About us
Seigensha Art Publishing, Inc.
To reveal the sense of presence in the art of today
We aim to light up human behavior from within.
Foundation
11th of October, 1995
Address
9-1, Umetada-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8136 Japan.
Publication Genre
Modern and contemporary art, photography, graphic design, fashion, crafts, architecture, Japanese culture, etc.
Number of Titles
Over 900 titles
Description
Specialising in art, design, photography and other visually oriented books, our publishing range extends to literature and criticism as well.
Seigensha Art Publishing was founded in 1995 in Kyoto. To illuminate human behavior through visually oriented books—with this as our guiding aim, we have published over 900 titles in fields ranging from contemporary art, painting, ukiyo-e and traditional Japanese art, photography, design, crafts and architecture.
Our first publication was Shō-gi – The Work of Master Carpenter Sotoji Nakamura. This deluxe edition, an in-depth compilation of the work of this great contemporary master of “Sukiya” teahouse architecture, received the Award for Excellence in Best Designed Books from All Over the World (Leipzig, Germany). It is the only book from Japan to have ever been granted this prestigious award. In 2005, Seigensha released a completely new, reprinted edition of Eikoh Hosoe’s Kamaitachi, the legendary photography book that was born out of a close collaboration between Hosoe and Butoh originator Tatsumi Hijikata. The following year, we published Hosoe’s The Butterfly Dream, another enthralling volume of photographs by Hosoe, this time featuring the work of the Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno and taken over a period of more than forty years.
We have produced many monographs and exhibition catalogues for Japanese and international artists, including Eikoh Hosoe, Naoya Hatakeyama, Rinko Kawauchi, Taiji Matsue, Tomoko Sawada, Masafumi Sanai, Issei Suda, Nobuyoshi Araki, Makoto Azuma, Shinro Ohtake, Kyoichi Tsuzuki, Akira Yamaguchi, Katsura Funakoshi, Izumi Kato, Saul Leiter and Gerhard Richter.
Our company name “Seigensha” is derived from three kanji characters: 青 (sei = “blue”), calling to mind the purity of a clear blue sky, 幻 (gen = visions or illusions), for the pursuit of dreams yet unseen, and 舎 (sha = a hut or house), signifying learning. We participate actively in art and book fairs all over the world, including Frankfurt Book Fair, Paris Photo, and many others.
Awards
【Japan Book Design Awards by Japan Book Publishers Association & Japan Federation of Printing Industries】
| 2022 – | TENDO in JAPANESE MODERN – 55th Japan Paper Association Award |
|---|---|
| 2022 – | Tomoko Sawada, To Be Bewiched by a Fox special edition – 55th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2019 – | Yusuke Oono, 360°BOOK Mount FUJI – 52th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2015 – | Kazumasa Nagai, Kazumasa Nagai: Poster Life 1957-2014 – 49th Japan Federation of Printing Industries chairman’s Award |
| 2014 – | Nikka, Creations by Nikka: A Book of Kyoto Japanese Sweets – 48th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2014 – | Mohiken (Mou Hitotsu no Kenkyujo), Para-Para Flipbooks: God of Bug Eater – 48th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2013 – | Minoru Nomata, Elements – Jury Encouragement Award |
| 2013 – | Harumin Asao, Para-Para Flipbooks: A Rendezvous of Kittens & What a Whimsy Cat! – 47th Jury Encouragement Award |
| 2004 – | Japanese Family Crests – 39th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2001 – | Seiki Nagasaki, The Traditional Colors of Japan – 36th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 2001 – | Seiki Nagasaki, Layered Colors – 36th Japan Book Publishers Association President’s Award |
| 1996 – | Pietragalla – Photographies de Claude Alexandre – 31th Jury Encouragement Award |
| 1996 – | Masao Nakamura, Shō-gi – The Work of Master Carpenter Sotoji Nakamura – 31th Minister of International Trade and Industry Award |
【Other Awards】
| 2023 – | Watanabe Koichi, Contrayerba in Dreaming – Sagamihara Photograph Award |
|---|---|
| 2023 – | The World of Setsu Asakura: Paintings, Stage Art, Picture Books – 64th Japan Catalogue Award 2023, Pictorial Record Category, Gold Prize & Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Director-General of Commerce and Information Policy Bureau’s Award |
| 2022 – | Hiroyo Kaneko, Appearance – The Society of Photography 32nd Award |
| 2022 – | The Complete Hokusai – 63th Japan Catalogue Award 2023, Pictorial Record Category, Gold Prize & National Printing Bureau President’s Award |
| 2021 – | Ai Iwane, KIPUKA – The 37th Higashikawa Awards, New Photographer Award |
| 2019 – | Issei Suda, Fragment of Everyday Life – The 31st Society of Photography Special prize |
| 2019 – | Ai Iwane, KIPUKA – The 44th Kimura Ihei Award |
| 2018 – | Shingo Kanagawa, father – Sagamihara Photograph New Face Incentive Award |
| 2018 – | Yusuke Oono, 360°BOOK – D&AD Professional Awards, Wood Pencil |
| 2018 – | Yusuke Oono, 360°BOOK – THE ONE SHOW, Silver Pencil |
| 2018 – | Toshiro Ogata, Ogata: Finding Beauty in Rustic Cuisine – Gourmand World Cookbook Award |
| 2017 – | Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Something Strange This Way – The Japan Association of Art Museum, Catalog Encouragement Award |
| 2017 – | Atsushi Suwa, Blue – 59th Japan Catalogue Award 2018, Pictorial Record Category, Silver Prize & Japan Paper Association Award |
| 2016 – | Chikara Mizukami, Ikkoan – Gourmand World Cookbook Award |
| 2016 – | Anne Nishimura Morse and Anne E. Havinga, In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respond to 3/11 – Photographic Society of Japan Awards, International Award |
| 2014 – | Natsumi Hayashi, Today’s Levitation – Sagamihara Photograph New Face Incentive Award |
| 2013 – | Taiji Matsue, jp0205 – The Society of Photography 25th Award |
| 2012 – | Shintaro Sato, Risen in the East – The 21st Tadahiko Hayashi Award |
| 2012 – | Eriko Koga, Asakusa Zenzai – Sagamihara Photograph New Face Incentive Award |
| 2011 – | Shunji Dodo, OSAKA – The Society of Photography 23rd Award |
| 2011 – | Shunji Dodo, OSAKA – The Higashikawa Awards, The Hidano Kazuemon Award |
| 2011 – | Minoru Nomata, ALTERNATIVE SIGHTS – Japan Catalogue Poster Award 2011, Japan Federation of Printing Industries Catalog Category, Encouraging Prize |
| 2011 – | Seiichi Sirai, SIRAI-ANIMA et PERSONA – Japan Catalogue Poster Award 2011, Japan Federation of Printing Industries Catalog Category, Encouraging Prize |
| 2009 – | Shiontaro Sato, Tokyo Twilight Zone – The Photographic Society of Japan, Newcomer’s Award |
| 2008 – | Eikoh Hosoe, The Butterfly Dream – The 49th Mainichi Art Prize |
| 2003 – | Maeda Haruto, Quiet Life – The Photographic Society of Japan, Newcomer’s Award |
| 1997 – | Masao Nakamura, Shō-gi – The Work of Master Carpenter Sotoji Nakamura – The Award for Excellence in Best Designed Books from All Over the World (Leipzig, Germany) |
and more
Distributor
ideabooks (https://www.ideabooks.nl/)
Inquiries
If you have any questions, please use the inquiry form (https://en.seigensha.com/contact/)
or contact us by email at: “international[at]seigensha.com” (*please change (at) to @).
