TOKYO CLASH – Japanese Pop Culture

My new book “TOKYO CLASH – Japanese Pop Culture” is finally available. check it out here

TOKYO CLASH

Japanese Pop Culture
A visual joyride into the hearts of contemporary japanese pop & design culture.

BOOK INFO:

© Feb. 2009 – Ralf Bähren (all rights reserved. Author, Designer, Photographer. The author owns all intellectual property rights.)
192 Pages, full color, 21 x 21cm,
double photo pages with captions and text box explaining or commenting on a cultural issue or phenomenon. English text with japanese Katakana titles and their phonetic translation.

ABSTRACT:

Tokyo Clash is a visual, photographic encounter with highlights of the extremely colorful and overwhelming japanese design culture. It covers less of the high valued *chique* you find in stores around the world, but more of what strikes on the street. It is everyday design targeted at the japanese people – be it signs, shopping goods, street styles or spiritual offerings.
This mindblowing journey provides delightful and provoking insights into a society still hard to understand for many westeners. Awful, astonishing, admirable and absurd, but highly valuable for the playful mind: Targeted at designers, architects, photographers and all sorts of culturally and visually interested people with a sense of open-minded humor. The author explains, comments and critically deconstructs the underlying cultural phenomena that seem deeply rooted in the japanese mind. He does so with a homoureque, almost poetic language.
“Get ready for the ride of your life.”

THE AUTHOR:

The german designer and photographer Ralf Bähren (32) lived 1 year in central Tokyo and spent half of the time exploring, wondering, understanding and documenting. The other half, he was working in Animation, programming, illustration and graphic design. Many insights that made it into the book are the result of close relationships and cultural discussion with both old-fashioned and freaky japanese, half-japanese and foreigners living in Tokyo.

This is his first book – usually he designs exhibitions, interactive experiences, animation, websites and information all over the world. And of course, he loves to travel and explores world culture in general.

look inside!


sample page: “Tokyo”
more pages:

alright…

So if you like this book, please feel free and WRITE ME AN EMAIL with contact information, and i would be more than happy to present the complete book in person.

The book market is INTERNATIONAL, but especially interesting also for the JAPAN market, as japanese are usually very curious on how they are perceived by foreign guests.