Kotori Kawashima's Mirai-chan follows one little girl on Sado Island for a year, through the island's four seasons. First published in 2011, it became a hit that sold 130,000 copies. In 2024, Nanarokusha published a new edition, with six photographs added and remade with more beautiful printing and binding.
A summer that waited thirteen years
During the making of Mirai-chan, Kawashima also photographed summer landscapes across Europe. Thirteen years later, this "lost summer journey" became a photobook of its own: vocalise, published by Nanarokusha in 2024.
A vocalise is a song sung only on vowels, without words. The book holds the fresh world that Mirai-chan sees before it turns into words.
Read them side by side
One book is a year on an island in Japan. The other is a single summer far away from it. Both were designed by Shin Sofue and Tomoka Ono (cozfish), and both come in A5 hardcover.
- Mirai-chan (New Edition) — 208 pages
- vocalise — 128 pages
About Kotori Kawashima
Kawashima graduated in French literature from Waseda University. Kawashima's photobooks include BABY BABY, Mirai-chan, Myojo and vocalise. Kawashima received the 42nd Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for photography and the 40th Kimura Ihei Photography Award.