Nobuyoshi Araki

A first edition, signed copy of Okinawa.

• Nobuyoshi Araki (Japanese).
• Tokyo: Privately printed, 1971.
• Oblong octavo.
• With black-and-white photographs printed in offset.
• Inscribed by Araki with a drawing of a three-trunked elephant.
• Wire stitched with white photo-illustrated wrappers, printed in black.

Presentation copy, likely contemporary, inscribed with a drawing of a three-trunked elephant, which was Araki's preferred method of embellishment in the 1970s. Although the title suggests that it is a continuation of the work he made during his honeymoon in Sentimental Journey (1971), the work is, in fact, unrelated and consists of a series of street scenes, some nudes and a few photographs of his wife, Yoko. Araki made the photographs during a visit to Okinawa for the Dentsu advertising agency while working on a poster campaign for the Japanese government to mark the return of Okinawa Island to Japanese administration after 27 years of United States control. This is the last book Araki produced before leaving his advertising job at the Dentsu agency in 1972.