{"product_id":"the-journey-to-osorezan","title":"The Journey to Osorezan","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst Edition, 2013. 72 pages. Book measures 9 x 10 inches. Softcover in thick French-fold wrappers, housed in mylar slipcase. Includes 65 beautifully printed  black \u0026amp; white images with an essay by Suda in Japanese and English translation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Osorezan is a place in the Northern-most part of Honshu, Japan’s main island. The name literally translates to “The Mountain of Fear”, and surrounding it, there are areas actually called “Hell” and “Lake of Blood”. It is a place rich in mythology and folklore meaning, and said to be the gate to the underworld. Puddles of strangely colored liquids bubble with toxic gases, shallow streams of yellow water line the grey footpaths, and all throughout the year, the sting of sulphur acid and an eery silence lie over the place. Everyone who does must cross the local Sanzu river, and children who die before their parents are condemned to build cairns here for eternity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut you wouldn’t know this from the photos in Issei Suda’s book “The Journey to Osorezan”, because his photography is not concerned primarily with Nature but with people and the traces they leave in the world - both in the physical and the psychological sense. In the afterword to the book, Suda explains the circumstances in which the photos were taken in the early 1970s. Originally lead towards Osorezan out of naive, youthful curiosity, the place has during his many visits gained a deeper - maybe spiritual - meaning for him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuda is a master of using light to his advantage, and the photos in the book, while never quite fully abstract, are always playing with elements of the surreal. This effect is aided by the monochrome nature of the pictures, and their very strong contrast. Light is white, dark is black. And infinity of grey between them.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Fine copy. Clean and bright in square tight binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bendowa Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67626266820782,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0696\/0149\/3166\/files\/Issei-Suda-Osorezan-1.jpg?v=1791206942","url":"https:\/\/bendowabooks.com\/products\/the-journey-to-osorezan","provider":"Bendowa Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}