#Nyarakee

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Igusa Hachimangu, Kichijoji 

Contax TVSiii

Photographer: Marcel Castenmiller / website / instagram

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Spotted in Yanaka: a vintage (1999) Nobuyoshi Araki “Nyarakee” plush doll, ironically informing passers-by that the cat-themed shop/cafe that it is hung across from is not to be photographed. 

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Published in 1999, Nyarakee is a unique photo/picture book of Nobuyoshi Araki’s photographs and cute cartoons of the photographer and his co-photographers from his company, AaT ROOM.  

“Nyarakee ニャラーキー” is a amalgamation of “Nya Nya”, (Japanese for a cat’s “meow”) and Araki’s “Genius Arachy 天才アラーキー” title, itself an (often inconsistently romanized) original word made up of “Araki” and “Anarchy”.  Said aloud in Japanese “Nyarakee” sounds as cute as his caricature looks.   

Content-wise, the book pairs black and white street photography from his Life By Leica series, flowers, and general 6x7 Tokyo landscapes. Notably absent are any images or references to making images that would be inappropriate for an audience of children.  The plot* is a meandering and non-sensical “day in the life” self introduction story that’s riddled with puns.  Indeed, early in the book Nyarakee tells the reader that he likes to shout  “Cheese!”, and then over the next three pages continues with his dairy product joke with “Butter”, “Yogurt”, and “Milk”.  

This book was part of the “Project A” label through which a collection of merchandise was created (I believe) to coincide with the massive Araki show Sentimental Photography, Sentimental Life that was held at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art in 1999.  Project A items included this book, Nyarakee Cell Phone straps, enamel pins, large plush dolls, and even plush, talking dolls (neither of which I have not ever been able to find for sale).

Nyarakee is a staple of the Jimbocho Bookshop scene- copies are not rare and go for about 1000 yen each.  I suggest contacting Japan Exposures for any Japanese photobook-sourcing needs.

*there’s really not a plot. Nyarakee takes photos. He eats fish. He says he is king of his balcony. It’s just super cute.