Hayashi Seiichi, “Gold Pollen and Other Stories” (PictureBox, 2013)

Printed in color, it is a collection of Hayashi’s manga work from the late 60s and early 70s, including some of his most famous work for the legendary monthly Garo, including “Akatonbo” and “Yamauba komoriuta,” the latter an important work of Japanese Pop Art. The book also includes a translation of an autobiographical essay by Hayashi written in 1972, and an introductory essay.

Seiichi Hayashi (b. 1945) was a leading figure in Tokyo’s hotbed of avant-garde artistic production in the 1960s and ’70s. He is best known for his lyrical and experimental manga for Garo, the famous alternative comics magazine. The present volume collects a handful of Hayashi’s most important manga from this period, including “Red Dragonfly” (1968), “Yamauba’s Lullaby (1968), and “Gold Pollen” (1971). Published here in their original full color, these stories mix traditional Japanese aesthetics with Pop Art sensibilities, and range in topic from the legacies of Japanese rightwing nationalism and World War II, to the shadow of America over 60s Japanese youth culture. 

http://www.pictureboxinc.com/products/1186-gold-pollen-and-other-stories

Given Hayashi’s deep involvement with the Tokyo counterculture, this book should appeal to people studying postwar Japanese art, film, and theatre, in addition to comics fans.