Available April 2012 from Timezone 8 publishers   

$16.47 / €19.99 /£14.36 / Y2,140

(pre-order now on Amazon!)

 

Contents

 

PROLOGUE

Tourists in the Japanese Pavilion........................................................................................7

 

PART ONE

Little Boys and Tokyo Girls: The Rise of Superflat

Artist in Wonderland: Takashi Murakami...........................................................................15

The Little Prince: Yoshitomo Nara.................................................................................... 23

Tokyo Girls Bravo! Kaikai Kiki and Mariko Mori.............................................................. 31

Utsukushii Kuni: Yokoso Japan!....................................................................................... 41

 

PART TWO

How to be A-Zillionaire: Commerce, Design and Art in the Superflat World

 The Art Entrepreneurship Theory........................................................................................49

Nara as Businessman.......................................................................................................... 56

The World is Flat................................................................................................................ 63

The Creative Surplus........................................................................................................... 69

 

PART THREE

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? The Tokyo Art World in the 1990s

Tokyo 1991-1995: The Birth of the Cool............................................................................... 79

Ginza Days, Omori Nights: The Birth of a Contemporary Art Scene.........................................86

Art and Money: The Birth of a Contemporary Art Market...........................................................101

When Will Aida Be Famous? Before and After Zero Japan.........................................................109

 

COLOUR PLATES: THE BEST OF JAPANESE CONTEMPORARY ART 1990-2011.........123-138

 

PART FOUR

Art & The City: How Art Replaced God at the Heart of Neo-Tokyo

The Tower of Power: The Mori Story..................................................................................... 139

Yokohama: From Triennial to Debacle......................................................................................154

What are Contemporary Art Museums in Japan Really For?......................................................163

Echigo-Tsumari and Rural Art Festivals: Rise of the Northern River...........................................174

 

PART FIVE

After the Gold Rush: The New Japanese Art Scene in the 2000s

China Mania.............................................................................................................................185

The Zero Zero Generation........................................................................................................191

Aida’s Children........................................................................................................................201

Space for Our Future...............................................................................................................209

 

EPILOGUE

After the Tsunami...................................................................................................................221

 

Sources and Acknowledgements......................................................................................231

Cast of Characters / Index.....................................................................................................237

 

Includes:

over 80 black and white photos of artistic works, art world portraits and historical events

& 18 full colour plates of works by Yoshitomo Nara, Makoto Aida, Miwa Yanagi, Tabaimo and others 

 

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