This First Drawings selection, published in Paris by Tête-Rock Underground in conjunction with the Japanese publisher Seirinkôgeisha, was an important step in introducing Toshio Saeki’s formative work to a French readership.

In addition to most of the black and white drawings from Saeki Toshio Gashû, the book (which is sympathetically designed to read from back cover to front in Japanese style) includes a selection of previously unpublished work, together with the few traceable drawings from 1969 when Saeki was developing his individual style.

A note at the end of the introduction explains that the publisher would have liked to include the missing drawings from the 1970 Paris exhibition, and asks anyone who knows of their whereabouts to get in touch. As far as we know they are still missing.