Synopses & Reviews
andlt;bandgt;This prize-winning book is both an illustrated tour of a Tokyo rarely seen in Japan travel guides and an artist's warm, funny, visually rich, and always entertaining graphic memoir.andlt;/bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Florent Chavouet, a young graphic artist, spent six months exploring Tokyo while his girlfriend interned at a company there. Each day he would set forth with a pouch full of color pencils and a sketchpad, and visit different neighborhoods. This stunning book records the city that he got to know during his adventures. It isn't the Tokyo of packaged tours and glossy guidebooks, but a grittier, vibrant place, full of ordinary people going about their daily lives and the scenes and activities that unfold on the streets of a bustling metropolis.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Here you find business men and women, hipsters, students, grandmothers, shopkeepers, policemen, and other urban types and tribes in all manner of dress and hairstyles. A temple nestles among skyscrapers; the corner grocery anchors a diverse assortment of dwellings, cafes, and shopsand#8212;often tangled in electric lines. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The artist mixes styles and tags his pictures with wry comments and observations. Realistically rendered advertisements or posters of pop stars contrast with cartoon sketches of iconic objects or droll vignettes, like a housewife walking her pet pig, a Godzilla statue in a local park, and an urban fishing pond that charges 400 yen per half hour.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;This very personal guide to Tokyo is organized by neighborhood with hand-drawn maps that provide an overview of each neighborhood, but what really defines them is what caught the artist's eye and attracted his formidable drawing talent. Florent Chavouet begins his introduction by observing that, "Tokyo is said to be the most beautiful of ugly cities." With wit, a playful sense of humor, and the multicolor pencils of his kit, he sets aside the question of urban ugliness or beauty and captures the Japanese essence of a great city in this truly vital portrait.
Review
"This stunning book records the city that [Florent Chavouet] got to know during his adventures, a gritty, vibrant place, full of ordinary people going about their daily lives. Realistically rendered city views or posters of pop stars contrast with cartoon sketches of iconic objects or droll vignettesandhellip;With wit, a playful sense of humor, and the colored pencils of his kit, Chavouet sets aside the question of urban ugliness or beauty and captures the Japanese essence of a great city." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;Japan Todayandlt;/bandgt;
Review
"A chef-d'ouevre of graphic art."—Cafes Geographiques
Review
"[andlt;Iandgt;Tokyo on Footandlt;/iandgt;] will make readers with wanderlust wish to drop their everyday responsibilities and trek through a foreign city. It will appeal to the armchair traveler who yearns for a bit of the exotic, the wanderer who wants to someday visit the Land of the Rising Sun, and, indeed, anyone who appreciates the marriage of grit and beauty, self-deprecating wit, and losing oneself in good pictures for a while." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;ForeWord Reviewsandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
"This is a wonderful gem of a book. It's a quirky, graphic 'guidebook' filled with beautifully rendered and detailed doodlings that capture vignettes of the city seen through the eyes of a resident, rather than a tourist." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;SimplyFabulicious.comandlt;/bandgt;
Review
"From what Chavouet saw, did, ateand#8212;bugs, festivals, storefronts, a fake French mansion, random drinks and snacksand#8212;his illustrations catch perfect little details you'll never find in any guide book. His myriad of people caught in the midst of their everyday lives are undoubtedly the book's highlight. [andhellip;] By the time he's back in his native France, he's got an award-winning, fascinating book that surely makes for ideal reading for both armchair tourists and peripatetic travelers alike." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;Book Dragon (Smithsonian Institute)andlt;/bandgt;
Review
"Besides the awesomeness of the maps, most of the book is full of odd findings and experiences that the author found himself in. I find the book to be pure genius and I am very happy that I picked it up without a second thought. It's all the little additions in the book that make it most worthwhile and I think it makes a great addition to any collection of books." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;Yonasu.comandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
andlt;divandgt;"From what Chavouet saw, did, ateand#8212;bugs, festivals, storefronts, a fake French mansion, random drinks and snacksand#8212;his illustrations catch perfect little details you'll never find in any guide book. His myriad of people caught in the midst of their everyday lives are undoubtedly the book's highlight. [...] By the time he's back in his native France, he's got an award-winning, fascinating book that surely makes for ideal reading for both armchair tourists and peripatetic travelers alike."and#8212;BookDragon.si.eduandlt;/divandgt;
Review
"A chef-d'ouevre of graphic art."and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Cafes Geographiquesandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"His drawings are so wonderfully idiosyncratic and so beautifully detailed that what must have been a labor of love for him is no less a labor of delightful artistic genius." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;Publishers Weeklyandlt;/iandgt; starred reviewandlt;/bandgt;
Review
"andhellip;as for Chavouetand#8212;colorful, farcical, artistically superior Chavouetand#8212;his way of seeing Japan is insightful and entertaining for over two hundred pages. The execution is confidentand#8212;a positive side-effect of it having no agenda but to represent his individual experience." and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;Axiom Magazineandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
"The book captures the feel and spirit of the Japanese metropolis in comical sketches, sparse writings and whimsical, hand-drawn city maps. The book is a diary of Chavouet's six months in Tokyo. And, it's worth the money, at least for people who can appreciate Chavouet's observations on life in Japan and who can enjoy his artwork, which is intriguing, if somewhat reminiscent of classic Mad Magazine drawings. Chavouet depicts the everyday sights of Tokyoand#8212;much of which are universal sights in homogeneous Japanand#8212;in a way that's so detailed that you feel as if you can walk into the pages. It's almost like the feeling you get when you see one of those picture-perfect towns made of Legos. "and#8212;andlt;bandgt;About.comandlt;/bandgt;
Synopsis
This prize-winning book is both an illustrated tour of a Tokyo rarely seen in Japan travel guides and an artist's warm, funny, visually rich, and always entertaining graphic memoir.
Florent Chavouet, a young graphic artist, spent six months exploring Tokyo while his girlfriend interned at a company there. Each day he would set forth with a pouch full of color pencils and a sketchpad, and visit different neighborhoods. This stunning book records the city that he got to know during his adventures. It isn't the Tokyo of packaged tours and glossy guidebooks, but a grittier, vibrant place, full of ordinary people going about their daily lives and the scenes and activities that unfold on the streets of a bustling metropolis.
Here you find business men and women, hipsters, students, grandmothers, shopkeepers, policemen, and other urban types and tribes in all manner of dress and hairstyles. A temple nestles among skyscrapers; the corner grocery anchors a diverse assortment of dwellings, cafes, and shops--often tangled in electric lines.
The artist mixes styles and tags his pictures with wry comments and observations. Realistically rendered advertisements or posters of pop stars contrast with cartoon sketches of iconic objects or droll vignettes, like a housewife walking her pet pig, a Godzilla statue in a local park, and an urban fishing pond that charges 400 yen per half hour.
This very personal guide to Tokyo is organized by neighborhood with hand-drawn maps that provide an overview of each neighborhood, but what really defines them is what caught the artist's eye and attracted his formidable drawing talent. Florent Chavouet begins his introduction by observing that, "Tokyo is said to be the most beautiful of ugly cities." With wit, a playful sense of humor, and the multicolor pencils of his kit, he sets aside the question of urban ugliness or beauty and captures the Japanese essence of a great city in this truly vital portrait.
Synopsis
A graphic memoir and sketchbook, with hand-drawn maps
Synopsis
Florent Chavouet, a young graphic artist, spent six months exploring Tokyo while his girlfriend interned at a company there. Each day he would set forth, with a pouch full of colored pencils and a sketchpad, to visit different neighborhoods. This stunning book records the city that he got to know during his adventures, a gritty, vibrant place, full of ordinary people going about their daily lives. Realistically rendered city views or posters of pop stars contrast with cartoon sketches of iconic objects or droll vignettes, like a housewife walking her pet pig and a Godzilla statue in a local park.
With wit, a playful sense of humor, and the colored pencils of his kit, Florent Chavouet sets aside the question of urban ugliness or beauty and captures the Japanese essence of a great city.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Florent Chavouetandlt;/bandgt; is a young graphic artist and author living in Paris. When he returned from Japan, he realized that all the observing and sketching he had done in Tokyo led to his evolution as an artist. This is his first book. florentchavouet.com