GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS
“GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS” on the 6th floor of GINZA SIX is a bookstore with a rare business format for Tokyo, developed with a focus specialized in art. As befits a district with many galleries, the clientele too has an air that hints at an affluent set.
As the first installment of a project in which GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS — whose concept is “a life with art” — sends out messages together with artists, this time a collaboration with Akira Yamaguchi, known for painting using traditional Japanese styles and oil-painting techniques, came to fruition.
A wide and varied lineup of artist goods for everyday use was on offer — postcards and masking tape, notebooks and clear files, tote bags, and more.
The descriptions that make you chuckle are so very Akira Yamaguchi, and that’s nice.
Stamps and notebooks.
A postcard set of “Shiba Daitō Konryū no Zu” (Picture of the Erection of the Great Pagoda at Shiba).
The postcard set of the “Standing Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings” (Shitennō) was also sold framed (23000 yen, excluding tax).
A variety of postcards, too.
Books, hanging scrolls, and so on…
This was said to be the first installment, so we’re looking forward to the second and beyond!
Akira Yamaguchi
[Profile]
Born in Tokyo in 1969, raised in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture.
Completed the master’s program in Painting (Oil Painting), Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, in 1996. In 2001, received the Excellence Award at the 4th Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art. In 2013, won the 12th Hideo Kobayashi Award for his own book “Hen na Nihon Bijutsushi” (A Strange History of Japanese Art) (Shodensha). In 2017, appointed Kiryu City’s first Arts Ambassador.
His work is characterized by a style painted in traditional Japanese pictorial modes using the technique of oil painting. Beyond paintings such as bird’s-eye views of cities and battle scenes, and illustrations and cover art for newspaper serials and books, he has created public art at Narita International Airport and Oita Station and the symbol painting for the Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre, while his modes of expression range widely — including the installation for a one-man international exhibition he named the “Yamaguchiya Odennāre.”
His major exhibitions include “Bye Bye Kitty!!!” (Japan Society, NY) in 2011; the solo exhibition “Bōkyō (Nostalgia) TOKIORE(I)MIX” (Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo) in 2012; the solo exhibition “Akira Yamaguchi: A Near-Complete Survey of His Work — From Doodling to the Present” (Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi) in 2013; and the solo exhibition “Akira Yamaguchi: Stepping Back, Looking Down” (Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki) in 2015.
His books include “Akira Yamaguchi: Large-Format Works” (Seigensha) and “Exploration! Tokyo National Museum” (co-authored by Terunobu Fujimori and Akira Yamaguchi / Tankosha).
