Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Books

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Atom and Anne

As popular as manga now is, it has simply never appealed to me. Yet that’s not to say that I don’t appreciate it as an art form, and in Japan especially, it is used to introduce a whole host of ideas and issues. Invariably garnering a much wider audience than the more traditional text-only format.

That said, some things one would presume don’t really need the manga treatment. The story and message resonating strongly enough without pictures. Or in the case below, the cute contrast of perennial favourite Atom Boy.

anne frank

Yes, The Diary Of Anne Frank is available not only in manga format, but Atom Boy, his sister Uran, and the dodgy looking Dr. Ochanomizu kindly help the story flow. The cheery little chaps guiding the reader along in their usual jaunty and jolly manner.

anne frank japan

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Literary Livedoor

During a recent financial battle between brash new internet start-up Livedoor, and frumpy old Fuji Television, the IT company’s public relations official Ayako Otobe became something of a celebrity. Resulting in the perky professional being labeled ‘beautiful face’.

Not wanting to be known as just a pretty face though, Otobe-san has just released a book of essays on her job and business policies. A body of work that contains 40 hints on positive work techniques, including insider knowledge on such pressing concerns as fashion and make-up.

ayako otobe book

However in an effort not to put-off potential readers with such a highbrow offering, Otobe has kindly written the book using simple language. Urging book buyers, “If you believe in yourself as you proceed, your dreams will certainly be fulfilled. I want lots of people to read this and feel happy,”

To spread interest in the product even further — but in no way a cheap ploy to significantly boost sales by cashing in on the ‘beauty factor’ — the book also includes some photographs. So many in fact that they take up the first 16 pages of the book. And in keeping with the business theme and the idea of getting on in life, one photo is of Otobe-san in her, erm, bathrobe.

Sales, needless to say, are expected to be brisk. Yet bathrobe aside, is she really so ‘beautiful face’?

ayako otobe

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Book bother

“The Japanese people can be racist when it comes to Koreans living here. But racist against blacks? We have no experience in dealing with black people. Where would we get it from?”

Psychologist Kazuo Mori saying that most Japanese were surprised to learn that “Little Black Sambo” — back on the best-seller list after being withdrawn in 1988 — had racist overtones.

black sambo

Hmm…

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Lavatory literature

Whether the unusual nature of this publication is in relation to its literary worth hasn’t been disclosed, but Sanseido Books is selling a summary of the Architectural Body by Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins on toilet paper.

toilet paper book

For any bathroom tissue aficionados out there, each roll is 30-metres long, and thankfully double-layered. However cost wise this toilet tract doesn’t come cheap, as each roll retails at 350 yen (almost 2 pound). But for the combination of reading matter, and the, erm, ability to remove matter, it’s arguably not a bad price.

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Massive magazine mound

An apartment floor in Tokyo collapsed on Sunday. But it wasn’t because of an earthquake, or indeed shoddy construction. No, the tenant it turns out had amassed so many magazines in the 24 years he’d been living there, that the floor eventually gave way under the weight.

Fortunately the person living below the magazine mound escaped, as he heard the floor squeaking in the wooden building, and fearing the worst went and alerted the police. A wise move indeed, as upon his return the floor had collapsed, depositing the 56-year-old man from upstairs and his hoard of literature into the room below.

Both the man and his magazines were rescued, and spread out in 50 cm piles his collection covered over 30 metres. Now whilst I may be speaking out of turn here and doing the gentleman a disservice, that’s an awful lot of pornography.

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Penny-pinching pictures

“If digital shoplifting keeps up, our books won’t sell.”

Yoshihiro Maruoka, operator of Kobunkan Shoten bookstore, on people who use cell phone cameras to photograph pages of books and magazines.

It’s not uncommon to see people standing in line outside a shop or restaurant that is having a sale of some kind. And that’s fair enough I guess, as there is nothing wrong with seeking out the odd bargain. But isn’t going through all the trouble of photographing a book or magazine taking being careful with one’s money to new and previously uncharted depths?