Kikan Ken No. 1― Alas! Expo
The first issue of KEN, a legendary independent quarterly magazine published in just three volumes between 1970 and 1971 by Shomei Tomatsu’s own publishing house, Shaken.
This debut issue presents a searing critique of Expo ’70, held in Osaka. The intensity of its rage―bordering on grudge and mockery―goes beyond simple criticism and pervades the entire publication. Viewed alongside the upcoming 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, it starkly reveals the shifting cultural and political tides between eras.
Although KEN is primarily a text-based magazine, it is recognised for its high-quality photographic content. This issue opens with a 33-page photo essay by Shomei Tomatsu titled Expo Bastard, printed in rich gravure blacks that lend the images the power and depth of a photobook.
"We are launching the quarterly magazine KEN.
KEN is not an acronym. KEN is a sword that kills, a hijacking incident (ken), an expedition (ken), a betting ticket (ken), ferocity, Shaken, civil engineering, vested interests, exposure, society, the Communist bloc, ramen shop Raiken, first experiences, prefectures, rock-paper-scissors, Kao soap, Achilles tendon, Ken-san Takakura’s Ken...
And there's more: copyright, ennui, microscopes, the hell of swords, Uesugi Ken-gō, scheming, toil of dogs and horses, Kenji Mizoguchi, comeback, gunman, Ken Domon, Steichen, Enoken, Frankenstein, centaur, misjudgment, self-censorship, authorised textbooks, constitutional amendment, military police, detention, stool tests, digestive pills, kenchin-jiru, good wife wise mother, six relatives, shoulder blades, high spirits, stubbornness, Prosecutor General, licensed geisha, dispatch, family authority, feudalism, Kodan virtues, flattery to the powerful, world in a green onion, endurance, strained logic, health insurance, amnesia, and endless arguments, and being curt.
And KEN―to us who obsess over seeing―is also sight." (From the foreword)
Selected Contents:
Expo Bastard―Shomei Tomatsu
Hijacking – Shukuro Ishido + Akiyuki Nosaka
Expo as Atomic Amnesia – Tsunehisa Kimura
The End of Modernity―Koji Taki
Pure Nude – Shigeteru Kiya
An Eye for an Eye – Zatsuga Jingun
Loathing the Expo – Tatsuhiko Shibusawa
Friend – Nagisa Oshima
The Expo as a Ruin of Culture – Ichiro Hariu
Cruel Festival – Masayuki Fujino
Arise, This Funeral Procession – Tatsuo Fukushima
Where Have All the Flowers Gone – SS
Senri Hills, 1962 – Second-year students, Yamada Junior High School
To All the Visitors of Expo from Around the World: Kamagasaki Curses the Expo―Kamagasaki Liberation Front
The Expo and Kamagasaki – All Japan Dockworkers Union, Kansai District, Nishiniari Branch
The Fifth National Industrial Exhibition – S
Afterword – Yoshio Sawano
Illustrations: Shigeteru Kiya
Photographs: Shomei Tomatsu
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Title: Kikan KEN No.1 – Alas! Expo
Artist: Various
Publisher: Shaken (Shomei Tomatsu), 1970
Format: Softcover
Size: 230 × 190 mm
Pages: 148 pages
Language: Japanese
Edition: First edition
Price: ¥22,000
Condition: Good ―minor age-related toning and spotting. There are no tears or damage, and the overall condition is good.