CHIRASHI - TOKYO PUNK & NEW WAVE 78-80s

Japanese, 480 pages, paper back (21 x 30cm), 970 grams, with obi
ISBN: 978-4-909856-05-0
Publisher: SLOGAN (Japan)
Date of publication: March 31, 2022

‘Chirashi’ is a noun meaning 'flyers’ in Japanese derived from the verb system ‘chirasu', that means 'scatter', 'millstone' or 'distribute'.

The great wave of punk rock/post punk/new wave prosperity in Japan from 1978 onwards was supported by the inexpensive paper medium of ‘chirashi (=flyers)’. Most groups and musicians of the time used ‘chirashi’ to deliver their gig and release information to their audiences, ‘chirashi’ brought people together, and ‘chirashi’ were literally ‘chirasareta (distributed and disappeared!)’.

This book “CHIRASHI” gathers nearly 800(!!) flyers that were distributed and disappeared from the music scene after the Tokyo Rockers―a legendary group that was the catalyst for the emergence of the scene―that took off in 1978. It is a visual history of the Japanese independent music scene from the late 70s to mid 80s as seen through ‘chirashi’.

“CHIRASHI” is the ‘museums’ of Japanese indie rock flyers―almost all from the underground scene―ever published, and it is the passion of the people involved and the artists of the time that has enabled this collection of flyers, an existence doomed to consumption and disappearance because it is a medium of primary communication, to reach this amazing scale.

This publication was organized by BASE, a record shop in Tokyo.

Edited by Toshio Iizima and Hiroichi Furukawa