Last Friday I was invited by Emily Yoshimoto, and Ryan Holmberg, to attend the opening & talk event for the Baron Yoshimoto retrospective exhibition at the Yayoi Museum (map below) - this museum is dedicated to Manga & Gekiga and it's close to Ueno in Tokyo. I'd met Emily Yoshimoto (Baron's Daughter) previously when I tagged along with Ryan Holmberg and Emily to the Keirin (Cycle) racing track in Tachikawa early in 2018 when he was doing some fieldwork for the Retrofit Baron translation (The Troublemakers).
I'd first come across Baron Yoshimoto's work when I went to a show of his that was in Shibuya a couple of years back. He did that show with Katsuya Terada and it was large panel work that they were doing, kind of 'batttling' each other with each panel. It was a lot of fun then and has led them to do further shows together. This retrospective shows some of Baron's larger panel (later period) work on the walls of the 2nd floor as well as (earlier) manga works in the cabinet.  On the 1st floor you'll find Baron's early works from the 1950s sweeping round anti-clockwise as his career progressed and fame followed. It's a wonderfully put together show that shows really well how Baron's career developed and how his early artistic experiences helped to feed into his success later on. He's a bit of a living legend in my eyes and has some killer dance moves that would easily put me to shame (check out the 2nd floor for evidence of this point).
I have included below a link to Ryan Holmberg's show instagram post and the original text. I am in agreement with Ryan, this show is awesome, Emily's done a fantastic job curating it. If you are in Tokyo between now and 31st March this show is not to be missed!!! 

​Ryan Holmberg - As expected, the Baron Yoshimoto retrospective at the Yayoi Museum in Tokyo is awesome. Pretty much every show this museum does is. But this one felt personal, since I have been working closely with the artist for the past two years. It was great to see the original pages of "Eriko's Happiness" (1971), which served as the cover and lead story of The Troublemakers. Baron's drawing and design sense is superb across the board. It's hard to believe that he's used a brush almost exclusively since the late 60s. For me as a researcher, among the most enticing finds were unpublished samurai and ninja illustrations and kashihon-style manga pages from before his debut. I would love to do a translation of Baron's Gambling series (1969-71), so my eye made a beeline for the original artwork and the folders of photos he used for research and source material. While putting together The Troublemakers, I pestered Emily (his daughter and agent) for a period photograph of her father, which she couldn't find—but there were quite a few from the 60s and 70s on display . . . next time! The second floor of the museum mainly featured Baron's (very weird) paintings, which he has been making since the mid 80s. On the wall next to the bathroom was a video projection of Baron doing his famous octopus dance. At the opening, Baron has gotten so used to making up stories about who I am while out drinking that he introduced me to editors as Ryan Goblin (probably a portmanteau of Holmberg and my Ginza alter-ego Gosling, à la Goblerg). That's cool. He caught himself and laughed, and it's better than Hamburger, which I've gotten in Japan more than once. Nice to see The Troublemakers @retrofitcomics next to the new painting catalogue from @pie_international in the museum's gift shop. It has an English translation (heavily corrected by me) and foreign distribution, so fully recommended to Baron fans of all tongues. If you visit the show, treat yourself to Baron-themed cappuccino at the café next door. #baronyoshimoto #バロン吉元#yayoimuseum #弥生美術館

 We've received the copies of our latest release, 'BADASS BABE' back from the printers! We're just awaiting the cover
for this from another printer and then these will be shipped out! 
 This new BonTen Taro book arrived! 188 pages of 4 colour print gekiga goodness. Inside you'll find 60s & 70s cult classic tales of Yakuza, horror, badass babes, lesbian love, tattooists, and attempted revolution by Yukio Mishima! If you're a Manga Maniac this title's not to be missed! Order it from ourBig Cartel YOYO shop!

​#taiyomatsumoto #illustration #mangagod#blackhookpress #tobichi #sunny#angouleme #baby #tekkonkinkreet

​#blackhookpress
#bontentaro #gekiga #badass #babe#katana #70s #sexandfury #indiecomics#indiepublishing #revenge #killbill#horrormanga #tattoo #barenakedladies#koenjifuckingcity #galleryhakusen#yakuza #cultclassics #yakuzatattoo #killbill#quentintarantino #pinkeiga #sexploitation#yukiomishima @horiyoshi_3 #koenji

We have started shipping our latest book pick up a copy of Tadao Tsuge's Tale of the beast.

We printed in Garo blue (old school colour inks) and I think it looks really cool.

We are also very grateful to Misuhiro Asakawa for writing the epilogue.

Tale of the Beast is a A 140 page book by the Gekiga master Tadao Tsuge. A5. Originally published in Comic Baku in December 1987.

Postscript! Chris Ware (Yes, that Chris Ware) recently talked about his fondness for Tadao Tsuge's stories,
I've posted a screenshot below!

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​This year I took time off/ a sabbatical from CAT to focus on other things so I really don't deserve the mention I get here for this years festival as I wasn't really part of it, it's all down to Aude Yukiko,Adam Pasion,Ian Lynam and several others who are shy of social media. Anyway BHP will be tabled by my often partner in crime Shinjiro Saito from Gallery Hakusen so please give him all your money for the goods. This year looks to be a solid gold line up!

​Here's an article in The Japan Times about CAT and Kaigai Festival, both of which are happening this weekend!

www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/11/18/general/pair-events-centered-non-japanese-artists-helping-build-bridges-japans-manga-market/?fbclid=IwAR12BO2pEzHSC_S-P_451zv-7B2loOAOOb_eDgXvNe1v6MRiq2N53qyUuf0#.W_OYSOgvOUl
​

Currently Japan Post, the national mail service that operates in Japan, in struggling to get all its small packets and SAL deliveries sent in a timely manner. As we ship a lot of SAL and small packets (i.e your books) this will affect delivery dates for Black Hook Books.We apologize for the inconvenience caused and we hope Japan Post can get thing back to normal as soon as possible. Below is a screen grab from Mandarake book store's website which appears to show their customers are also suffering from the current delays. Best BHP

After a late night and early morning and then a long afternoon we've submitted 'Tale of The Beast' to our printer.
We are looking forward to seeing this when it's printed. It's our first larger book that we've printed trying to replicate the colours that printers were using for Gekiga from the 60's to the 80's.
Here's the link if you haven't ordered yet - 
blackhookpress.bigcartel.com/product/kemonoki-by-tadao-tsuge-kashihon-slip-cover-edition-a5

The good folks (Ally Russell) over at Broken Frontier have done a review of Dokudami 3.
You can find a link >>HERE<<.