MEMBERSHIP
You get in through someone, not an ad.
本 is invite-only for now, on purpose. We're starting with people who already care about this specific era of Japanese print media, and growing only as far as word of mouth carries us.
THE LIBRARY CARD SYSTEM
Five cards. That's how it spreads.
Every member who joins 本 receives five library cards to give to people they think belong here. A card is a one-time invite . Whoever uses it creates their own account and, once inside, gets five cards of their own to pass along.
There's no ad budget and no open sign-up page. If the archive grows, it grows because someone who already loves this material vouched for the next person. That's slower on purpose, and it's also the only way we know to keep a small collection from being overwhelmed before we can properly care for it.
Mockup of a member's card dashboard, illustrative only.
WHO THIS IS FOR RIGHT NOW
Today
A focused community of people already into Japanese street fashion, subculture, and print design from this era. Small enough to actually maintain the collection well.
Later
As the archive grows through member support, we plan to expand into other regions, other decades, and other formats of print media, carefully, one collection at a time.
DON'T HAVE A CARD?
Ask to be on the list.
We keep a short waitlist for people without a member connection. It won't get you in faster than a card would, but we do read every submission ourselves.