A special issue of Matoi Publishing's journal "QUOTATION," titled "What's a FANTASISTA UTAMARO!? by "QUOTATION" (780 yen), will be launched on the 24th.

The artist Fantasista Utamaro will serve as editor-in-chief, and the magazine is scheduled to be published twice a year. On the cover of this issue, actress Nagasawa Masami embodies the "ultimate 2.5-dimensional world," showing off her beautiful legs. The "FANTASISTA UTAMARO'S ARCHIVE" special feature introduces a number of works by Utamaro, including the music video created by artist Takashi Murakami that expresses the worldview of the album cover of "Yuzu," the CD jacket for the idol group "Dempagumi Ink," and the campaign visuals for the "K-ON! The Movie." The book also features "100 Questions and 100 Answers for Fantasista Utamaro," which answers questions about him, as well as conversations with Toy's Factory's Koichi Inaba, photographer Mika Ninagawa, playwright Yukiko Motoya, and television writer Osamura Suzuki. "I would be happy if my book could help people get to know a little bit about my 'ikizama' (life)," Utamaro said in a message. To celebrate the launch, a special talk event featuring Mika Ninagawa will be held at Tsutaya Tokyo Roppongi on the 26th at noon. Born in 1979, Fantasista Utamaro is an artist active in a wide range of genres, including illustration and design. He has designed the interior of Nike Stadium, art directed the visuals for Nike iD, released a collaborative watch with watch brand ZERONE, and designed textiles using motifs such as manga speech bubbles.