Book of the day > Yokainoshima: Island of Monsters by Charles Fréger. Thames & Hudson.  “In Japan, the passing of the year is marked by festivals and rituals that have gone largely unchanged for centuries. Elaborate outfits, made from textiles as well as branches, straw, and other materials plucked from the natural environment, are donned in rural, agricultural, and fishing communities throughout Japan to celebrate seasonal rites of fertility and abundance. Yokainoshima (literally “island of monsters”) explores the extraordinary crop of masks, costumes, and characters that reappear with the return of each season.”