At some point in Masako Kakizaki's photobook the realization sets in that these landscapes have perhaps never before been looked at so patiently and intently. Kakizaki, who previously focused on landscapes in Aomori in the north, has widened her photography beyond her home prefecture, capturing trees, plants, forests, steppes, rock formations and other natural features as if listening and responding to primordial sounds. Neither in fragments nor in totality, and at a balanced distance that is neither too close nor too far, the landscapes do not appear passive or quiet but present a steady, persistent sense of presence. The afterword speaks of the rustle of all that lies unspoken, truths that dwell in the dark like seeds beneath the soil, waiting for the rain.