Frédéric Boilet

Seventeen authors (nine from France or French-speaking countries, eight from Japan) brought together in the same book, a succession of freely created short stories about the same universe: Japan. The French, of course, journeyed to Japan for the occasion. Each cartoonist was sent for two weeks to a different city in the archipelago (Joann Sfar in Tôkyô, Emmanuel Guibert in Kyôto, Nicolas de Crécy in Nagoya, etc.) to bring back an original creation. The Japanese tell us about their district, the city where they live or where they originally come from (Kazuichi Hanawa's story being about the northern island of Hokkaido, Jiro Taniguchi's about the town of Tottori, etc.) The result is often inspired, always surprising: Japan through new eyes. "Japan" will appear simultaneously in French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and English. Along with "A Patch Of Dreams" by Hideji Oda, it is the first step in a series of international creations with left-to-right reading direction, created for us by some of the best European and Japanese comic book artists. List of included short stories: At the Seaside - TAKAHAMA Kan The Gateway - David Prudhomme Summer Sky - TANIGUCHI Jiro Now I Can Die! - Aurélia Aurita Osaka 2034 - François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters Shin.Ichi. - Emmanual Guibert The New Gods - Nicolas de Crécy Kankichi - MATSUMOTO Taiyo The Tokyo of Qualtérou - Joann Sfar The Sunflower - Little Fish The Song of the Crickets - ANNO Moyoko In Love Alley - Frédéric Boilet The City of Trees - Fabrice Neaud The Festival of the Bell-Horses - IGARASHI Daisuke In the Deep Forest - HANAWA Kazuichi Sapporo Fiction - Étienne Davodeau

Book with manga & illustrations from Japanese and international artists for the FIFA World Cup 2002. Content: Otomo Katsuhiro - Cover Illustration Inoue Takehiko - I love this game Kamijo Atsushi - Kaerenai ko hito (Those Who Will Never Return) About a girl name Tchie as she reminsces the time she had with her two best friends. Matsumoto Taiyou - Mie ken no shounen «Mizugame 3» - Lust for Life Tajima Sho-u (Gorilla Kick), Obata Takeshi (Morning Kong) and Asada Hiroyuki (Utan Chop) About a tale of a football shoes as it is used/travelled from one user to the next. Illust Gallery Araki Hirohiko Yazawa Ai Yamada Yoshihiro Nishimura Shinobu Okano Reiko Kusumoto Maki - Netsu Yoshino Sakumi - GOAL!! François Boucq - Sekai wa mawaru Yasuhiko Yoshikazu - Bateren: \<Journey to Western Europe - Prologue> (南蛮西遊記序章, Bateren: Nanban Saiyuuki Josho). This one-shot is the prelude to an tale of alternate history where Amakusa Shiro Tokisada survives the Shimabara Rebellion, and arrives in Spain in seek of aid for Japanese Christians. penthon - A fantastic dream Nicolas de Crécy - Montceau-les-Mines VS Pont-à-Mousson Frédéric Boilet - 2002 FIFA WORLD TEA CUP Nicolas de Crécy - Soccer no dendou Yokoyama Hiroshi - Robot Battle VI D\[di:] - Fire Star Man Taniguchi Jiro - Fuka Emile Bravo - Shinpan wa 12 hitome no senshu! Max Cabanne - Penalty area Kuroda Iou - Schweitzer Terada Katsuya - Box! Benoît Peeters & François Schuiten - Young Soon Yang - Gyoubu Ippei - football image visual Source: MangaUpdates

From the diary of Jérôme Attal, French writer and singer: « - You should have ordered some spinach, then? Some spinach? Yes. Like in the wonderful graphic novel from Frédéric Boilet, Yukiko's Spinach. For a French person, the two words "spinach" and "navel" in Japanese sound very much alike. You absolutely must read that book. It's very French New Wave, very simple and very beautiful. At the end, one can almost touch the texture, the skin and the kimono of the girl. Yukiko's Spinach, it's a painting and a short movie at the same time, hung on several plates of a comic book. » From Pascal Ory, Lire: « This is one of the most surprising books in the history of bande dessinée. Nevertheless, the methods he uses are among the most simple \[…] it's as if the author were telling us in real time about the little adventure he had with Yukiko Hashimoto. » From Éric Loret, Libération: « Yukiko in the hands of Boilet is the most beautiful girl in the world, beautiful like Anna Karina through Godard's eyes, beautiful like Maggie Cheung closely examined by Assayas \[…] Frédéric Boilet is an intimist, drawing the tenderness, the emotional tie, the loving relationship with a subjective camera, the fleeting moment where one finally grasps it. »