Paper showrooms in Tokyo where you can obtain samples of printing paper

I am introducing a paper showroom in Tokyo where you can obtain samples of printing paper. Please make use of them for your book making and artwork production.

Showroom where you can get free samples.

I will start with showrooms where you can get free paper samples. I often visit the following showrooms.

Nippon Paper Group Ochanomizu Paper Gallery

Ochanomizu

〒101-0062 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Kanda Surugadai, 4 Chome−6−番地
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/tvVLMy7C4yYqenGL6

Nippon Paper Industries’ showroom is located on the 9th floor of Ochanomizu Sola City.

To enter, you must get an entrance pass from the reception desk at Solaseity.

Almost a full lineup of Nippon Paper Industries’ paper samples (with printed samples) is available here.

Besides that, samples of actual printed materials (books, magazines, picture books, etc.) using Nippon Paper Industries’ paper are on display, and even the brand name of what kind of paper is used.
Since you can hold the samples in your hands, you can get a clear image of the finished printed product.

KYOBASHI Paper Showroom

Higashi-Nihonbashi

1-chōme-1-18 Higashi-nihonbashi, Chuo City, Tokyo 103-0004
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/GWXhpjFddirfk6Ny7

Kyobashi Shigyo’s showroom in Higashi-Nihonbashi.

While the two mentioned above are paper manufacturers, this is a paper distributor, so we have samples from a variety of paper manufacturers, including

  • Oji Paper
  • Nippon Paper Industries Co.
  • Mitsubishi Paper Mills
  • Hokuetsu Kishu Paper
  • Takeo
  • Heiwa Paper
  • Daio Paper
  • Taisho Paper

Here you will find a selection of the A4 printing samples mentioned above, though not the full lineup. This is also where you can browse through the Dainik and Toyo Cloth, as well as other cloth samples for bookbinding.

There are also a lot of other goodies with printed samples, many of which you can take home with you.

Showrooms and paper stores where paper samples can be purchased for a fee.

Other showrooms and stores that sell paper not listed above.

Takeo Paper Shop, Kanda

Jinbocho

A4 samples available for purchase.

3 Chome-18-3 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0054
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/tDDWHgqUhPPjeg5f6

Takeo Aoyama Mihon-cho

Omotesando

Able to purchase paper samples of about A3 size. Able to consult with our professional staff about paper.

〒150-0002 Tokyo, Shibuya City, 2, 渋谷区渋谷4丁目2−5 プレイス青山1F
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/hRDCTD6CZVTWPdb58

Heiwa Paper Company Paper Voice Tokyo

Kayabacho

Samples in quadruplicate (545 x 394 mm) size are available for sale. Exhibitions and other events are also held.

1 Chome-22 Shinkawa, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0033
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/uscmsxNNMSkRvyf7A

Tokushu Tokai Paper Pam Tokyo

Tokyo Station

Extensive samples and displays.

2 Chome-4-1 Yaesu, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0028
MAP:https://goo.gl/maps/eUih21Wiao1VN18f6


If you want to get free samples, if you only want to look at one place, the KYOBASHI Paper Showroom, which has samples from several paper manufacturers.
If you have a specific paper manufacturer for the samples you want, it is better to go to the showroom of the appropriate manufacturer.
Basically, it is a good idea to visit all three locations introduced here.

My Favorite Photobook Store in Japan

As a lover of photo books, I would like to recommend some Photobook stores in Japan.
Please visit them when you come to Japan.

TOKYO

Flotsam books

Website: https://www.flotsambooks.com/

Address: 1 Chome-10-7 Izumi, Suginami City, Tokyo 168-0063

This store mainly deals in photo books.
The owner, Mr. Kobayashi, has a great sense of style and handles cool photo books and art books from all over the world.
Most of the books are new publications, but they also carry used books. The prices are inexpensive, and popular items sell out quickly, but we also carry many books that can only be purchased through this store in Japan.
We are strong in fashion-related photo books, and we also carry zines.
In addition to photo books, we also carry books on design, such as collections of works by overseas designers, exhibition catalogs, and typography books that you can find only at this store.
The store often holds exhibitions of artists and book events.

Flotsam books

Post

Website: http://post-books.info/

Address: 2 Chome-10-3 Ebisuminami, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0022

A gallery and bookshop in Ebisu.

The owner, Mr. Nakajima, also organizes the Tokyo Art Book Fair, so you can be sure of a good selection.

Book obscura

Website: http://bookobscura.com/

Address: 〒181-0001 Tokyo, Mitaka, Inokashira, 4 Chome−21−5 フジパークマンション 103

A new + used bookstore in Kichijoji (Inokashira Park) selling photography books and art books.

There is also a gallery (exhibition space) inside the store, where you can see exhibitions of photographers and artists.

Various photography books are displayed according to the owner’s classification of genres, so it is easy to browse, even though there are a lot of books. This bookshop is recommended for students and those who are beginning to be interested in photography books and art books.

Book obscura

Shelf

Website: http://www.shelf.ne.jp/

Address: 3 Chome-7-4 Jingumae, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0001

This is a well-established bookstore specializing in photo books.

So books

Website: https://sobooks.jp/

Address: 1 Chome-47-5 Uehara, Shibuya City, Tokyo 151-0064

SKWAT/twelvebooks

Website: https://www.skwat.site/AOYAMA

Address: 5 Chome-3-2 Minamiaoyama, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0062

This space is for twelvebooks, a distributor of MACK and other products in Japan.

Totodo

Website: http://totodo.jp/

Address: 〒150-0032 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Uguisudanicho, 5−7 第2ヴィラ青山1F

A long-established design-related antiquarian bookstore with a store in Shibuya.
The store carries many famous and rare books on architecture, design, and photography.

Utrecht

Website: http://utrecht.jp/

Address: 〒150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 5 Chome−36−6 ケーリーマンション

A bookstore located in Harajuku, Tokyo, offering a wide variety of zines and other publications.

Tsutaya books Daikanyama

Website: https://store.tsite.jp/daikanyama/

Address: 〒150-0033 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Sarugakucho, 17−5 代官山T-SITE 1号館~3号館 1階~2階

TSUTAYA’s Daikanyama branch. This store has a fairly large selection of photo books, both old and new.

OSAKA

Book of days

Website: http://www.bookofdays-shop.com/

Address: 〒550-0011 Osaka, Nishi Ward, Awaza, 1 Chome−10−2 ボンジュール阿波座 202号

A bookstore with a store in Osaka’s Nishi Ward.
They carry a large number of cool photo books.
They also have a discount service for members.
I visited the store when I was on a trip to Osaka, and the store is quite spacious, with many nice art books and photo books.

KANAZAWA

Iack

Website: https://www.iack.online/

Address: 〒920-0864 Ishikawa, Kanazawa, Takaokamachi, 18−3 IACK

A gallery, bookshop and distributor located in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
The location is used as photographer Yukihito Kono’s studio, but on weekends it is open as a gallery.
Since 2018, they have been working as a distributor for international independent publishers such as JM Ramirez Suassi, Multipress, and Overlapse, as well as self-published works.
The books they carry are wonderful and I buy a book every time I see them at an event in Tokyo.


Art, Design, Photobook shop in Japan Map

The following Google map shows bookshops in Japan that sell the design, art books and photo books introduced in this article.

Art, Design, Photobook shop in Japan
https://goo.gl/maps/GEpytqKZjygcEhag8

Header: Lubos HouskaによるPixabayからの画像

渡部周写真集『THE LAST SUMMIT』、スイスのVOLUMES Award 2021にエントリー!投票受付中です!

渡部周写真集『THE LAST SUMMIT』、現在、スイスのVOLUMES Award 2021というブックアワードにエントリーしています。
イベント公式サイトを下の方までスクロールすると私の本が現れます。

サイトを下の方までスクロールすると私の本が現れます

クリックしていただくと、本の情報と見開き写真が現れます。

本の情報と見開き写真

動画のリンクには英語のプレゼンテーション動画を入れました!

“THE LAST SUMMIT” Shu Watanabe’s Artistbook〈English Presentation〉

2021年12月12日まで、オーディエンスによる投票も受け付けているので、良いと思った方は是非投票をお願いします!

VOLUMES (@volumeszurich)
https://www.volumeszurich.ch/

渡部周写真集『THE LAST SUMMIT』〈日本語版〉
https://reminders-project.org/rps/thelastsummit_salejp/

Shu Watanabe’s artist book, “THE LAST SUMMIT,” is entering Switzerland’s VOLUMES Award 2021 book award.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the official event website, you will see my book.
If you click on it, information about the book and a photo spread will appear.
I’ve included a video of my presentation in English in the video link!
This site is also accepting votes from the audience until December 12, so if you think my book is good, please vote for it!

VOLUMES (@volumeszurich)
https://www.volumeszurich.ch/

Shu Watanabe’s artistbook “The Last Summit”
https://reminders-project.org/rps/thelastsummit_saleen/

“THE LAST SUMMIT” Shu Watanabe’s Artistbook

My first photo book, “THE LAST SUMMIT”, has been completed and is now on sale. Here is some information about this book.

My father passed away in July 2017 due to a slip and fall accident while climbing a mountain. What did mountain climbing mean to him? What did climbing mean to him? It is a photo book project where I attempted to dialogue with my late father by facing and reliving his last climb.

“THE LAST SUMMIT” Shu Watanabe’s Artist book

THE LAST SUMMIT

My father died in a slip-and-fall accident on July 15, 2017, at Mt. Ryokami in Chichibu County, Saitama Prefecture. At the beginning of that year, he was in the hospital to receive treatment and surgery for liver cancer, which was discovered in September of the previous year. After leaving the hospital in March, my father was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, but he had gradually resumed working and continued his hobby of mountain climbing.

“Dad went out to the mountains yesterday morning and never came back. ……”

It was a sunny morning when I received a phone call from my mother, and then it felt as if the ground was crumbling beneath my feet. After filing a missing person’s report at the police station near my parents’ house, my father-in-law gave me a ride to Mt. Ryokami.

As much as I wanted my father to be safe, I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if I couldn’t find him. I was feeling hopeless. As if to reflect my feelings, it began to rain heavily as we approached the site. Before arriving at Mt. Ryokami, I received a call from the Ogano Police Station in Saitama Prefecture. They informed me that the body of someone matching my father’s description had been discovered at the bottom of the trail. When I checked the body that had been brought to the police station, it was unmistakably my father’s face. It was a hot summer day, so his body was cremated as it was. My family didn’t get to see his face on his last day.

When the nightmarish day for our family was over, what came to my mind as I was driving back to Tokyo from Chichibu, was not so much sadness over his death but rather anger over why he had gone climbing despite his health condition so soon after the surgery.

About a week after my father’s funeral, I remembered that I had family photos in a drawer of a cupboard in my parents’ house. I searched through the images, trying to find a glimpse of my father, and came across a large number of photos of him climbing mountains, which had never caught my attention before. The image of him in his mountaineering clothes and backpack, looking contented in nature as far as the eye could see, was different from the gentle father I knew at home.

I wondered why mountain climbing fascinated my father so much. To ease the resentment caused by accident, I began to look for what he saw in it. Relying on his notes, I started to purchase climbing gear, including clothing and food. I decided to climb the mountains he climbed.

Shu Watanabe


“THE LAST SUMMIT” artist book by Shu Watanabe

15,400 JPY
Language: Japanese or English
Page: 204page
Size: 215 x 312 x 24mm
69 editions only (all made to order)
Each edition will be signed and give the edition number by the artist
Photo / Edit / Binding / Print: Shu Watanabe
The book concept, storyline, and art direction developed: Yumi Goto at Reminders Photography Stronghold
English Proofreading: Sachie Takagi, Marc Kaufman
Photos provided: Katsumi Kawashima, Yuko Kawashima, Tomoki Sato, Kazuo Fukata, Mizuko Yamaoka, Norihisa Watanabe

Shu Watanabe’s Artistbook “The Last Summit” Is Now Available!

『THE LAST SUMMIT』by 渡部周|登山事故で亡くなった父の足跡を辿る写真集

私の最初の写真集である『THE LAST SUMMIT』が完成し、現在販売中です。こちらの本についてご紹介します。

私の父は、2017年7月に登山中の滑落事故により亡くなりました。「優しく、家族思いだった父にとって登山とは何だったのか?」。本作は、私が父親の最期の登山と向き合い、追体験することで亡き父との対話を試みた写真集プロジェクトです。

“THE LAST SUMMIT” Shu Watanabe’s Artist book

THE LAST SUMMIT

私の父は2017年7月15日、埼玉県秩父の両神山で、登山中の滑落事故により亡くなった。前年の9月に発覚した肝臓がん手術のため、年初に入院し、3月に退院。術後に肝硬変が発覚したものの、仕事や趣味の登山を少しずつ再開していた矢先だった。

「お父さんが昨日の朝、山に出かけたきり帰ってこないんだけど……」
快晴の朝に母からかかってきた電話の内容を聞いて、私は足元から地面が崩れていくような感覚がした。実家の近くの警察署で捜索願を出した後、妻の父が運転する車に乗せてもらい、私は両神山へ向かった。

父に無事でいてほしいと思う気持ちと同じくらい、このまま父が見つからなかったら、どうなるのだろうか?という考えが止まらず、絶望的な気持ちにもなっていた。私の気持ちを反映するかのように、現地に近づくにつれて激しく雨が降ってきたが、両神山に着く直前で現地の警察署から、父らしき人物の遺体が登山道の下で発見されたという連絡を受けた。警察署に運ばれてきた遺体を確認すると、それは紛れもなく父の顔だった。夏の暑い時期だったこともあり、父の遺体はそのまま火葬に回された。それゆえ、私以外の家族は、父の最期の顔を見ることがなく別れることとなった。

悪夢のような1日が終わり、秩父から東京へ帰る車中で私の頭に去来したのは、父が亡くなって悲しいという気持ちよりも、術後間もない体調を押して、なぜ父は登山に行ったのか?という憤りの気持ちだった。

葬儀など全てを終えて1週間ほどたった頃、私は実家の食器棚の引き出しに家族の写真が入っていたことを思い出した。父の面影を求めて写真を探してみると、これまで目に留まっていなかった父の登山写真が大量に出てきた。登山用のウエアやリュックを身にまとい、見渡す限りの自然の中で満足そうな表情をしている父の姿は、私が知っている、家庭での優しい父の姿とは異なっていた。

父にとって、登山とはどれほど魅力的だったのだろうか。事故で生じた憤りを消化するために、私は父が感じていた登山の魅力を知りたいと思うようになった。父の遺したメモを頼りに、ウエアや食事など登山に必要な装備をそろえ、父が登った山に登ることを決めた。

渡部周


渡部周 写真集「THE LAST SUMMIT」

・本文:204ページ
・言語:日本語または英語
・サイズ:215 x 312 x 24mm
・部数:69部
・写真・編集・印刷・製本: 渡部周
・コンセプト、ストーリーライン、アートディレクション:後藤由美(リマインダーズフォトグラフィーストロングホールド)
・英文校正:高木祥衣、Marc Kaufman
・写真提供:川島克巳、川島祐子、佐藤朝記、深田和夫、山岡瑞子、渡部紀久
・価格:15,400円(消費税込、別途送料についてはこちらをご確認下さい)、 全エディション署名入り

渡部周 写真集「THE LAST SUMMIT」ご注文サイト