This collection of photography and bilingual poetry plunges booklovers into the backstreets and hipster bars of Osaka. Henguchi builds on the surrealism of Haruki Murakami and his contemporaries to create a new aesthetic for a young generation of Japanese artists. Everyday objects—tools, flowers, escalators, tangles of thread—are elevated, parodied, and ultimately made new. In language as funny as it is brash and philosophical.

With more than 60 pages of color photography, 70 beautifully designed poems, and Henguchi’s essay-poem “Nihongo,” this is a title that collectors, designers, and readers who revel in the act of reading will adore. L