青幻舎 SEIGENSHA Art Publishing

500-copy limited special edition: twelve years of commissioned works by photographer and filmmaker Yoshiyuki Okuyama.

Best Before is a definitive collection of Yoshiyuki Okuyama’s signature creative world as expressed through a hefty 500-plus pages’ worth of his commissioned output. In contrast to the regular edition with its classic and stately black cover, this 500-copy limited special edition comes in silver for a strikingly edgy look. The metallic shine carries the feel of a sleek industrial product while also having something organic about it, linking to the title and its allusion to expiration dates.

Every copy is signed and hand-numbered by the author. Inside are works of astounding quantity and quality, including collaborations with music artists Kenshi Yonezu, Gen Hoshino, Mr. Children, Radwimps, Aimyon, Masaharu Fukuyama, and Sakanaction; promotional images for Pocari Sweat, JR Skiski, NTT Docomo, and the Awaiting Kirin historical drama by NHK; projects with the magazines Vogue US, Ginza, Switch, and Hanatsubaki; and portraits of celebrity icons Suzu Hirose, Masaki Suda, Yurina Hirate, Nana Komatsu, and Tsubasa Honda.

Limited edition of 500 copies
Autographed and hand-numbered by the author
Inside pages are the same as in the regular edition

Yoshiyuki Okuyama was born in 1991 in Tokyo. He received the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award in Photography in 2011 and the Canon New Cosmos of Photography Excellence Award in 2016. Published photo collections include flowers (Akaaka Art Publishing), As the Call, So the Echo (Akaaka Art Publishing), Pocari Sweat (Seigensha), Bacon Ice Cream (Parco Publishing; Taiwanese edition, Uni-Books), Girl (Plancton), Kimi no sumu machi (The Town You Live In; Space Shower Books), Los Angeles / San Francisco (Union Publishing), The Good Side (Editions Bessard), and Ton! Tan! Pan! Don! (bookshop M); major exhibitions in Tokyo, As the Call, So the Echo (Gallery916), Bacon Ice Cream (Parco Museum), Kimi no sumu machi (Omotesando Hills Space O), White Light (Canon Gallery S), flowers (Parco Museum Tokyo), and The New Story (Post). In recent years he has focused on filmmaking.