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At some point last weekend between eating pizza, drinking beers in the park and eating indian pizza, my buddy Ramenate reminded me that I still haven't posted the majority of the massive stockpile of photos and dispatches from my trip out to Tokyo earlier this year. How true!
I have a knack lately with all the blogs, projects, brainfarts (oh yeah, and day job) I'm foolishly juggling of forgetting that coming up with an idea is like 10% of the actual work. I am gonna try to be better about this and post more goodies for you guys... How many times have I said that? BUT THIS TIME I MEAN IT :B
So anyway, Nate put me on blast for being lazy while we were inventing a kimchi bloody mary cocktail we're calling the "Gwangju Mary:
(so damn tasty! click above for the recipe)
Ready to prove him wrong, here is the next in a series of posts I've labeled Japan 2010!
BIG AX FESTIVAL AT BILLIKEN GALLERY
I had a short list of things set in stone for my Tokyo trip earlier this year that I specifically wanted to check out & photograph for Same Hat. One of the most auspicious was the BIG AX FESTIVAL, a month-long art show organized by manga publisher Seirinkogeisha. The exhibit was held in Billiken Gallery, and featured a huge set of featured artists; in fact, the month-long show was split down the middle with two separate openings and sets of artists. I was lucky enough to visit the final weekend of the exhibit with Nate, and see the 2nd half of BIG AX FESTIVAl (which featured original works by Same Hat patron saints Suehiro Maruo, Yusaku Hanakuma, Shintaro Kago, and many other amazing artists).
Billiken Gallery (Billiken Shokai) is a super cute shop in the highly fashionable and consumerist Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo. For those that haven't had the pleasure, Aoyama is the 'hood further down the way from Harajuku, home to the crazy Comme des Garçons and Vuitton flagships, swank little eateries, and some of the hottest/fanciest ladies in Tokyo.
(photo by saripom)
The gallery space at Billiken Shokai is in the back, while the front half of the shop features American indie comics (David Bowing by Clowes, David B's Epileptic, etc) along with vintage vinyl figurines, tin toys, and other collectibles. The staff there was cute and polite, a juxtaposition to the wacky-ass art hanging for the AX show. I took a few photos (below) before they informed me that was actually frowned upon... and ended our time there by buying some autographed manga and pins for friends.
Check out the Billiken Gallery's exhibit blog for lots of pics of their ongoing exhibits; I have found tons and tons of contemporary artists to follow/stalk/read about from their blog! It makes me wish that the SuperFrog Gallery in San Francisco was 1/10th as, well, relevant for lack of a better word. Not to harp on this, but it's spaces like Billiken that underscore how much of a missed opportunity for Japan/Manga/Cartoon gallery space the New People building is in its current form.
ON WITH THE PICTURES! HERE ARE MINE:
By Yuka Goto, awesome artists of the Justice Corps series. She captures this art brut x nasty high school girl's diary aesthetic really well (and has a story called The Neighbor in the AX Anthology)
Paintings & prints mounted on the wall, manga by AX artists stacked for folks to peruse on all the tables!
BIG AX FESTIVAL t-shirt (not for sale)
Oh yeah, and every issue of AX to date (along with paintings by Maruo, drawing by Hanakuma)
Glass case full of AX/Seirinkogeisha artists pins, including sets by Suehiro Maruo.
Tsuge, Hanakuma, Hayami, and others! These pins were for sale (and are also available at Taco Che
I hope folks enjoyed this collection of photographs and details on the gallery. There are more pics on the Billiken Gallery blog, but it doesn't have permalinks to previous posts unfortunately. Just go back through the archives to February to see 'em!
I would definitely include Billiken Shokai on my list of Tokyo stops, especially if you're already over in West Tokyo at Harajuku or kicking it on the Chuo Line. I just added it to the Same Hat Guide To Everything for anyone planning an upcoming trip!
UPDATE ABOUT THE AX ANTHOLOGY FROM LEIGH AT TOP SHELF:
Hey guys,
Leigh here from Top Shelf. The AX book is indeed real, not to worry! It's available via direct order from our web site or at conventions. Unfortunately we had some logistical delays with the book moving through distribution channels, but Diamond has it now and will be distributing to comic shops, bookstores, Amazon, etc within a week or two. Sorry for the confusion and hope you enjoy the book!
The direct order page for AX is here, by the way (
http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/ax-vol-1-a-collection-of-alternative-manga/645) and as Jose-Luis mentioned, we are in the middle of a big mail-order sale right now. Thanks everybody for all your interest and support!
Sean Michael Wilson, cartoonist and editor of the upcoming AX Anthology from Top Shelf, was nice enough to stop by the comment thread of a previous post to give an update on the excitedly-awaited tome's progress. He said:
Two things to tell you: the AX book interior is now complete - Top Shelf will soon begin the final design stage and wrap it up in the cover, etc. It is, of course, looking super good!
Second thing, is that a French edition of the AX collection will soon be agreed on. I will help put that together too.
And... (third thing!) I may soon have some very good news to tell about ANOTHER classic gekiga book to come out in English.... watch this page.
Exciting stuff all around. The bad news is that Amazon currently lists the book as not coming out until July 2010. Hmmmm. I'll keep you posted as I hear more from Sean and Top Shelf!
Here's a bit of exciting news for the Same Hat community. Leigh at Top Shelf passed on the news that they have posted the Yoshihiro Tatsumi story from their upcoming Ax Anthology in its entirety on Top Shelf 2.0.
Deatils on this short story from their site:
His story "Love's Bride" (愛の花嫁) appeared in issue #34 (30 Aug 2003) of the Japanese Ax anthology, and will be included in Top Shelf's upcoming Ax collection.
CLICK HERE to check out "Love's Bride"
On his blog, Ax Anthology editor Sean Michael Wilson has recently posted a few new tidbits of information. Well, not tidbits per se... more like family-sized, hearty morsels! First up is the official book cover, which keeps the Akino Kondoh illustration but refines the text and title box (and adds a very hopeful, "Vol. One").
The second and, in my opinion, more awesome piece of information: Sean has posted a complete list of all the mangaka that will be included in Volume One, including their names in Kanji, the titles of their manga, which volume of Ax it originally appeared in, and the number of pages! Here is the full list:
Ax Anthology, Volume 1:
Osamu Kanno: 菅野修「眺める男」(44)12P
Yoshihiro Tatsumi: 辰巳ヨシヒロ「愛の花嫁」(31)22P
Imiri Sakabashira: 逆柱いみり「空の巻き貝」(44)16P
Takao Kawasaki: 川崎タカオ「屋上哀歌」(47)10P
Ayuko Akiyama: 秋山亜由子「瓢箪の中」(31)8P
Shigehiro Okada: オカダシゲヒロ「俺」(45)16P
Katsuo Kawai: 河井克夫「画鋲女」(18)8P
Nishioka Kyodai: 西岡兄妹「心が壊れた」(22)8P
Takato Yamamoto: 山本タカト「闇の方へ」(30)8P
Toranosuke Shimada: 島田虎之介「エンリケ小林のエルドラド」(14)20P
Yuka Goto: 後藤友香「隣人」(22)13P
Mimiyo Tomozawa: 友沢ミミヨ「300ねん」(2)10P
Takashi Nemoto: 根本敬「黒寿司十八番」(1)12P
Yusaku Hanakuma: 花くまゆうさく「息子はイヌ」(12)10P
Namie Fujieda: 藤枝奈己絵「輝く人。」(37)10P
Mitsuhiko Yoshida: 吉田光彦「兎と亀」(40)20P
Kotobuki Shiriagari: しりあがり寿「双子のオヤジ 存在」(2)6P/「神様」(17)6P
Shinbo Minami: 南伸坊「ロボとピュー太」(56)4P/(58)4P
Shinya Komatsu: コマツシンヤ「Mushroom Garden」(52)12P
Einosuke: 英之助「菅原家」(33)6P
Yuichi Kiriyama: 桐山裕市「屍錦」(42)7P
Yunosuke Saito: 齋藤裕之介「アリゾナ」(49)10P
Akino Kondo: こんどうあきの「雨の白シャツ」(40)8P
Tomohiro Koizumi: 古泉智浩「わいわいパーティ3」(56)8P
Shin'ichi Abe: 安部慎一「私」(36)4P/「父」(38)4P
Seiko Erisawa: 衿沢世衣子「さかあがり」(47)4P
Shigeyuki Fukumitsu: 福満しげゆき「おじさんのうた」(20)18P
Kataoka Toyo: 東陽片岡「哀愁劇場」(48)4P/(51)4P
Hideyasu Moto: 本秀康「岡田幸介と50人の息子たち」(2)13P
Keizo Miyanishi: 宮西計三「Les ラスコーリニコフs」(2)10P
Hiroji Tani: 谷弘兒「妖花アルラウネ」(22)10P
Otoya Mitsuhashi: 三橋乙揶「灯明」(9)10P
Kazuichi Hanawa: 花輪和一「六富道」(59)26P
We have a project for hardcore fans that wanna help the group with internet sleuthing... Over on the new Electric Ant Zine Blog (EAZB), my friend Robert Syrett started a post called "AX RESEARCH PROJECT". Rob is a hardcore indie manga fan and collector, and has a dangerous stockpile of Ax back issues; He is also, to my knowledge, the only white boy to ever get a fan letter published in Ax... (Pictures coming soon!).
So yeah, we've started compiling links, artist homepages, and images for all of the Ax mangaka on Sean's list. Ed from MangaCast already did us a solid (ha!) by posting a bunch of covers to books by these artists. If you have some time, please stop by the post and share your knowledge in the comments. Comments are open to all and we'd love to have your help. Per Sean's comment, you can also voice your thoughts on which artists you'd most like to see an excerpt from... HAPPY HUNTING!
It's about time for the latest news on one of my absolute most-anticipated books of 2009, AX(Vol 1): A Collection of Alternative Manga... coming out from Top Shelf! Since we last heard the announcement of the project, editors Sean Michael Wilson (author, manga creator) and Mitsuhiro Asakawa (journalist, Japanese editor of Ax) have been working hard on production for the collection's first English release.
According to Amazon and Top Shelf's site, the book will be published in December 2009! ($29.95, ISBN 978-1-60309-042-1)
Here's the latest news sent by Sean in the comments to my previous post:All 33 creators that will be featured have been selected now; amongst the pages already made into English versions is the 22 page story by Tatsumi - a wonderfully odd but understated story of big city alienation; and a well known designer has just made a great cover for the book.
An incomplete list of confirmed mangaka in this first volume includes:
Akino Kondo
Minami Shinbo
Shinichi Abe
Namie Fujieda
Mitsuhiko Yoshida
Yuichi Kiriyama
Osamu Kanno
Shigehiro Okada
Yunosuke Saito
Yeong Choi
Kazuichi Hanawa
Yoshihiro Tatsumi
As Sean notes, the final book cover will NOT be the image above, and we can hopefully expect a preview of the real deal coming in the near future.
Finally, I wanted to post the pics I've been sitting on from the talk Sean gave at Alternative Press Expo 2008, on November 2 in San Francisco. Sean showed off scans from rare manga and magazines, and outlined the history of gekiga and underground manga for the audience. I ran the presentation and chipped with occasional asides (while sneaking photos quietly). Sean and I didn't have a lot of time during the busy weekend to hang out, but we've be in touch ever since over email. Please enjoy these photos:
A blurry Sean introduces the audience to the world of gekiga.
The book that basically launched the modern form of manga, New Treasure Island by Osamu Tezuka; The cover to one of the first magazines showcasing gekiga, Kage #1.
Scans from Matenrou, one of the early anthologies popularizing gekiga works. Check out the snazzy group photo of late-60s mangaka studs.
Images from books by heta-uma pioneer King Terry, and early panels by Yoshihiro Tatsumi.
Panels from one of Tatsumi's earliest works, Children's Island, alongside recent panels from the end of his epic autobiography, A Drifting Life.
The early, badass "Gekiga" logo and cover to Gekiga Fan magazine #1.
Early works by seminal underground manga figure, Yoshiharu Tsuge (check out those cover designs!!).
Pages from Tsuge's (and possibly, alternative manga's) most influential work, Nejishiki.
Example panels from the more recent, Ax anthology. Seen here: Shinichi Abe's "Me".
Enthusiastic manga fans talk shop with Sean and vie for copies of the Ax Anthology sampler from Top Shelf.
That's all the news fit to print. Will share more in the coming months as we hear it from Sean and Leigh!
I am very, very excited to share some fantastic news for Same Hat readers, and for all fans of indie manga and experimental cartooning... Top Shelf will be publishing a 400 page AX ANTHOLOGY, a selection of stories from the bimonthly underground manga anthology AX... all available in English for the first time!
(Here is the front and back cover to a 16 page AX Anthology sampler to be given away at Alternative Press Expo!)
We've posted extensively about AX before, but remember that it's an anthology book published by Seirinkogeisha, that took up the reins of GARO after they closed their doors and ran with the weirdness. Tokyo Zombie originally was serialized in AX, along with works and interviews of Suehiro Maruo, Shinichi Abe, Nishioka Kyoudai, Naoto Yamakawa(Oops, he was in Comix Beam), Usamaru Furuya, Toshio Saeki, Akino Kondoh, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Toyo Kataoka, and many many many other amazing mangaka.
I don't have anything to do with this book, but recently learned about it and got permission to break the news to ya'll (and of course, am supremely jealous I didn't get to edit or translate for the book!). The full table of contents details have not yet been made available, but I hope to hear more specifics this Fall and post them here.
This gigantic book was co-edited by author Sean Michael Wilson and AX co-founder Mitsuhiro Asakawa. Sean is a comic book writer from Scotland, now an ex-pat living and working in Japan. He's published a number of books, nine graphic novels, and his first English- Japanese-language manga was published this past summer. Asakawa-san is an author and current editor of AX, and worked in the 90s on the staff of GARO, along with writing a number of books on alternative manga and gekiga.
At Alternative Press Expo next weekend, Sean will be doing an presentation on gekiga and presenting rare images from the early, emergent days of the genre. He'll also be there with a 16pg sampler of the AX ANTHOLOGY on hand to give away. I'll be helping run the presentation (and on hand to score my own copy of the sampler, duh!). Details from the APE Site...
SUN, 5:00-5:45: AX and Gekiga: Alternative Manga in Japan—Sean Michael looks at the roots and contemporary state of indy/alternative manga in Japan, using rare and unseen visuals supplied by the original Gekiga creators of the 1950s and 1960s and info from the editors of AX, the premier alternative anthology in Japan today. Plus, a preview of the upcoming book AX Collection (Top Shelf), which presents a selection of this indy manga for the first time in English.
I'm hoping to do an interview with Sean (and Leigh at Top Shelf) and post more details later this fall. What AX creators are you guys most looking forward to reading in English?
