Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Lead

Space is at a premium (to say the least) here in Tokyo. Two weeks ago, we headed up to the Snow Festival in Hokkaido, one of Japan's northern islands, where things are a bit more spacious and they have taken the trouble to preserve historical stuff of interest to folks like us... namely, the oldest letterpress in Hokkaido.

Letterpresses are dying out faster here than in the U.S.- a lot of folks don't have any interest in "dead technology" , and most of the private presses in the Kanto Plain (Tokyo/Yokohama/Kawasaki) are long gone. Some of the only remaining ones:

http://www.kazuipress.com/
(These folks are associated with Akira Kobayashi, so don't be getting any smart ideas...)
http://www.nakamura-katsuji.com
http://homepage2.nifty.com/tsuyuki/insatsu/

"Teppan Insatsu" is the Japanese term for letterpress, or "活版印刷所" if you prefer.
The Hokkaido press is still in working condition, and boasts one of the oldest type collections in all of Japan.
It was pretty amazing. I uploaded a Flickr set for those interested to check out. Just hit the link above.



In other typographic news, the new issue of IDEA magazine is an all-Jan Tschichold issue. Ultra-ultra-rare reprints, rad essays, his original type designs, beautiful reproductions of his stunning book typography, and photos of him looking all weird and stuffy and anal. Just breathtaking. It even has a tipped-in reproduction of Tschichold's rad and ultra-prim evaluation of the form and use of the ampersand, translated into Japanese for the first time. Just bananas.
Check your better newsstands or hit me up if IDEA doesn't come to your town.