New Publication: Early Kitan Club: Facsimile Edition
We are pleased to announce the publication of the first installment of 『初期奇譚クラブ 復刻版』 (Early Kitan Club: Facsimile Edition), a major new archival edition based on original issues supplied by scholar Kawahara Azumi.
This ambitious project restores the early B5-format years of Kitan Club, spanning the magazine’s founding in 1947 through April 1952. The complete edition will comprise ten volumes and a supplementary volume containing a comprehensive table of contents, contributor index, and scholarly commentary by Kawahara.
The first installment reproduces issues published between October 1947 and December 1950, together with the special publication Kōanrei: The Reality of the Retreating Kwantung Army. It contains approximately 1,564 pages across five volumes. A second installment, covering January 1951 through April 1952, is planned for 2027.
Recovering the Formative Years of Kitan Club
Known to have been read by figures including Mishima Yukio and Edogawa Ranpo, Kitan Club became one of postwar Japan’s most influential magazines devoted to unconventional sexuality, popular literature, confession, urban reportage, and subcultural life.
The early issues document a remarkable range of subjects, including sadism and masochism, same-sex desire, cross-dressing, gender representation, popular fiction, postwar Osaka street culture, and the experiences of sexual minorities. They also preserve traces of the magazine’s negotiations with occupation-era censorship and Article 175 of Japan’s Penal Code.
Far more than a collection of curiosities, these volumes provide an essential primary source for the study of postwar literature, sexuality, gender, urban history, publishing, and media culture. As Kawahara writes in the accompanying catalog, the restoration of these rare materials will make it possible to illuminate significant gaps in the histories of Japanese popular culture and sexuality.
The edition is published by Sanjinsha and is available in a strictly limited printing of seventy sets. Orders may be placed through participating booksellers or directly with the publisher, including from outside Japan.
Kitan Club 80th Anniversary Contributions
Kawahara is also organizing a project commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of Kitan Club. Submissions in English are warmly welcomed, and researchers, collectors, translators, and readers interested in the history and legacy of the magazine are encouraged to participate.
Further information about the anniversary project is available here: Kitan Club 80th Anniversary Contributions
Kinbaku Today congratulates Kawahara Azumi and everyone involved in bringing this foundational period of Kitan Club back into circulation. This is an important publication for scholars and readers seeking to understand the tangled, vivid roots of modern Japanese SM culture.
