Star Graphics’ Yoshi Shimura cites a simple reason for publishing the zine Megane: “I want to liven up the Japanese art scene.” Megane does exactly that by highlighting young, new Japanese visual artists in a society usually more interested in consumer products.
The Tokyo-based Star Graphics group, formed in 2003 by Shimura and a few friends, has published only two issues of Megane and a comic book, but its goal — recognition for its featured artists — is becoming reality. By selling the zine in the United States and other countries, Shimura hopes to “introduce them to the world.”
Even the title suggests the book’s goal: “I named this zine as ‘Megane zine’ hoping that people will focus on this magazine because ‘megane’ means ‘glasses’ in Japanese,” Shimura says. The zine corrects common misconceptions about art (and Japan) by showing the full breadth of what’s being made today.
Prestige, money, and fame — as with many creators of not-especially-lucrative zines, these things don’t matter to the staff at Star Graphics. “I want to work with my favorite artists,” Shimura says. “It does not matter if the artists are big or not.”
Much more than a simply aesthetic or financial venture, Megane zine aims to increase the variety of visual culture in Japan. To this end, a few of the artists gave short, aphoristic statements to be published in the first issue of Megane zine, but Shimura’s favorite comes from Mike Mills: “Protest Against the Rising Tide of Conformity.”
The book itself is an impressive sight, with full-page, full-color reproductions of the artists’ works. True to Shimura’s comments about Japanese priorities, many of the artists are better known in other industries; some are illustrators, others graphic designers or television consultants. They surf, skate, design T-shirts, and channel their artistic talents into creating plush toys or large-scale wall decals.
Other featured artists are from California or parts of the western United States, pointing to an increased collaboration between the two cultures.
Most of the art avoids the overtly serious tone of Western creativity — the introspective or combative type that we regard as “art” in the United States. On the contrary, the examples shown here are bright, vibrant, and clearly inspired by op art and cartoons. A sense of fun and playfulness is central to the zine’s understanding of what art means.
Megane carries that playfulness into its second issue, which consciously apes the look of a children’s picture book. Shimura says of the second book, “When you read this, I hope you go back to your childhood.” He also notes that this theme will continue to be a major element of his work, as he plans to publish zines for children in the future.