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.”
