Each bookstore will act as a concierge, recommending "the one book you should read right now" to FASHION HEADLINE readers. Every Saturday, we will introduce books selected by Shelf (3-7-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a Harajuku bookstore that specializes in foreign books.



■ "Excavating the Future City" by Hatakeyama Naoya

This book is a collection of works published in 2018 to coincide with photographer Hatakeyama Naoya's exhibition "Excavating the Future City," which is currently being held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minnesota, USA (until July 22, 2018).

For the past 30 years, Hatakeyama has been researching urban life and architectural spaces "through photography." His series encompass a variety of practices related to the transformation of the urban landscape. For example, as part of his investigation into the limitless expansion (sprawl) of the metropolitan area in which he lives, Hatakeyama has been capturing the transformation of major cities like Tokyo and Yokohama over time.

This book also includes photographs of Hatakeyama's hometown, Rikuzentakata, which was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. This is an ongoing series that began shortly after the disaster and captures the ongoing regeneration and revival of the city. To aid in understanding these works, texts by Yasufumi Nakamori, chief curator of photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Toyo Ito, Japan's leading architect and 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, are also included. Both are essential reading.