Presentation Talk at the Miniature Book Society 40th Conclave, Los Angeles
August25, 2024

Miyako Akai Talk

1. Why I started making miniature books

I'm Miyako Akai, a book artist.
I was a child who loved books. I also loved making crafts with paper.
I didn't know what I wanted to become, but when I was a university student, I majored in architecture and got my doctorate (Ph. D). In architecture, I learned about the beauty of creating three-dimensional objects and how to continue and complete a project until the end. However, the bubble economy burst before I graduated, so I didn't get a job in architecture.
I went back to my love of books and decided to aim to be a novelist, so I wrote a novel and sent it to a public competition, and was a finalist. Around that time, there was an event where people could sell their own literary works, and in order to enter the event, I made a book of the story I had written. That is the book.

�yphoto 1�z
I didn't have any funds, so I used my computer to layout the book and printed it out on a printer. When I tried to staple the stack of paper, I realized that it was too thick and the needle wouldn't go through. A friend sent me a link to a website on how to do Japanese binding. After seeing it, I made a Japanese-style binding book myself. I felt that simply binding it with normal thread would be boring, so I bound it with a fishing line to express the fantastical atmosphere of the book's contents.

�yphoto 2�z
I also put some thought into the inside of the book, and created a layout with some decorations.
The contents of the book are my original stories. I have written long stories, but when making my own book, I thought that short stories are easier to make because they have fewer pages, and that buyers would be interested in buying them because they are unusual, so I created a collection of short stories that tell a story within the constraint of 1,000 characters.
The book sales event was well received, and I made 20 copies of this book twice. After the event, I sold them on the website, and they sold out soon after.
I realized how interesting it was to see the books I made sell right in front of my eyes.
The event continued in the following year, so I thought I should make something more. I thought that a book with one short story would be more fitting, so I made a book that expressed a unique short story. For example, this is how it turned out.

�yphoto 3�z
This is a scroll in a bottle, and I put two beads in it, so when you lift it up, it makes a small sound.
I also made a book like this.

�yphoto 4�z
This would later be remade into a letterpress-printed miniature book called "Greetings from Here." I've brought the actual thing with me today, so you can take a look at it later.
At the time, my concept was that there are stories in our lives, so I also made mini hanging scrolls like this bookmark.

�yphoto 5�z
In this way, I became busy making books and paper products, and my novelist friends lamented that Akai was so busy making things that she no longer had time to write novels.
This is my sixth work, which I made in 2004, three years after I started making books.

�yphoto 6�z
The book was small because the story was short. It's about a bird trapped in a cage. Because of the cost of the cage, the book contained only 3,000 characters, but it cost 700 yen ($7), which seemed expensive for a book market event.
When I took some of the remaining books to a gallery in a used bookstore, the owner told me that they were miniature books, that there are collectors of miniature books all over the world, and that the fact that they are small but expensive is a good thing for a small store and makes them easy to display.
That was the first time I became aware of miniature books.
When the keyword "miniature books" came to mind, I learned that there was a market event selling miniature books. When I set up a stall, a fellow stallholder bought this work in a cage. He liked my story and wanted to illustrate it himself. And he suggested that we should enter it in a competition together. He told me about the International Miniature Book Competition, which has been running for 22 years.
The person he was talking to was Takayuki Nakamura, and he made his name as a collaborator.
And so we created "Caged".

�yphoto 7�z
It was a difficult technique to fit the book into the regulation of 3 inches (76.3 mm) or less.
I read the competition application guidelines over and over again on the Miniature Book Society website.
Nakamura and I exchanged countless emails, and prototypes were sent back and forth between us by mail many times, and by some miracle, the work was completed before the deadline.
This was the first hardcover miniature book I had made. I was the first Japanese person to win the Miniature Book Society competition. I was very surprised, grateful, and happy that the miniature book we made, which no one knew about in faraway Japan, was accepted by such a historic award.
We sent the news of our award to various media, and radio and magazines came to interview us. I suddenly became famous in that world.
The email from the society informing me of the award was very polite, and kindly asked me to apply again. I had mistakenly thought that winning once was the end, but it made me think that I could apply again. I was also very rewarded and happy when people who had seen the competition catalog sent me mail-order requests, and the miniature book sold out for 18,000 yen ($180). I realized that I had been holding back my artistic talent by trying to make it affordable for my friends.
So next I created "Dancing on the Clouds". It's about catching clouds, and I made it in collaboration with letterpress printing and a mohair knitted jacket.


�yphoto 8�z
This work won the award again the following year.
I received another order for the catalog, sent it to Washington D.C. by mail, and started my next collaboration with one who sent me an email poem of it's impressions.
When I found out I had won the award, I decided to learn Relieur in earnest and signed up for a regular course. I was immediately asked to hold workshops, and while I was learning bookbinding, I also acted as a teacher.

�yphoto 9�z
It can be said that miniature books have become a new boom in Japan. I was featured in newspapers alongside Bill Gates, and I was also on television many times.

�yphoto 10�z
I held bookbinding workshops in various places, such as book cafes, used book fairs, libraries, and cultural schools, and taught more than 200 people, mostly beginners.


2. The Life of a Book Artist

So in 2002, I made my first book, and in 2006, I won my first prize at a miniature book competition. I felt that I was being called to make miniature books, and so I started on the path of miniature books. Since then, I have been working as a full-time miniature book artist for 18 years.
What does it mean to make miniature books?
My current studio looks like this.

�yphoto 11�z
There are three desks, a computer, a letterpress printer, a press, etc.

While bookbinders only make the outside of the book, I start with a plan for the book to be made.
I think about the contents first, asking myself, "What kind of book should I make?"
Sometimes I make a book about my own story, and other times I want to make a book about a famous work that I like.
I think that the contents of a book are the most important part of a book, so I carefully consider the contents and spend time making sure that it has a beautiful layout.
To make a book, I have to choose one. It's fine if the website is constantly being updated, but to make a book, it means fixing the words and pictures on paper.
For example, about six months pass after you start designing. Then, one day, you decide to submit your work. The cost of the paper and printing is the most expensive part of making a book, so you proceed carefully to avoid having to redo things.

After printing the text and pictures, the contents to be bound are finally ready. Printing can be done with a computer printer or letterpress printing. I do the letterpress myself or order it from a printing company. Sometimes I collaborate with designers. I studied architecture, so I am used to experts working together to create something without feeling strange.


�yphoto 12�z
This is me at a letterpress printing company deciding on the amount of ink and pressure with a printer. The printed matter arrives about a week later.
Printing is hard work, but it can be done in a few days.
After that, I spend a few months binding the book.

My work is mainly that of a bookbinder, but sometimes I am a designer, editor, painter, author, and seller.
My heart is that of a poet and artist.

I have the temperament of a novelist, and want to share my stories with the world, so I basically make books to sell. I make as many as possible by hand. I usually make about 20 copies of each book. At least 5 copies, at most 200 copies. Sometimes I print about 400 copies and use them as materials for workshops.


�yphoto 13�z
People often ask me how long it takes to make one book.
I work on about 20 books at a time, so I'm not sure how long it takes for each book, but the planning and content takes about six months to two years.
Once it's printed and bound, it takes about three months.
The seasons change while binding a book.

When I calculated it during the year when I had a solo exhibition, which was a very busy year, I calculated that I was making one special edition per week that year. I did the typesetting, printing, binding, and even making the boxes myself. It was a busy year.

Over the past 18 years, I have made over 2,000 miniature books. Since it is handmade, one person cannot make an unlimited number of them. Some galleries tell people not to make too many to increase the rarity value, but second-hand bookstores tell me that if they make too few copies, there will be no works left. I have made as many as I can.


�yphoto 14�z
For example, during the bookbinding process, it gets messy like this.
Once all the materials for binding are gathered, they are bound together with needles and thread. Bookmaking is a process of accumulation.
One task is piled on top of another.
There are parts that cannot be changed, but by adding another task, it has to become more beautiful than it is now.
There are times when it doesn't seem like everything is going well, but if you don't give up and keep working, it will be completed someday.


�yphoto 15�z
This is the leather being scraped to attach the leather cover.
Book covers can be made of leather, cloth, paper, etc. The outside depends on the content of the book. In my case, I make books as art that expresses the content.
For example, I made - Alice in Wonderland with a leather cover because I think it would look good in red leather, just like Carroll did.


�yphoto 16�z
When I first started making books, I didn't know how to make the shapes I wanted.
Over the course of 10 years, I went to several bookbinding studios and bookbinders once a week to learn how to make traditional hand-made books. I expanded my skills and became able to make complex shapes.


�yphoto 17�z
Because it's a three-dimensional object, there are some things you can't know until you make it. How the corners fit together, the back side, the gravity when tilted, etc.
You don't appreciate art objects by turning them upside down to look at the bottom, but with a book, it has to remain beautiful even when it's turned over. Small books in particular are easily knocked over carelessly, but we want them to have an appearance that shows they are not toys but works of art, to be treasured and treated with care, and not to be looked down upon even though they are small.
It must be opened, read, and then closed again.


�yphoto 18�z
When making a book, it is easiest to make a prototype using actual paper.
Then, change any parts that you think are not right.
Just as you would revise a sentence, revise the shape as well.
One way to do this is to try changing to a different paper if the paper feels a little thick.
The margins and cover in the book are also big factors.
A millimeter makes a big difference in the case of a small book.


�yphoto 19�z
Set aside your own preconceptions and look at the book you are working on.
And what do you want this book to be?
Set aside the path you wanted to follow and listen to the opinions of the printed paper.
Then aim for a beautiful shape.


�yphoto 20�z
I hold classes in this studio once every two months. Since I'm busy with my work, it's difficult for me to devote a lot of time to classes.

In addition to regular classes, I hold workshops when there is demand. For example, in a workshop we made a book like this, where the author used letterpress to set their own words, added pictures, and bound them.


�yphoto 21�z
I also accept custom orders.
This is an example of a miniature book I made to order. I made only 20 copies, and they were sold at the Letterpress Museum, and they were sold out soon.



3. Now, I will show you how these book events usually are in various countries around the world.


�yphoto 22�z
Now, during my 18 years of activity, I have published three books and held workshops and solo exhibitions in various places.

If I only sought encounters in Japan, I would be in a narrow world.
Therefore, I go to events, thinking that there must be someone somewhere else in the world who needs my book.
When someone who says, "I understand, I understand," we are able to connect through that object. Even if we are on the other side of the world, or years apart.

I think book art is at the cutting edge of art. Books themselves are old and familiar objects that have existed with the history of mankind, but if artists learn printing and bookbinding, it is possible for them to express themselves through books. In a sense, I feel that there are new possibilities in Renaissance-like comprehensive art. Proof that I am not the only one who has noticed the potential of art books, as art book festivals are being held all over the place.



�yphoto 23, 24�z
October 2017, 3rd Hong Kong Art Book Festival
A large public space renovated from an apartment building is provided for art. A public institution in Hong Kong invited me as an artist to participate in an exhibition and hold a workshop.



�yphoto 25, 26�z
October 2018, Sharjah International Book Fair, Sharjah, UAE (United Arab Emirates)
The 40th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF)
I was invited by the book fair to hold a miniature book workshop as one way to introduce Japanese culture.
It was the largest book fair in the world, and there were so many people that it was difficult to take good photos.
A special booth was set up for the workshop, and students came by school bus.



�yphoto 27, 28�z
April 2023, Solo exhibition in Nakano, Tokyo
I also exhibited five works that won a competition.
Some people are surprised that books can be exhibited in a gallery. In other words, some people did not know that there were books that could be viewed enough to be appreciated in a gallery.



4. Now, I will talk about what I think about the potential of miniature books as book art.


�yphoto 29�z
Miniature books have the freedom that comes from their small size.
Light paper allows you to do many things.
You can create shapes almost free from gravity.
Lightness allows freedom of expression.
Large books display authority, knowledge, and grandeur.
They have a great expanse of space.
Small books are closer to you. They are familiar and have an inward expanse.
Even a small screen can contain a wide range of content.

Japanese people like bonsai and haiku.
It is a culture of expression within a limited space.
I like to see the universe in a small space. So, I do the same.

Books connect people.
Paper exists because of the culture in which it was made.
Ink and printing technology are both cultures that have come from a long history of humankind.
Binding is connecting. Long, homogenous threads are also cultural objects.
The contents of a book are people's words and pictures, and are the source of humanity.
Books can communicate with people of the future and the past. It is something that connects people.

In the past, books were custom-made for royalty and temples, and were expensive.

Now, as an artist, I make books for people who want them.
I want books to exist as art that is dear to people's lives, something that even ordinary people can buy if they wish to do so.

Books have an interesting way of unfolding.
They can do things that a single picture cannot.
Pictures and text marry.


�yphoto 30�z
Books have a history. Traditional shapes and styles of each ethnic group already exist for thousands of years.
I am now making new books from among them.
I use old knowledge. And I make new books.
I make books because I want to make books that have never been seen before.

There is also a secondhand book market for books, so they are valued across the ages.
Nowadays, digital books are on the rise. That is why it is meaningful to make books that are tangible. The texture of paper stimulates the brain.
The brain probably likes complex things. It likes things that are tangible.
The surprise you feel when you open it. The feeling of a different landscape unfolding as you turn the page.
A sense of nostalgia, as if you are entering a familiar landscape.


�yphoto 31�z
Everyone knows what a book is.
At first, it is surprising because it's small.
But it doesn't stop there.
It may be small, but it has content that makes it worth reading.
No matter how many times you read it, it's interesting enough that you never get tired of looking at it.
There's something unique to discover.
That's the kind of book I usually aim to create.

In my case, the story begins when you see the outside of the book.
The shape of a small book is like a stage setting.
I want to convey a story that only this stage setting can bring to life.


�yphoto 32�z
My next challenge is to create a book through crowdfunding.
I want to deliver a story that can only be reached by a few dozen people with a handmade miniature book to 1,000 people.
Here's how it all started.
In 2016, I made 30 copies of the miniature book "Voyage of the Sea." This book sold out after a while. The content of the book is my original story.
When I had a solo exhibition in 2020, I exhibited the sold-out miniature book and set up a reading experience.
Among the people who read it, a man and a woman hit it off, saying that "Voyage of the Sea" was their favorite, and they happily got married.
And so, despite it being such a wonderful story, only 30 copies exist in the world, and we wanted to change the situation where it is out of print, so we started this project.
Since last year, I have been making prototypes of the miniature book over and over, and I will make 300 copies in the future. This is a book printed using letterpress in Japanese.
And we would like to make about 1,500 copies of a slightly larger book that can be found in regular bookstores, and we are trying to do crowdfunding to achieve this. This book will be in Japanese and in English.
This photo was taken at a meeting two days before my flight to the Conclave.
We will start crowdfunding in October.


Thank you for listening.

5. Now, I've brought along some actual miniature books, so please take a look at them.

copyrightMiyako Akai, 2011-2024. All rights reserved.