Signed; William Klein - TOKYO [inscribed] - 1964

TOKYO, William Klein. Signed, Dedication. (1st French edition, Delpire, 1964)

Original French edition of 1964.
Hardcover, illustrated rigid cover.
Publisher Delpire.
Publication date: 01/01/1964

Large-format book: 35 x 26 cm / 184 pages
Light wear on the edges, interior perfect, copy signed and inscribed in very good condition.
Sent with a removable transparent protective cover.

In 1961, William Klein discovers Japan. Introduced into the Japanese megalopolis by a group of official representatives, he goes beyond the prohibitions and makes almost insolent shots: a sumo match caught on the fly, at the foot of the sacred ring (the dojo), a close-up portrait of the imperial couple. William Klein visits the seats of power: he photographs the Tokyo Stock Exchange or the luxurious salons of the Diet. Then he escapes the attention of his entourage to delve into a city in upheaval, on the eve of the 1964 Olympic Games that will project the Japanese megacity into the modern era.

The famous photographer Eiko Hosoe introduces him to Kazuo Ono, co-creator of Butoh dance, whom Klein pursues in the streets of Tokyo. He meets Ushio Shinohara who stages a “boxing-painting” performance, photographs prostitutes who are made up, mingles with children in the street or in a baseball stadium. The book Tokyo ends with a nocturnal vision of the city’s lights, and an anti-American demonstration that foreshadows the decade of political protests.

Tokyo is a work at the crossroads of historical document and a personal notebook. An American in postwar Japan, William Klein conveys through photography his astonishing encounters with the people, the powerful, or the avant-garde artistic scene. The work, published in 1964, is the last book in William Klein’s city series (New York 1956, Rome 1956 and Moscow 1961).