Vacance / Vacancy #01

#01 Berlin

Photographed by Yuki Aizawa & Hiroyoshi Tomite
Written by Hiroyoshi Tomite
Designed by Kenta Tanaka
Translated by Asako Tomotani

In 2021, Yuki Aizawa, a photographer, comes to Berlin for a 16 days escape from the summer in Tokyo, which is still suffering from the Corona disaster and the aftermath of the Olympic Games, and Hiroyoshi Tomite, an editor, who has been living in Berlin for over a year and has lost his fresh sense of the city. After a long period of lockdowns and emergency declarations, Tokyo and Berlin have not been so easy to get back and forth, but after more than a year, they meet again and, borrowing from each other's point of view, migrate through the city and its emotions. Aizawa is overwhelmed by the people of Berlin, who enjoy their summer as if nothing had happened. Tomite, inspired by Aizawa, regains a fresh perspective. He followed his footsteps with Camera borrowed from Aizawa, and compiled a bilingual essay entitled "A Vacant Season To Run Away". As if to reexamine the movements of the mind, urban researcher Kenta Tanaka has designed a tabloid newspaper that captures the fragments of thoughts and emotions of Berliners from the two perspectives of traveller and consumer. The book will be available not only in bookstores in Berlin, but also in Japan.

The titles "VACANCE" and "VACANCY" are derived from the same word, and are a positive interpretation of the irony of the diametrically opposed moods of the Corona pandemic. Following the Berlin edition, the Tokyo edition will be published as issue #2 in early 2022.

Edition of 100, numbered