Contemplate, wander, trace, appear, haunt. In five chapters and over 180 images, this book draws a sensitive geography of Japan: it talks about the impermanence of things (wabi sabi), the hidden beauty of the world (yûgen), the penumbra that conceals just as much as 'it reveals or even memories of old tales. So many themes dear to Japanese aesthetics, here revealed by the works of the masters (Kitagawa Utamaro, Suzuki Harunobu.), Or those of contemporary artists such as Takesada Matsutani or Toko Shinoda. rolls, prints, lithographs, photographs follow one another in a visual walk conducive to reverie. Short explanatory texts, haiku, carefully chosen literary extracts accompany them and shed light on aesthetic notions, philosophical concepts and emblematic works. A book designed like a love dictionary where each image, each text is a meeting at the heart of the Japanese soul