Yo, Look at These Zines (Photo Edition) - Vol.02

Last weekend, I got the chance to do a little zine pop-up at HVEN TOKYO, a club in the city. It was a fun night, and I was happy to share my work with people I wouldn’t normally reach.

Now, this is the second edition of my “zines I picked up” series.

Tokyo’s full of different communities, and honestly, there’s still so much I don’t know about this city.
One photographer who captures those unseen sides of Tokyo is Kazz, who’s based here. I recently picked up a full set of his zine series, and I want to introduce them to you today.

📀 “JUKEBOX”: A Photo Zine Project That Spins Stories Like Records

“From vinyl records to cassette tapes and CDs, and now to subscription-based streaming services, music has transformed alongside the spread of personal computers and the internet.
Today, we can enjoy music anywhere, anytime. But with that convenience, something sensory—something essential in the experience of music—feels lost. Perhaps the same can be said about photographs, which are now casually shared on social media.”
—Excerpt from the Photo Zine JUKEBOX statement

Just as a jukebox stores records, Photo Zine JUKEBOX is a project by photographer Kazz @pimpkmojo that replaces them with zines—each issue built around a different theme, capturing the diverse scenes he has witnessed.

I got my hands on three issues from Kazz’s JUKEBOX series—Issues 2 through 4. Let me introduce them one by one.

MOJO: A Self-Portrait Made of Fading Nights

In Issue 02: MOJO, Kazz revisits his younger days, projecting the memories and illusions of nights in the city onto the reality of photography. The work functions as a kind of self-portrait, reprinting the fleeting sensations of youth that gradually slip away with time.

The title MOJO is borrowed from the film Austin Powers, where Powers laments, “I’ve lost my mojo,” after Dr. Evil robs him of his source of power. Kazz says he’s been feeling just like that lately—like his mojo is slipping away too.

Each photograph is beautiful on its own, of course, but what really stands out is the layout. He pairs seemingly unrelated images on each spread, letting unexpected stories emerge from their combinations.

Just by flipping through this zine, you’ll get a strong sense of who Kazz is as a person.

All Clear in Kabukicho: From Lockdown to Lust

Kabukicho — a district pulsing with nightlife: sex clubs, hostess bars, host clubs, and late-night eateries. A place where desire never sleeps.

But when the pandemic hit in 2020, its neon-soaked streets turned into a ghost town. And yet, as soon as the state of emergency was lifted, Kabukicho came roaring back—reviving its chaotic energy and once again becoming a crossroads of temptation.

JUKEBOX issue 03: All Clear in Kabukicho captures this dramatic transformation, documenting the district before, during, and after the pandemic.

A zine that documents Kabukicho before, during, and after the pandemic is something you don’t come across often—it’s likely to hold historical value in the future.
And seeing a work like this really reminds me: what matters most is to just keep shooting, no matter what.

If you’re someone who shoots street photography, you’ll probably get this.
When the pandemic hit and the streets emptied out, many of us felt like there was nothing interesting left to photograph. But looking back now, those nearly deserted streets were exactly the kind of moments you could only capture then.

And honestly, I regret not shooting more during that time.

OVERLAY: A Constructed Tokyo of Light and Illusion

Neon lights blaze, trains run with precision, and the flow of people never seems to stop. On the surface, Tokyo functions just as it always has. But Kazz senses something else quietly spreading—a subtle stagnation beneath the motion.

A city that only appears vibrant, kept alive by artificial lights and the illusion of energy created by endless advertising.

In JUKEBOX Issue 04, OVERLAY, Kazz attempts to portray this “parallel Tokyo,” where fiction and reality blur into one.

To someone who’s never been to Tokyo, these photos might suggest a city that never sleeps, glowing even at night. But as Kazz suggests, perhaps this too is just a constructed version of Tokyo.

That’s it for this week’s edition. If any of them catch your eye, make sure to grab a copy before it’s gone.
Thanks so much for reading all the way through—see you next week!

My Instagram: @_nuts.tokyo_
My YouTube: @fareastdarkroom