Tokyo Travel Sketchbook: Kawaii Culture, Wabi Sabi Design, Female Samurais and Other Obsessions

Experience Tokyo Through the Eyes of an Artist!

Tokyo Travel Sketchbook captures illustrator Amaia Arrazolas four-week adventure in Tokyo, offering a unique glimpse into the city through her eyes.

When Arrazola embarks on an artists residency in Tokyo, she dives into the city’s vibrant culture with her paints and pencils. The result is a delightful illustrated diary showcasing life in the world’s largest city.

Arrazolas sketches reveal Tokyos eclectic mix of traditional and modern, from the pop culture of Hello Kitty and ＂Kawaii＂ charm to encounters with female Samurais. She explores everything from quirky cafes and unique street fashion to the concept of wabi sabi--finding beauty in the city’s imperfections.

Tokyo Travel Sketchbook presents a fresh, often humorous perspective on Tokyo, blending its high-tech glitz with deep-rooted traditions. Its a captivating visual journey through a city where the new and old coexist in surprising harmony.

Recommended for readers ages 14 & up

Amaia Arrazola is a Spanish artist who works in a variety of mediums and formats. She began her career in Madrid as an illustrator and art director, eventually leaving office life to become a freelance illustrator in Barcelona. Her wide-ranging artistic endeavors include silkscreening, ceramics, murals, fabric art, sculpture, typography and graphic design. This is her first book, produced during a month long work residency in Tokyo. You can see more of her work at www.amaiaarrazola.com

Kymm Coveney was born in Boston, earned a BA in Modern English and Spanish Literature (Wheaton College, Massachusetts) in 1981, and has lived in Spain since the 1982 World Cup. Co-host of Barcelona’s multilingual poetry recital series, PoemameBCN, she is a freelance writer and translator, as well as habitual translation slam moderator for MET (Mediterranean Editors and Translators). Flash fiction, poems and translations can be found online through betterlies.blogspot.com. She tweets mostly other people’s poems @KymmInBarcelona.