Shinjuku Guntoden

Edition : First / Tokyo / Banseisha / 1982 / Softcover. / Near Fine / VG+
4to, 224pp. Beige wraps in printed dustwrap. Numerous Black & White plates. Text in Japanese.

Revised printing of Watanabe’s legendary book. The original was printed in either 500 or 1000 copies, nobody is quite sure, with half being lost to water damage. During the late sixties and early seventies Watanabe earned his living as a portrait photographer, shooting his subjects on the street and then selling them a print for 200 yen. This book is a collection of shots from the period- prostitutes, gangsters, cross dressers, night faces, gay men and party goers. The most authentic portrait of an underground world, which Watanabe was himself a part of for many years.

See inside