Yamaguchi Akira's work is like going through Lewis Carroll's looking glass - in Japanese. Everything appears normal at first, busy yes, but normal until,  upon closer inspection,  incongruities begin to appear. He seamlessly merges modern day happenstance into meticulously crafted ukiyo-e scenes. It is brilliant and unsettling. Dipietro writes, "Yamaguchi, 33, has long been working with the juxtaposition of different historical eras in his expertly-crafted and finely-detailed ink on paper drawings and acrylic and oil on canvas paintings. There is a real sophistication to his process -- the artist does not simply drop a salaryman into a Tokugawa pastoral scene, rather he seamlessly integrates different and disparate period moods, clues, and symbols, and does this so cleverly that it is often not apparent until one closely inspects the pictures. For example, a man in a yukata, sitting on zabuton in an old izakaya, with the mama-san hovering over him holding a tray of not sake, but milk. Other examples, such as the Russian cavalry man riding a half-horse, half-motorcycle, juxtapose in a way that is not as subtle but no less well-integrated." This self titled book includes a preface by the artist in English and a preface by Art History Professor Yuji Yamashita - also in English. Print titles in Japanese and English. A truly brilliant collection of artwork.