Eyesore enthusiasts get hard over naked concrete collections

[Anchorman]

It's fair to say the Japanese have a deep affection for concrete, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that a couple of photo collections celebrating man-made monstrosities are currently selling like hot cakes, according to Sunday Mainichi (4/29).

"Damu" (Dam), a work that celebrates the apparent beauty of the Soviet-style dams that dot the countryside, and "Kojo Moe" (Thrilled by Factories), which finds visual appeal in such scars on the landscape as oil refineries, are both moving from bookstore shelves as quickly as they can be put there.

Sunday Mainichi says "Damu" is packed with photos that make turning each page identical to the sense of awe felt while driving through the mountains and turning a corner to find a gigantic dam right before your eyes.

The book on barriers gushes -- literally -- over the magnificence of seeing gates opened occasionally and watching water cascading out from behind the concrete wall that usually holds it in. Dams are also acclaimed for at times being silent and serene, while sometimes taking on the appearance of a majestic relic of ancient Egypt. The book claims that dams have a dynamism of their own, often highlighted by the pristine natural surroundings of many of them.

"Damu" also provides a list of the different types of dams that exist, as well as a glossary of dam terms, suggesting it will be a favorite of those into that sort of stuff, while the rest of us can be, well �c damned.

While the book on dams perhaps draws on the resemblance to edifices left by ancient civilizations to find beauty, "Kojo Moe" takes a close look at nighttime views of large industrial facilities in a manner that evokes images of the future, the weekly says.

The magazine argues that although normally blights on their surroundings, huge factories with their gray chimneys, enormous tanks, twisting pipes and steel wheels can offer a certain attraction when lit up at night.

For those who can envisage any such appeal, "Kojo Moe" also provides advice on tactics to convince women to go on a "factory date," including some fairly weird terms that seem to hit the spot for factory fans, according to Mainichi Weekly. (By Ryann Connell)