From Publishers Weekly

Taken on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu between 1986-1989, these exceptionally beautiful photographs capture the "astonishing resilience" of ancient rural customs amid the ever-increasing modernization of Japanese society. In 15 short episodes, Butler ( Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy ) tells of her experience traveling the coasts and countryside, detailing her encounters with farmers, fishermen, village people and mountain folk, some reticent, others gregarious. The text is charming and insightful, but it is the pictures that fascinate. In black and white, Butler shows us the otherworldly textures of an earthenware floor and the radiance of hanging radishes in Iwate-ken; the drizzling beauty of spring rain in Aichi-ken; the intense concentration of a Shinto priest and the eeriness of squid drying in the sun in Shimane-ken; the rippling water and stormy skies of a fishing wharf in Aomori-ken; and the camaraderie of a group of laughing gateball players in Yamagata-ken. Whether shooting a portrait or a still life, Butler uses her camera to distill the pure cultural and aesthetic essence from these rural areas.

From Library Journal

The rampant urban sprawl of southern Japan has not yet completely intruded upon the cold, snowy Tohoku region of the north, where most people still lead highly traditional lives. These 57 black-and-white shots capture the age-old elements of Japanese life still to be found there, although urban expansion now imperils them. Butler ( Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy , LJ 5/15/85) has gone where few foreigners venture and brought back a sharply focused volume that makes a welcome supplement to the dearth of English-language books available on modern rural Japan. Her pictures show texture and light to good effect; they provide documentary fact with a truly artistic feel. Highly recommended for Japanese and photography collections.