Kaijutachi (signed book)/Takashi Ishida

A picture book as a work of art, exploring the origins of artist Takashi Ishida's creative process.

Takashi Ishida is an artist who has received high acclaim both in Japan and internationally for his video works that continuously film the paintings he creates. His first picture book is a "wordless picture book" composed of various images of "monsters" that Ishida drew in his childhood and that were kept by his grandmother.

However, from the cover to the main text, the entire book is covered in silver, and the illustrations and silhouettes are skillfully arranged on the pages. The book's design, which even cleverly controls the paper's transparency and show-through, allows the "monsters" to speak more eloquently than words can.

The book includes a poem by poet Tetsuo Yaguchi titled "Maya (Takashi Ishida's Ghosts, Monsters, and Angels)" at the end. This picture book is a fusion of the eloquence of its images and the rich imagery evoked by poetry.

Book title: Kaijuu-tachi

Author: Takashi Ishida

Edited by: Kenji Igarashi

Design: Takahiro Furuya

Photography: Haruyuki Shirai

Format: A4 size (modified) / hardcover

Number of pages: 40 pages

List price: 2,700 yen + tax

ISBN 978-4-910315-58-4 C0771

Takashi Ishida

Artist/video artist. Born in Tokyo in 1972. Began serious painting in his teens, and started video production around 1992. His work "Room/Form" (1999) won a special prize at the "Image Forum Festival 1999". His commissioned work "The Art of Fugue" (2001) from the Aichi Arts Center has attracted attention, and he has since participated in film festivals and art exhibitions both in Japan and abroad. He received the Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award for Emerging Artists in 2007. He received the 75th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for Artistic Excellence in 2025. Professor at Tama Art University.