It felt like a strange little jouney for me.
A friend ask me to drop by Tsutaya Books in Daikanyama today to buy a book for her. I figured it had been a while since I last went, so I made some plans. After recording Episode 13 of “Onshore & Offshore” in the morning, I packed up and headed out.
The crowd wasn’t as overwhelming as I expected, though I heard people once queued for seven or eight hours for other events about Yojiro Noda. The book I bought was huge, thick, and heavy–7,500 yen. There were a lot of pricey merch items too, so I picked up some of this and that, though some were already sold out. I ended up buying two copied of most things. Total demage: 36,000 yen.
Honestly, I felt bad for my friend’s wallet. I personally don’t think I can ever get that invested in something, but stepping back, I can’t help but admire it. Life seems to be about passing through these moments of passion and excitement–those moments are precious and beautiful.
It must be dull to reach middle age and lose that kind of excitement.
When I got home, I realized that I had bought was a photography book. Along the way, I also learned a loto about Japanese pop culture.
It turns out that Takeshi Yao is practically Yojiro Noda’s offical photographer, documenting his events and tours. Noda and his band are already hugely sussessful in Japan, but his collaboration with Makoto Shinkai, the renowned anime director, has launched him onto the global stage. Noda handled the music for Shinkai’s recent films, bringing the band international fame.
This photobook, White Day Dream, is essentially a record of that global tour, filled with Yao’s photos capturing the journey.
It’s really good.
But what kind of success is this? Is it he photographer’s success? The Band’s? or Shinkai’s?
Is succcess simply about creating a great content product? Or do you have to tap into Japan’s enormous cultural production chain to achieve something like this?
I’m not sure.
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