A Familiar Town

"Kishi no Machi" (Déjà Vu City) by Mieko Kanai and Kanendo Watanabe is a collection of works published by Shinchosha in 1980, comprising an essay of the same title by Kanai and monochrome photographs of Tokyo's streets taken by Watanabe.

Watanabe's photographs depict everyday urban scenes such as sparsely populated alleys and buildings, shop windows, walls, and roads. Rather than portraying the city as a stage for dramatic events or narratives, his camera focuses on the forms, light, and arrangement of objects remaining on its surface. For this work, Watanabe received the 7th Ihei Kimura Award in 1982.

In her afterword, Kanai wrote about this collaborative work, "The photographs are not an explanation of the words, nor are the words fabricating a story for the photographs." The book was created by placing the text and photographs independently within a single volume, rather than integrating them into a single narrative. The text and photographs, each facing a different direction, are continuously juxtaposed across the pages.

The book design and layout were done by Shoji Sakurai. In 1981, Kanendo Watanabe held a solo exhibition titled "Kishi no Machi" at the Nikon Salon. It was later included in "The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990," and a new edition was published by the Tokyo College of Photography Publishing Bureau in 2015. This item is the first edition published by Shinchosha in 1980.

[Title] Kishi no Machi (Déjà Vu City)
[Publisher] Shinchosha
[Publication Date] September 20, 1980 (First Edition)
[Number of Pages] 149 pages
[Size] Approx. 152×217×15mm / 455g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] KISHI NO MACHI
[Author/Editor, etc.] Mieko Kanai / Author, Kanendo Watanabe / Photography, Shoji Sakurai / Book Design and Layout
[Printing and Binding] Dai Nippon Printing / Printing, Shinjuku Kato Bookbinding / Binding
[ISBN] -
[Condition] Used [4] Good to Fair (Slipcase: Stains, Damage; Book: Slight scuffs on cover, slight stains on page edges)
[Accessories] Slipcase
[Featured In] The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990
[Related Exhibition] "Kishi no Machi" Nikon Salon, Tokyo, 1981

Kanendo Watanabe (WATANABE, Kanendo) 1947–

Born in Tokyo in 1947. Photographer.

In 1973, he held "Ankoku no Muso" (Dark Daydream) at the Nikon Salon. Since the 1970s, he has photographed cities, dolls, and landscapes, and in 1980, he co-authored "Kishi no Machi" with Mieko Kanai, published by Shinchosha. The following year, in 1981, he held an exhibition of the same name at the Nikon Salon, and in 1982, he received the 7th Ihei Kimura Award for this work.

Subsequently, he continued to photograph cities and lands with works such as "Gyaku To Toshi" (Inverted City), "YAMATO," "Hanto" (Peninsula), "Kotou" (Isolated Island), "Minazuki no Shizuku" (Drops of June), and "Nindo Kikan" (Honeysuckle Homecoming). In 2003, he held the "Kanendo Watanabe Photo Exhibition" at Kahitsukan - Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art.

His photo collections include "Kishi no Machi," "Kanendo Watanabe Photo Collection," and the "Dantekiteki Shiryo - Kanendo Watanabe no Sekai" (Fragmentary Data - The World of Kanendo Watanabe) series. His works are housed in institutions such as Kahitsukan - Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, and Kawasaki City Museum.

Mieko Kanai (KANAI, Mieko) 1947–

Born in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture in 1947. Novelist, poet, critic.

Since the 1960s, she has published poetry and novels, and continues to write extensively in various fields, including novels and criticism on film, photography, and art. In 1980, she published "Kishi no Machi" in collaboration with photographer Kanendo Watanabe.

She has numerous novels, including the "Mejiro Tetralogy," and continuously discusses the relationship between text and image, film, and photography.

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Mieko Kanai
Shoji Sakurai
Sueshiro Tanemura
Shimon Yotsuya
Eikoh Hosoe
Nikon Salon
Shinchosha