Christoph Schifferli, The Japanese Box

Christoph Schifferli

The Japanese Box: Six Volumes

Essay by Akihito Yasumi
33 x 26 x 10,5 cm.
6 facsimile reprints and a text booklet in a wooden box
Limited Edition, 2001, Edition 7L Steidl

Mint Condition – Still in Publisher’s Shipping Box

This is beautiful limited edition of “The Japanese Box” published by Steidl Verlag, in association with Edition 7L, Germany in 2001 with a limitation of 1500 numbered copies (edition number is noted on bookplate pasted to the inside of box lid). “The Japanese Box” is a collection of six facsimile reprints and an editor's book (all in stiff wrappers), contained in a custom-designed black lacquered wooden box with metal latches that measures 10” wide x 13” long x 4” high. The set of books is wrapped in fine black Japanese paper and bound by 2 wide rubber bands with the title printed.

“The Japanese Box” contains the following collection of 6 facsimile reprints, along with and an editor's book that includes translations of the texts:

• Provoke #1: 68 pp., with 48 black and white reproductions.
• Provoke #2: 108 pp., with 54 black and white reproductions.
• Provoke #3: 110 pp., with 55 black and white reproductions.
• Nobuyoshi Araki: Sentimental Journey: 106 pp., with 106 black and white reproductions.
• Daido Moriyama: Bye Bye, Photography Dear: 308 pp., with 308 black and white reproductions.
• Takuma Nakahira: For a Language to Come: 192 pp., 192 black & white reproductions

From the Publisher:

"In 1968, a magazine with the programmatic title "Provoke" was published in Tokyo by the photographer and writer Takuma Nakahira, the art critic Koji Taki, and other members. Investigating the relationship between photography and text, and suggesting new ways for photography to depict Japanese society, the magazine was an artistic and philosophical manifesto, responding to the upheavals of the late sixties. The participating photographers, among them Daido Moriyama (who joined "Provoke" with the second issue) searched for a radically new photographic language, as is reflected in the titles of their books: titles like Moriyama's "Bye, Bye Photography," and Nakahira's "For a Language to Come"; publications that were turning points in postwar Japanese photography. This spectacular limited edition collection of facsimile reprints of six legendary Japanese photography publications from the 1960s and 1970s will undoubtedly be a highly sought-after collector's item. Included are the first three issues of "Provoke" and three books that were inspired by it. Originally published in extremely limited editions ("Provoke" had a print run of 1,000 copies), these publications are very rare today and almost impossible to find. Among the photographers included are Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi, and Koji Taki. This set comes in a black wooden collector's box, with an editor's book that includes translations of the texts. A must-have for photography lovers."

The set is in MINT condition and is still in the original publishers shipping box. This is an incredible opportunity to purchase a beautiful set of six of the most important Japanese photobooks ever published.