With the Olympics in full swing, all eyes are on Japan. And while we can’t see the games in person, we can travel to the Land of the Rising Sun on the page, keeping in mind what the poet Emily Dickinson wrote, “There is no frigate like a book.”
Art publisher Taschen https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/search/japan has any number of offerings. But we’d like to call attention to three from our friends at Thames & Hudson. In “Craftland Japan” ($39.95, 287 pages) Uwe Röttgen and Katharina Zetti introduce us to 25 artisans in rural Japan who create everyday objects that are museum quality.
“Kimono: The Art and Evolution of Japanese Fashion” ($55, 317 pages), edited by Anna Jackson, considers more than 200 kimonos from The Khalli Collection, spanning 300 years. While the kimono’s form has changed little, its embellishments are used to signify the gender, age, status, wealth and taste of the wearer. What’s particularly striking about this vibrant, soft-cover, coffee-table book is the juxtaposition of items from the collection with artworks in which kimonos appear.
Meanwhile, “The Monocle Book of Japan” ($65, 304 pages), by the folks at Monocle magazine, explores the best that Japan has to offer.
For more, visit thamesandhudsonusa.com.