Tokyo Art Book Fair 2024: More than Books
Tokyo Art Book Fair is one of those events I wished I heard before much sooner. It’s a chance to meet independent publishers, authors and lots of creative minds.
The festival first started in 2009 as the first book fair in Japan for art publications. Galleries, book shops, independent publishers, writers and designers from Japan and abroad are invited to present and sell their publications.
How does it differ from a book fair?
This festival isn’t a venue for antique books or the big publishers who would naturally exhibit at large trade shows. Tokyo Art Book Fair is for the independent publishers and small book shops. What you see here isn’t printed tens of thousand times but is still affordable.
But perhaps one of the biggest difference is the ability to talk directly to the artists and publishers. As a publisher of a magazine myself, this was neat. I asked about how they estimate demand and production volume. You don’t want to sit on a pile of your own books for years after all.
Kinds of Books
It wasn’t light novels that dominated the fair, but art books, whether they were hand-drawn or photographed. Risograph printing seemed be popular.
Most books were of course in Japanese, even though there were a surprising number of international exhibitors. Just like big book fairs, Tokyo Art Book Fair 2024 also had a special guest country: Germany. The Doitsu Art Buchmarkt (German Art book market) offered a glimpse into the contemporary art book scene in Germany.
Zines!
Zine is, to quote Wikipedia, a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. There were a few of those at TABF, like the Dopamine Queer Zine Club from Korea or Queer Lights from Japan.
Other publications seemed to be more like mooks or magazines. I picked up a copy of Moment, a magazine that explores the roles of our city. It’s in Japanese, a mix of text, photo and drawn pages.
Other highlights at the Tokyo Art Book Fair
TABF not only featured a diverse number of publications to buy. Events such as live music performances, book signs or talks were being held. Various workshops were offered for the next generation of zine makers, children.
The museum was absolutely buzzing, especially on Saturday. The outdoor lounge was a lovely spot to relax and enjoy a meal with some food tracks. There was even vegetarian food on offer!
After the fair
Tokyo Art Book Fair was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. After leaving the museum, I had some curry at nearby restaurant Namaste.
Some other interesting points of interests are within walking distance. One is the Kiyosumi garden and the other the Fukagawa Edo Museum. The latter features a full-size reconstruction of a part of the former Edo with a day-night cycle and and a cat puppet (meow!). It’s not a big museum and I wouldn’t visit it unless I’m in the area.
