GRAPHIC SHUDAN - KIJIMA, Takashi; KITADAI, Shozo; HIGUCHI, Tadao. [Untitled]. [Tokyo]: [privately printed], [late-1950s].

ONE OF THE GREAT RARITIES IN JAPANESE PHOTOBOOK COLLECTING

(GRAPHIC SHUDAN.) KIJIMA, Takashi; KITADAI, Shozo; HIGUCHI, Tadao.
[Untitled].
[Tokyo]: [privately printed], [late-1950s].

4 vols. 12mo (75 x 76 mm), pp.[48] each. 169 black-and-white photographs printed in gravure. Plain endpapers. Photo-illustrated wrappers, each with a different coloured spine; touch of rubbing to spine-ends. Original card slipcase with a cut-out window, numbered in pencil to one edge. Separate card insert; lightly worn with two short tears. Each volume is numbered in ink to first page. A close to fine copy.

First edition, one of 1,000 numbered copies, though despite the apparent limitation this remains one of the great rarities in Japanese photobook collecting. Graphic Shudan was an association of art directors, artists, and photographers which was established in 1953. The advertising industry in Japan at this time was flourishing, as it grew alongside the period of rapid economic growth and manufacturing after World War II. The present work was intended as a promotional item to be given away to existing and prospective clients. The photographs are by Takashi Kijima and Shozo Kitadai, with creative direction credited to Kitadai, who also worked as an art director. The nudes, cityscapes, close-ups and abstract compositions show the influence of Western advertising photography, particularly that featured in contemporary American fashion magazines, but also prefigure much of the work that became popular elsewhere in the 1960s.

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