Ginza Kaiwai / Ginza Haccho
Shohachi Kimura, Yoshikazu Suzuki
1954
Ginza Kaiwai / Ginza Haccho
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Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los ...
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Ginza Kaiwai / Ginza Haccho
Shohachi Kimura, Yoshikazu Suzuki
1954
Tokyo: Toho-shobo
1 cardboard box including 2 volumes and 1 map; Vol. 1 unpaginated [364 pages] Vol. 2 unpaginated [26 pages] concertina-style
20.5 × 20.5 cm

Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los Angeles’s historic Little Tokyo neighbourhood? Whatever the connection, or absence thereof, “Ginza Haccho” has been the subject of much discussion among photography-book aficionados in recent years.


 


This accordion-folded publication conceals within its folds photographs of every building along Tokyo’s Ginza Street. Precious in its original cardboard slipcase, the edition was co-authored by Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki and comprises a map of the district, a leporello presenting a panoramic view of Ginza Street, and a separate volume reconstructing, visually and textually, the history of the neighbourhood. The publication offers a vivid record of a city in perpetual reconstruction and remodelling, preserving buildings and streetscapes that have long since disappeared from Tokyo’s urban fabric.


 


This rare publication was exhibited in 2023 during the "Folded Cities" exhibition at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside other urban “radiographies” of the twentieth century, including “Venezia. Il Canal Grande,” a curious publication produced by Il Gazzettino Illustrato in 1931; Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” (1966); and Jan Henderikse’s “Broadway” (1983), among others.

Tokyo: Toho-shobo
1 cardboard box including 2 volumes and 1 map; Vol. 1 unpaginated [364 pages] Vol. 2 unpaginated [26 pages] concertina-style
20.5 × 20.5 cm

Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los Angeles’s historic Little Tokyo neighbourhood? Whatever the connection, or absence thereof, “Ginza Haccho” has been the subject of much discussion among photography-book aficionados in recent years.

 

This accordion-folded publication conceals within its folds photographs of every building along Tokyo’s Ginza Street. Precious in its original cardboard slipcase, the edition was co-authored by Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki and comprises a map of the district, a leporello presenting a panoramic view of Ginza Street, and a separate volume reconstructing, visually and textually, the history of the neighbourhood. The publication offers a vivid record of a city in perpetual reconstruction and remodelling, preserving buildings and streetscapes that have long since disappeared from Tokyo’s urban fabric.

 

This rare publication was exhibited in 2023 during the "Folded Cities" exhibition at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside other urban “radiographies” of the twentieth century, including “Venezia. Il Canal Grande,” a curious publication produced by Il Gazzettino Illustrato in 1931; Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” (1966); and Jan Henderikse’s “Broadway” (1983), among others.

DESCRIPTION

Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los Angeles’s historic Little Tokyo neighbourhood? Whatever the connection, or absence thereof, “Ginza Haccho” has been the subject of much discussion among photography-book aficionados in recent years.

 

This accordion-folded publication conceals within its folds photographs of every building along Tokyo’s Ginza Street. Precious in its original cardboard slipcase, the edition was co-authored by Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki and comprises a map of the district, a leporello presenting a panoramic view of Ginza Street, and a separate volume reconstructing, visually and textually, the history of the neighbourhood. The publication offers a vivid record of a city in perpetual reconstruction and remodelling, preserving buildings and streetscapes that have long since disappeared from Tokyo’s urban fabric.

 

This rare publication was exhibited in 2023 during the "Folded Cities" exhibition at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside other urban “radiographies” of the twentieth century, including “Venezia. Il Canal Grande,” a curious publication produced by Il Gazzettino Illustrato in 1931; Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” (1966); and Jan Henderikse’s “Broadway” (1983), among others.

Tokyo: Toho-shobo
1 cardboard box including 2 volumes and 1 map; Vol. 1 unpaginated [364 pages] Vol. 2 unpaginated [26 pages] concertina-style
20.5 × 20.5 cm

Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los Angeles’s historic Little Tokyo neighbourhood? Whatever the connection, or absence thereof, “Ginza Haccho” has been the subject of much discussion among photography-book aficionados in recent years.

 

This accordion-folded publication conceals within its folds photographs of every building along Tokyo’s Ginza Street. Precious in its original cardboard slipcase, the edition was co-authored by Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki and comprises a map of the district, a leporello presenting a panoramic view of Ginza Street, and a separate volume reconstructing, visually and textually, the history of the neighbourhood. The publication offers a vivid record of a city in perpetual reconstruction and remodelling, preserving buildings and streetscapes that have long since disappeared from Tokyo’s urban fabric.

 

This rare publication was exhibited in 2023 during the "Folded Cities" exhibition at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside other urban “radiographies” of the twentieth century, including “Venezia. Il Canal Grande,” a curious publication produced by Il Gazzettino Illustrato in 1931; Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” (1966); and Jan Henderikse’s “Broadway” (1983), among others.

MORE BOOKS

Published in 1954, this early leporello anticipated Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” by twelve years. A simple coincidence, the collective unconscious, or perhaps Ruscha being inspired by a copy encountered in Los Angeles’s historic Little Tokyo neighbourhood? Whatever the connection, or absence thereof, “Ginza Haccho” has been the subject of much discussion among photography-book aficionados in recent years.

 

This accordion-folded publication conceals within its folds photographs of every building along Tokyo’s Ginza Street. Precious in its original cardboard slipcase, the edition was co-authored by Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki and comprises a map of the district, a leporello presenting a panoramic view of Ginza Street, and a separate volume reconstructing, visually and textually, the history of the neighbourhood. The publication offers a vivid record of a city in perpetual reconstruction and remodelling, preserving buildings and streetscapes that have long since disappeared from Tokyo’s urban fabric.

 

This rare publication was exhibited in 2023 during the "Folded Cities" exhibition at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside other urban “radiographies” of the twentieth century, including “Venezia. Il Canal Grande,” a curious publication produced by Il Gazzettino Illustrato in 1931; Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip” (1966); and Jan Henderikse’s “Broadway” (1983), among others.

MORE BOOKS