Shomei Tomatsu - Nippon ("Japan") - 1967

VERY IMPORTANT, VERY SCARCE, VERY SOUGHT-AFTER JAPANESE PHOTOBOOK by Shomei Tomatsu
about Japan:

- Manfred Heiting, The Japanese Photobook 1912-1990, page 381
- Ryūichi Kaneko, Ivan Vartanian, Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and '70s, pages 94-101
- Provoke: Between Protest and Performance, page 130-131
- 801 books from the M.+M. Auer Collection, page 479
- Visions of Japan, page 207

BREATH-TAKING PHOTOGRAVURE PRINTING.

Nihon is concerned with Japan's post-war national identity. Tomatsu Shomei took most of the photographs between 1955 and 1967 while working for various publications. He had initially intended for the work published here to be issued in three separate books: "Osorezan: Countryside Politicians", "Homes, Asphalt", and "Occupation", which were to follow 11:02 Nagasaki (1966). However, sales of 11:02 Nagasaki were poor, and the publisher, Shashin Dojinsha, collapsed soon after its publication. Tomatsu subsequently formed his own publishing company called Shaken to distribute the remaining copies of his Nagasaki book. In 1967, he published Nihon (Japan), which included photographs from the three previously proposed books divided into nine sections. Although many of the images had been previously published, in a text at the end, Tomatsu notes that in editing and sequencing this book, he has reframed some of the meaning in these photographs.

This is an auction by Ecki Heuser, 5Uhr30.com, Cologne, Germany.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WORLDWIDE for your support.

Shomei Tomatsu's (1930-2012) deeply personal and intensely critical examination of contemporary Japanese national identity in light of the country's struggles following World War II and in the face of inexorable Westernization. This was the first publication issued by Shaken, Tomatsu's own imprint, and the first time the photographer had complete control over his book's content and design. Though many of the images had been previously published or exhibited, Tomatsu claimed to have "recomposed" the work in the editing of the book, changing titles and themes.

Enjoy the selection and - like always:
IF YOU WIN MORE THAN 1 OF MY BOOKS IN THIS AUCTION,
YOU WILL PAY ONLY 1 X SHIPPING COSTS - WORLDWIDE.

Shaken, Tokyo, Shaken. 1967.

Hardcover (silver cloth-covered boards) wit titles stamped in black on spine and on upper side in blind. 191 x 219 mm. 200 pages. 150 black and white photographs. Photos: Shomei Tomatsu. Printing: Gravure Seikösha Printing. Bindery: Maki Seihon. Text: Tatsuo Fukushima, Toshiro Ishido, Arata Isozaki, Mitsuharu Ito, Takahiko Okada, Koji Taki, Tao Yamamoto. Afterword: Shomei Tomatsu. Text in Japanese.

Condition:
Inside fresh and flawless; clean with no marks and with no foxing. Outside quiet fresh with sharp corners and strong binding; little trace of use and rubbing no remarkable defects. No blue sheet. No jacket. Overall fine condition.

Fantastic, very scarce, very important Japanese photobook classic.
RARE OPPORTUNITY.

"Small and square in format, its title blind-stamped on dull silver cloth without the bellyband that is nearly standard for books published in Japan, Shomei Tomatsu's Nippon (Japan) is intentionally subdued in presentation. The design seems especially restrained in comparison to Tomatsu's prior photobook, Nagasaki (Shashin Dojinsha, 1966), with its stark, confrontational cover photograph of a bottle melted by nuclear fallout. With Nagasaki the photographer used the place name as metonym for the national trauma of the atomic bomb, while in Japan Tomatsu addresses the vexed issue of a postwar national identity. Most of the photos assembled in this volume were shot on assignment in various parts of the country between 1955 and 1967, covering a broad range of topics about Japanese life. Tömatsu notes in a text at the back of the book that while many of the photographs were previously published or exhibited -at this highly prolific time in Tomatsu's career, his work was serialized in numerous photography periodicals-in editing Japan he has "recomposed" his photography, changing titles and themes. This deft reediting, which would be a recurring trope through Tömatsu's career, makes a clear parallel to the postwar restructuring that altered Japan's view of itself after the occupation.
This came about as much by circumstance as by artistic intent. The work collected here was originally meant to make up three separate photobooks-"11:02" Nagasaki, Osorezan: Countryside Politicians, Homes, Asphalt, and Occupation-following Nagasaki. However, Nagasaki did not sell well, and Shashin Dojinsha collapsed soon after its publication, leaving unrealized the remaining three volumes. Creating his own publishing company, Shaken-a name combining the sha in shashin, "photography," and the ken in kenkyu, "research"-Tömatsu assumed the unsold copies of Nagasaki, changing the copyright page (which listed Tomatsu's residence as the office) and stickering the book's spine with the new publisher's name.
Japan was Shaken's first original publication (1967), followed by Saramu Areikomu (1968), Okinawa Okinawa Okinawa (1969), 0! Shinjuku (1969), and a culture magazine, Ken, focused on the theme of the 1970 world's fair. With Shaken, Tömatsu established complete control over his photobooks' content, design, layout, and distribution.
Even after Japan was published, Tomatsu recast his frame of interpretation by titling and sequencing its images differently. For example, he rendered the journalistic treatment of the "Occupation" section far more personal."
(Ryūichi Kaneko, Ivan Vartanian in "Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and '70s")