KYOTO — Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form -- part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade "zine" magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the country's enduring love of paper in the digital era.
While speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara said "I think (paper) is a medium that engages all five senses", unlike social media.
Obara and his creative partner Akihico Mori are among the latest artists to use a printing press offered by the Kyoto Shimbun newspaper, which is aiming to find alternative uses for its machines as subscriptions fall.
As the machine printed their work on newsprint paper, five technicians in uniform quickly flipped through the pages to check the quality.
"I think print media is incredibly open. You can hand it to someone, you can read it together," 40-year-old photographer Obara said, calling mobile phones "very insular".
