What's this? Book review of Chikashi Kasai's photo book.

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Impressions: This is a pricey book. They should knock off at least 1,000 yen off the price. It's hard to imagine what segment of readers would actually pay this much money for a collection of blurry, haphazard photos. There is nudity, yes, but it's very personal, which means you won't understand it. Artistically and visually, there is much impact. Most of the subjects are women (including his lover who he later married), often nude.

The collection is interspersed with totally unrelated images as well. To the viewer, it looks random, but the recurrent theme is women and sexuality. The text by Nan Goldin introduces Kasai and how she met him in a Roppongi night club which displayed his photos on the wall.

Kasai was born in 1970, and studied in Germany in 1980-1988. He graduated from Tama Art Univ. in 1995. His father is Akira Kasai, one of the founders of the Butoh dance movement. Tokyo Dance is indeed a spectacular debut for his first photo book. (Reviewed by Philbert Ono)