Bookcase Tour Tuesday

Melanie over at Kimono Reincarnate came up with the idea of a virtual bookcase tour - giving the web a peak at your book collection. I immediately liked the idea but figured nobody would be interested in the boring array of English and Japanese books on museum studies, and the large and out-dated collection of Japan tour books that take up most of my bookshelves in Tokyo.

But then I remembered the bottom shelf of my bookcase, full of museum catalogues. I have a weakness for exhibit catalogues and, when they tend to be about 2000 yen, I can't help myself a lot of the time. Full of gorgeous pictures and information that I am *sure* I will use someday, it really is a shame they sit on my bottom shelf un-looked at most of the time. Sharing them one-by-one virtually seems perfect! So, here goes...




To start off I chose the catalogue to an art exhibit at the Yokosuka Museum of Art in 2007 of drawings by Taniuchi Rokuro. I'm not a big modern art fan, but I loved this exhibit, and when I pulled the catalogue off the shelf the whimsical prints reminded me of some of the items Melanie has made (and sells on her Etsy site)

I love the combination of timeless Japanese scenes like these two kids digging into their taiyaki (sweet bean buns shaped like fish),


and ones bringing kids' imagination to life, like the smoke and snow fighting as opposing armies of samurai.