Antwan Horfee Revisits Japanese Ephemera in New Book 'Menko Toys'
Available in non-signed, signed and limited edition hand-drawn examples.
Summary
- Second volume explores vintage Japanese Menko cards as cultural artifacts
- Features contributions in English and Japanese by a global creative cast
- Limited hand-drawn editions available, shipping from the UK
Parisian artist Antwan Horfee returns to the world of Japanese throwing cards with Menko Toys, a richly layered sequel to his 2019 title Menko Boys. This new 288-page volume deepens Horfee’s anthropological exploration of Menko — vividly illustrated cardboard cards once used by Japanese children in street games but now treasured as cultural artifacts. As writer Peter Lyle once described them, Menko are “talismanic throwing cards” that reflect shifting currents in 20th-century Japanese society.
The book, presented with Swiss binding and printed on Munken white paper, is a tactile object as much as a visual archive. It features English and Japanese texts by Horfee, Nick Schonberger, Ataru Sato, Risa Hiratsuka and others, with design by Jean Granon and photography by Ghislain Mirat. Ten hand-drawn copies signed and illustrated by Horfee himself are also available.
Menko Toys is more than a collection; it invites interpretation, treating each card as a micro-narrative of nostalgia, consumer culture and personal memory. The book is available for order now via Topsafe‘s official site, with standard and limited-edition versions available.
