[Kasutori Magazine] - 猟奇 Ryoki no.2 [‘Bizarre’]

[Kasutori Magazine]
猟奇 Ryoki no.2 [‘Bizarre’]
First edition periodical in illustrated wrappers (26 x 18cm). [34pp]. Small b&w illustrations throughout. [Tokyo?] Akane Shobo, 1946.
Wrappers and pages somewhat browned with a hole to the middle of one page.

A striking example of a Kasutori Magazine issued in post War Japan with the liberalisation of publication laws. Named after a cheap rice liquor, a Kasutori publication was typically printed on poor quality scrap paper. The magazines were low priced and featured erotic content combined with ‘guro’ (bizarreness and crime) together with pornographic writing and sexually explicit illustrations. This particular issue, entitled ‘Bizarre’, was eventually censored for indecency. With small b&w illustrations in the text often of nude women bathing or reclining. The attractive Art Deco cover design is by Ayao Yamana, whose refined and contemporary interpretation of feminine beauty became renowned in his illustrations for the cosmetics firm Shiseido.