Japan was one of the first countries to adorn their vinyl singles in special colour sleeves back in the late fifties, almost as soon as the format had been launched. Teenagers there took a keen interest in the popular music of Britain and America, which Japanese labels quickly began to license. As most British and American singles came in plain sleeves, Japanese labels were free to do their own thing. The resulting blend of Western music and images, coupled with exotic looking Japanese typography and design, was visually unique. It was a look which soon adorned thousands of attractive single sleeves as pop music quickly became as big an entertainment form in Japan in the early sixties as it had done in the West.
This book, the first survey of Japanese sleeves outside the country, presents a visually stunning selection of 7" covers from the sixties to the eighties, many seen for the first time in Europe. It is of necessity a selection - there were over 100 Beatles singles alone in Japan - but the compilers have carefully chosen covers which will most interest collectors, music fans and designers, with close on a thousand sleeves shown, all in full colour, plus track titles, label and release date.