Happy Victims
Kyoichi Tsuzuki
Apartamento
English
Hardcover
184 pages
300 x 230 mm
2025
ISBN 9788409732692
Between 1999 and 2006, before fast fashion and social media changed the world forever, Kyoichi Tsuzuki published 87 instalments of his Happy Victims series in the fashion magazine Ryuko Tsushin. In cramped quarters across Tokyo, these anonymous disciples joyously detailed the ritual and the sacrifice of their brand-name obsessions. A Buddhist monk with a Comme des Garçons shopping habit, an Alexander McQueen collector listening to neighbours through paper-thin walls—photographed at home, their collections before them, Kyoichi’s anti-heroes exist in parallel to the fashion universe of fame, fantasy, and glamour. Happy Victims was first published in book form in 2008. Long out of print, this edition follows Apartamento’s reissue of Kyoichi’s earlier seminal work, Tokyo Style. The new hardcover design comes with an updated foreword by the author, Japanese photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki, and an introduction by Isabella Burley of Climax Books.
While the cover and belly band have been completely reworked, in collaboration with designer Han Gao, the book’s interior maintains a simple, documental format: one happy victim per spread, Kyoichi’s photos supplemented by a short commentary on the individual and his or her daily schedule. Not typically members of the leisure class, the goths, Lolitas, and stringent Margiela fans must also go to work and find time to care for their clothes.
(Source: https://www.apartamentomagazine.com/product/happy-victims-book)
About the Artist
Kyoichi Tsuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1956. From 1976 to 1986, he was a freelance editor for the influential men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines “Popeye” and “Brutus,” where he wrote on contemporary art, design, urban living, and related topics. From 1989 to 1992, he published “Art Random (Kyoto Shoin),” a 102-volume series covering 1980s trends in global contemporary art. He continues to write and edit works on contemporary art, architecture, photography, design, and more. In 1993, he released the photobook “Tokyo Style (Kyoto Shoin),” which depicts the living spaces of Tokyoites in a raw, unfiltered context; in 1997, he received the Kimura Ihei Award for his photobook “Roadside Japan (Aspect, 1997),” which marked the start of a still-ongoing project to document roadside subjects both in Japan and abroad.
https://www.instagram.com/kyoichitsuzuki
(Source: https://www.shashasha.co/en/artist/kyoichi-tsuzuki)
About the Publisher
Apartamento launched in 2008 with its namesake magazine, widely recognised as today’s most influential, inspiring, and honest interiors publication. Its publishing branch began in 2015 as a natural extension of the stories and ideas that have grown out of the magazine. In addition to its monographs and photo books, its catalogue also includes thematic cookbooks, architecture series, colouring books, and even a graphic novel.
https://www.apartamentomagazine.com
(Source: https://www.apartamentomagazine.com/stories)
