Note : This is not an art book.

“Kuhaku” ( emptiness/void ) is a compilation of interviews by Vagabond manga artist Inoue Takehiko with the popular Japanese arts/culture magazine Switch, conducted from the period April 2010 – March 2012. Read the magazine review for one of the issues here.

The interview contents include work on his various comics like Slam Dunk, Real, Vagabond, The LAST Manga Exhibition, SMILE and more. The book is mostly Japanese text and the images reproduced below are some of the few accompanying pictures.

(above) Inoue inspecting his giant Vagabond art work at the entrance of the LAST Manga Exhibition, Sendai edition. I attended the one in Tokyo and it was one of the most intriguing exhibitions I’ve ever been to.

(above) The Smile project, a collection of illustrated portraits by Inoue to help raise funds during the 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan. These are now available as postcards on Amazon Japan.

(above & below) Some rough preliminary sketches done for Vagabond chapter 301.

This book will probably only interest those with a good command of the Japanese language, but whoever is up to the challenge will find it an interesting and illuminating read I’m sure.

“Kuhaku – Inoue Takehiko Switch Magazine Interviews 空白 井上雄彦” book details :

– Dimensions – 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
– Soft cover, 240 pages.
– B&W (contains mostly Japanese text)

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