Scandalous Metropolitan

Not smoked or injected, but absorbed sublingually and slowly, "Scandalous Metropolitan" is an undemanding fix of the coolest city in the world - something to browse through, there on the shelf when you need it. This book is a collection of Tokyo 'stuff'. Street photography is the key ingredient, but it's not a photography book. The scrapbook concept comes close; we'd rather steer clear of the craft, memorabilia and PH-neutral paper image it brings to mind. It will cater to those with an interest in the city, and those with an obsession. It won't explain Japanese pop culture and fashion in pedantic detail because it's 2008 and the world already knows all it needs to about that. Text will be present, to add to the imagery, but for the most part it's entirely visual. The imagery is chronologically organised (loosely over a 24-hour period), and each spread is tightly themed around a topic. It captures that which makes Tokyo unique: glowing vending machines, quirky shops, whiskey bars and the streets after the night before are all in; cliches such as geisha, temples and Harajuku street fashion are out.