World Heritage Japan

Author and photographer John Lander takes the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage sites of Japan as a starting point for exploring the country's architecture, history, customer and festivals. Lander, who has lived in Japan for 35 years, travelled to almost all the country's UNESCO sites: from well-known places like Mount Fuji to hidden temple gardens and hard-to-reach wild islands. This book also includes cultural elements listed as intangible world heritage, providing intimate portraits of Japanese cuisine, crafts and performance arts. With a lyrical introduction to Pico Iyer and illustrated with over 180 full-colour photographs, World Heritage Japan is Lander's personal photographic tribute to a diverse and ancient culture a stunning visual journey across Japan. "Even after more than 30 years in Japan, I find surprised and humbled every hour. Whether it's the black-clad puppeteers staging propulsive dramas on a Bunraku stage in Osaka, 45 minutes from my home, or the beautiful shrine of Itsukushima, lapped by water, just across from the haunting Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan feels like an exercise in time-travel that can take me to several planets and centuries in a morning." Pico Iyer