edited by Camera Mainichi editor Shoji Yamagishi, is a collection that marks the origin of Fukase's work and is filled with images and essence that would shape Fukase's later creations, is structured into six sections, each vividly capturing the interplay between photography and life.

"To" (Slaughter) features images of Yoko Wanibe, whom Fukase accompanied to a slaughterhouse, juxtaposing the dismemberment of livestock with Yoko posing in a black cloak. "Kotobuki" (Congratulation) straightforwardly depicts his life with Yoko shortly after they got married, in a manner reminiscent of a private novel. "Gi" (Frolic) portrays the underground scene in Shinjuku where Fukase had gone after leaving the home he shared with Yoko, and the lifestyle of young people living together as a group. "Mei" (Memento), one of his earliest works, looks back on the pregnancy of his former partner, Yukiyo Kawakami, with whom he lived for eight years. Meanwhile, "Haha" (Mother) and "Fu" (Music) capture scenes of Yoko and her mother.

Throughout these sections, Homo Ludens conveys the mutual interplay of all living things, and the contradictory yet interconnected phenomena of life and death, meeting and parting. Fukase's lens is turned towards himself and those close to him, the images explore the essence of life as a form of play, with raw and unflinching honesty. This first photobook stands as a powerful testament to Fukase's vision.

This new reprint edition includes all photographs and texts from the original version and was designed with a focus on emphasizing the relationship between the images and surrounding negative space. This approach serves as a timeless response to Fukase's vision. Homo Ludens remains a significant work, with this new edition offering a renewed perspective not only on Fukase's oeuvre but also on the act of seeing itself and our own existence.

• Akaaka 2023
  
• Hardback, 3rd edition, 216pp
  
• New

"I never think that I can capture a certain subject by taking a photograph of it. What is important for me is how deeply I can enter into it, and to what degree I can cause it to reflect me. I want the very act of looking through the viewfinder to be a flesh-and-blood action... I strongly feel that photography can be freer, more open. I believe it is possible to relate to it in a way that encompasses my entire being."

- Masahisa Fukase, 1969

By focusing intently on his personal life, Masahisa Fukase carved out a unique place for himself in the history of Japanese photography in the 1960s. While exploring the origins of photography, Fukase developed a major practice among a group of artists associated with what later came to be known as shi-shashin ("I-photography").

Fukase pointed his camera at those in his immediate surroundings, including his wife and family; and while exposing his own private life, he consciously explored the madness that lay deep within himself. This madness led to remarkable and unparalleled works that combined Fukase's loving gaze for his subjects with his carefree sense of humor.

This book "Masahisa Fukase 1961-1991 Retrospective" boasts a substantial assemblage of works, including major Fukase works, such as "Yūgi (Homo Ludence)", "Yōko", "Karasu (Ravens)",  "Sasuke", "Kazoku (Family)", and "Bukubuku".

H220mm × W148mm. Text in Japanese and English.

2024 3rd edition.  

• Aperture 2021
  
• Hardback, 10th anniversary edition
• NEW

Ten years after publishing Illuminance in 2011, Aperture is delighted to bring this beloved book back into print, retaining Rinko Kawauchi’s original sequence and signature melding of keenly observed gestures, quotidian detail, and a finely honed palette.

On the book’s original release, Alec Soth declared Illuminance “an exquisitely produced monograph [that] should make Rinko a household name.” An expanded edition with additional texts by curator David Chandler; philosopher Masatake Shinohara; and Aperture’s creative director, Lesley A. Martin, this reissue contributes new context to and perspective on Kawauchi’s influential work. Extraordinarily poetic, brimming with imagination and sensibility, and following international acclaim, this exquisite ten-year anniversary edition will entice lovers of photography once again.

• Akio Nagasawa 2011
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 52p
  
• New

Now that summer had come to the three dull buddies, real men as they were, they braced themselves up and decided to go on a summer trip.
"I wanna see alligators," one of the men said.
"I'd like to go to a queer kind of place," said the second.
"I think I would prefer to see something nasty," the third one said.
Well in that case, the eastern side of the lzu peninsula, up north near the mainland, is definitely the place to go.
Alligators one can see at the Atagawa Tropical & Alligator Garden (Banana Wani-en),
the Ayashii Museum (Ayashii Shonen Shojo Hakubutsukan) in Ito is pretty queer,
and there's no nastier place around than the Atami Adult Museum (Atami Hihoukan).
The three simpletons boarded a bright red Mazda Axela- wherever that came from - and embarked on their overnight trip to eastern lzu.
It was such a fun time they had on their summer excursion!

– Daido Moriyama, afterword 

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2010
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

...The city of New York, and the Manhattan neighborhood in particular, is certainly one huge melting pot of human desires, and as one can easily imagine that it is an extremely practical location, it seems just natural to me that an artist of a nervous and sensitive nature sooner or later feels like plotting an escape.
For myself, however, who is always just a traveler, Manhattan has that throbbing something that attracts and spellbinds
people - although it might of course be different if I wasn't only visiting. New York is filled with a vague scent of mescaline, while the smell of Andy Warhol is billowing out of every street.– Daido Moriyama, afterword 

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2008
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

Rare early Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2009
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

Rare early Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2010
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

Rare early colour Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2009
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

Rare early Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2009
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 52p
  
• New

Rare early Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2008
  
• Softcover, 1st edition, 48p
  
• New

Rare early Record issue.

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2025
• Softcover, 1st edition
• New

'My own photo magazine Record is in its 19th year since relaunch, now getting to No. 59 in total. It was at Café Huit on top of a building in the middle of Shinjuku that has long gone, where I received a strong request from Mr. Akio Nagasawa, the current publisher, to relaunch that handmade and privately pressed zine that had failed and folded after the 5th issue, some 30+ years earlier. “Come on Moriyama-san, keep putting that Record out! I will make it, let’s start right away!” Those words, in that moment, revived my memories of the magazine that I had all but forgotten about, and all of a sudden I could see it right in front of me, shining in a bright new light. Without unnecessary ado, Mr. Nagasawa said “Okay, all you do is send me the photos you are taking these days, whenever you feel like it. Then we’ll just put them all in Record, and I won’t meddle with it.” For the next 19 years, most of the snapshots taken during the second half of my photographing life (except for the somewhat “commercial” stuff that sneaks in every now and then) have been collected in Record. Even the pictures that I brought home from travels and shootings abroad, ended up getting published in the form of one issue of Record. In other words, all of the myriad scenes of everyday life that I have captured with my camera in the later years of my life, have been converted into pages in that magazine, which means that everything in Record is a memory, a souvenir, a record in itself.

I really appreciate your enthusiasm, Mr. Nagasawa!

As long as my own spirits are high and my legs carry me, I will certainly keep on shooting.'

- Daido Moriyama

Signed copy. 

• Nazraeli Press 2025
• Hardback 1st edition
• New

Published to coincide with an exhibition of the same name, Los Angeles x Shinjuku presents a face-to-face selection of work from Daido Moriyama’s ongoing Shinjuku, Tokyo series and Avo Tavitian’s photographs of Los Angeles made over the past three decades.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1954, Avo Tavitian’s journey to photography is marked by a profound connection to his changing surroundings. Shaped by the experience of moving to the Eastern shore of the United States with his family in the late 1960s, following the 1967 Middle East war, Tavitian developed a sense of being an outsider during his formative teen years in New Jersey and New York City, a sensibility that would later influence his work as a photographer after his relocation to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.

Born in 1938 in Osaka, Japan, Daido Moriyama is a pivotal figure in contemporary photography, celebrated for his evocative black-and-white street photography that captures the essence of urban life. In recording the subcultures of Tokyo during his career he gravitated to the dense, dynamic and often gritty ward of Shinjuku. He employs a raw, spontaneous style characterized by high contrast and grainy textures. His iconic images explore themes of identity, memory, and the fleeting moments of everyday existence.

Tavitian and Moriyama both focus on framing everyday subjects, capturing moments on 35mm film while embracing the unpredictability of the medium. Their work reflects a deep fascination with urban landscapes and a curiosity about the mundane, as they seeks to document the changes and constants in his field of vision. Through their explorations, both photographers use the camera to navigate the complexities of belonging and identity in an ever-shifting human environment.

• Creo 2008
• Hardback, 1st edition
• New
  

"This is a photo story about the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Completed in 2009, it once was the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Due to the construction, it is said that approximately 1.9 million residents lost their native land. Many riverside towns that flourished along the waterways were forcibly destroyed, and as the water level inexorably continued to rise, the age-old history of this area, handed down from ancient times, came to an end. Although the publication of this book was many years ago, I believe it still serves as a showcase of the real China and hints at how this chaotic country is moving forward."

- Yasuhiro Ogawa

Signed copy.

• Akio Nagasawa 2024
• Softcover, 1st edition. 70p
  
• New

'While taking snapshots on the streets, I sometimes find myself drawn to flowers and click the shutter button. This book is a collection of my ongoing commitment for those photos.'

– by Daido Moriyama

Silkscreen canvas covered limited edition of 350 signed and numbered copies.

• the(M) éditions / Ibasho 2024
• Softcover, 1st edition, 104p
  
• New

Watanabe’s second artist book features entirely new images from his latest series ‘Beyond What You See'. Like Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, Watanabe depicts the subjects in his photographs in-between the mystical and the real world, creating a sense of confusion in the viewer. Watanabe’s work has also something similar to the Japanese concept of ‘ma’, a moment of silence or emptiness for awareness and contemplation. His work stimulates the viewer to pause, reflect and engage with the world around us.

Limited edition of 400 numbered copies.

• Akio Nagasawa 2024
• Softcover, 1st edition. 104p
• New 

My daughter took me for a ride in her car the other day, and drove me to Yokohama. I hadn’t been there for quite a long time, so I was happy to roam the streets of Yokohama with my camera in my hand, always ready to shoot. We parked the car near Kannai Station, and after walking for a while, we arrived at Isezakicho. When I looked up, I noticed (the female singer) Mina Aoe smiling down at me from a giant billboard, and being happily reminded once again that I was in Yokohama, I took quite a few snapshots. That was when I caught sight of a group of cheerful girls parading on the other side of the street, which instantly had me clicking away to all sides. The streets were getting crowded, and seeing the skyscrapers of “Minatomirai” behind the buildings along the avenues, I couldn’t help but feel strongly impressed at how much Yokohama had changed.

Before – in fact quite a long time ago – I often made trips to Tokyo together with the photographer Takuma Nakahira, who was also living in Zushi back then. We would take a train on the Yokosuka Line, and then change to the Toyoko Line at Yokohama. But once we were at Yokohama, instead of jumping on the next train, it happened ever so often that we walked out of the station on a whim, down to the Sakuragicho area, and into a coffee shop where we would end up drinking coffee for hours. Even when I suggested walking around a bit more and taking photos in the neighborhood, Nakahira was only interested in the scenery around the port of Kawasaki at night, so over his coffee he just kept talking happily about things and people. like Godard, or the songs of Mina Mazzini, my favorite singer at the time.

When I think about it now, my only memories related to Yokohama are those of Nakahira shooting like crazy when the two of us eventually went to the port of Kawasaki at night, and then again at the time of his exhibition at the Yokohama Museum of Art.
The present cityscape of Yokohama has piqued my curiosity.

I guess I will continue going there every now and then, and take a bunch of photos."

– Daido Moriyama

Signed copy.

• Nazraeli Press 2024
  
• Hardback, 1st edition, 16p with print
  
• New
  

In 2015, Daido Moriyama stopped in Los Angeles to photograph the westside following a museum opening of his work in Houston. For two days, he photographed in Santa Monica, Venice and the Marina, in alleyways and private homes. The resulting photographs are presented in his newest contributions to our One Picture Book Series: Daido "Uno" (black and white) and Daido "Dos" (color).

Small format hardback 6" x 8 1/2", 16 pages. Limited to 500 numbered copies, each including a 5"x7" original print that has been signed by the artist.

• Nazraeli Press 2024
  
• Hardback, 1st edition, 16p with print
  
• New
  

In 2015, Daido Moriyama stopped in Los Angeles to photograph the westside following a museum opening of his work in Houston. For two days, he photographed in Santa Monica, Venice and the Marina, in alleyways and private homes. The resulting photographs are presented in his newest contributions to our One Picture Book Series: Daido "Uno" (black and white) and Daido "Dos" (color).

Small format hardback 6" x 8 1/2", 16 pages. Limited to 500 numbered copies, each including a 5"x7" original print that has been signed by the artist.

• Roshin Books 2024
  
• Hardback, 1st edition, 80p
  
• New
  

Born in Aomori in 1924, Ichiro Kojima depicted the lives of people living in the harsh environment of Japan’s Tohoku region. Under the vast sky, he faced the landscapes spread before him with his camera in hand.
 
His career as a photographer lasted only about ten years. Kojima, who passed away suddenly at the age of 39, left behind a dramatic world that still resonates with us today. Despite his attempts to distance himself from the images of Tsugaru, Kojima could never escape the persistent imagery of the Tohoku region that followed him everywhere.
 
This book offers a new perspective on Kojima’s journey, appealing both to those already familiar with his work and those discovering it for the first time.

Text in English and Japanese.  Edition of 1000 copies.