Hometown - a four-color risograph made in Nakazaki-cho, Osaka. I made two editions with slightly different screentone densities. Info.

Hometown - a four-color risograph made in Nakazaki-cho, Osaka. I made two editions with slightly different screentone densities. Info.

Hankyu station in Osaka

osakazinefair:

皆さん，来て下さい！！！！！！<3

Flyer by Junichi Junichi Junichi

Going to be here in 14 hours from now!!!

Shapes in Nishi Umeda

Osaka Zine Fair ROUND TWO

My Zine Story

ZINE ENERGY IS SPREADING!! Plz reblog with your answers or replies or whatever…

1. Why did you first start making/reading zines? I liked that an artist from across the country made something himself by hand, that I could have. I really liked the scale and boundaries of a zine (a “book as art”) as well as the simple, readable “poetry” of its construction.
2. What kind of zines do you make/read? I don’t read or buy very many zines, but I like any zine with “engaging” content” and a nice form (i.e. the “poetry” of construction).
3. How do you describe your work? I like making story comics that mirror the structure of movies or comics, but are about my ideas and feelings. But I don’t make very many books, really, come to think of it….
   
4. How do you describe what a “zine” is to people who have never heard of it before? I thought about this for a while and then I just decided it’s very simple: A zine is like a blog, but on paper. In the same way blogs can be about anything, a zine can be about anything. Just like there’s blogspot, tumblr, wordpress, real news blogs, nonsense blogs…. there can be any kind of zine.
   
5. Do you think of zines as a form of activism? How can they be used to initiate change?  Are they effective (as opposed to demonstrations, protests, etc)? YES but it’s hard to do it in a way that overcomes the obvious difficulties (Why would you use zines for activism when you can just do it on Facebook? No one reads zines, except for other people who share your same politics (progressive creatives).)
6. How has/will internet technology affect the production of zines? More technology means that the physical nature of zines are more important, since the content might as well be online. Fortunately the internet is a good place to market zines… this is a good point but maybe it’s off topic.
7. What do zines offer that traditional publishing houses or small presses do not? Real creative control. It’s all personal, everything is the artist’s decision and context and world.
   
8. Is it important for zines to be “grungy” or is a smooth, clean look also important? This question makes me mad. Maybe you think my zines look “grungy” (because they’re photocopied??) but I’m not going for a “grungy” look… and I kinda think it’s stupid to try to make your zine grungy. Anyone who makes a zine should try to make it look nice, whatever that means, with whatever limited means they have available.
   
9. What is the future of zines in Japan, as opposed to abroad?  Why has there been a “zine boom” in Japan just in the last couple years? Japan has more physical production, more stationery stores and hand crafts than other countries. It’s like Japanese culture. So I think zines are more of a Western phenomenon (just like feminism) but they are readily appropriated because they fit into Japanese craft world somehow. Also, because zines have limited production runs, they create a specific SUB-culture, which Japanese people are really into forming and participating in.

There was a group discussion after Osaka Zine Fair, including some questions posed in Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism by Alison Piepmeier. Sayaka and I didn’t attend, but I gave the questions some thought.

This is what’s trendy in Osaka right now. The first girl I saw dressed like this, I was like “wow, she’s hot!” But then I saw another girl right behind her, and I was like, “Oh, that’s funny!” Then I saw two more and I was like, “ohh… this is boring…”

This always happens in Japan. I used to be into the fashion from BEAMS (for men), but after I realized that everyone who works there dresses the same with the same tricks, and lots of guys go in and copy the look, I didn’t feel so good about it. This is an American idea of fashion vs. a Japanese one, maybe? Following a “look” so slavishly is kind of lame in my eyes. But whatever there are things that I follow slavishly. Anyway cute girl right??