meme books

Founded by Japanese graphic designer, photographer, and artist Yuka Takasu, meme books is an independent publishing project based in Aichi, Japan. Operating at the intersection of visual communication and contemporary art, we translate unique photographic perspectives into the deeply physical format of the book. For us, publishing is an autonomous art practice.

We focus on the tactile experience of reading—exploring paper materiality, meticulous binding, and structural experiments inspired by concepts like topology and the accumulation of time. Our publications act as apparatuses to preserve complex human conditions. Rejecting societal pressures for simplified, easily consumed narratives, we use the physical architecture of the book to affirm unresolved states, layered memories, and intricate relationships as powerful attitudes rather than flaws.

Through experimental zines, bespoke editions, and handcrafted art books, meme books invites readers to experience the publication as a radical, enduring physical object.

Yuka Takasu, 邂逅 (Kaikō:Encounters), meme books, 2025, © Yuka Takasu

A large-format, hand-bound art book utilizing various traditional Japanese papers. The physical layering and meticulous binding structurally

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Yuka Takasu, corailBlanc, meme books, 2022, © Yuka Takasu

Coral bleaching due to various factors such as the effects of rising seawater temperature due to global warming and stress has become an environmental problem, but there are cases where it becomes colorful even after it becomes white.
Combining coral and litho that look like stones, it is an opportunity to think about the world from coral that you just thought was beautiful.
Sekiseki is a very familiar "action" that almost everyone is experiencing, although its meaning and roots are not yet well understood. In addition, there are various theories that the purpose of piling stones, which has a similar trend not only in Japan but also overseas, is to turn around where one's good deeds lead to merit to someone else. We will consider it based on the culture surrounding Japan.

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Contrasting the Japanese concept of Tasogare ("Who is there?") with the French entre chien et loup ("between dog and wolf"), this work explores the profound ambiguity of twilight. Despite employing a strictly limited color palette on black paper, the artist's hand-bound structure—featuring unconventional paper shapes and intricate page sequencing—creates a highly tactile, multi-layered experience. This physical form compels the reader to "look closer" at what is obscured in the darkness. Through this process of careful observation, the book visually translates a philosophical search for individual diversity and coexistence in modern society.

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