This gorgeous book was delivered to me yesterday. Hardback and bound in cloth with a wonderfully thick paper and clear, hard black and white prints in a first edition of 5000 copies.

I have long admired Michael Kenna and have recognised, among many obsessions he has had, his love of Japan since he first visited in 1987. So it is a major event to have Peter Fetterman, who represents him through his eponymous gallery, edit this collection of photographs that bring together his work there over almost forty years.

The book has been designed to give space to the work too by Hideyuki Taguchi and Chris Pichler. Each of the 100 photographs occupying its own page in this 33cm x 26cm book. Most of Kenna's work is in black and white and strongly developed to show both ends of this spectrum in all the greys between without losing any detail. Many of the pictures will seem stark to those who love movement and people but their sparsity and essential exploration of both place and spirit seem to me to catch something about the culture of Japan outside its crowded cities. The idea of wabi-sabi is strong here with the minimalism adding, rather than closing down, the debate of meaning and emotional attachment.

The Japanese photography critic Kohtaro Iizawa once suggested that Kenna were like visual haikus. In writing the introduction to this collection Iizawa has not changed his mind but suggests that since first making that comment Kenna has drawn together a Western aesthetic with an Eastern sensibility that adds even more to the work. It certainly works and I look forward to the winter evenings providing plenty of time to ponder each picture carefully.

The book is published Nazraeli Press and available through various online book sellers. However if you shop around you can still find copies for about £50 with free delivery, as opposed to the usual £70 plus. But it does seem the book is disappearing quickly judging by the number already being sold on through used booksellers at even higher prices. I'd recommend starting with www.photobookstore.co.uk as their prices are usually reasonable......