If you're interested in Japanese skateboarding then I highly recommend finding a copy of a quarterly magazine called Skateboard Journal. I wish I could point you to their website but they don't have one, or at least I haven't been able to find it.

Quality designed, fifty-plus full page and spread photos on thick glossy paper for 500 yen is an absolute steal considering the price of photo books. The last photo book I purchased was Masataka Nakano's Tokyo Nobody (recommended as well) but also five times the price. Of course photo books aren't packed with advertisements but I'm not complaining, as some of the best photography is found in the ads. And I wouldn't find cool websites like this, makers of the Full Metal Jacket.

The autumn/winter 04 issue highlights local talent Koichi Kitamura, Hiroki Saegusa, Jin Takayama, Hirotaka Akaguma, Shin Okada, Junnosuke Yonesaka, Shintaro Maruyama, Tadashi Muroi, Tatsuya Nogami, Daisuke Tanaka, Hisashi Nakamura, Daiki Hosoda, and Ryujin. And yes, they've been doing that well before the iPod ads.