Eikoh HosoeMiss Peten / Miss Fraud (Signed byYoko Kamoi)

The history of this publication is quite fascinating. In 1966, Eikoh Hose was introduced by his sister-in-law, the photographer Hisae Imai -- who passed away earlier this year - to women's underwear designer Yoko Kamoi (1925-1991). By that time, Kamoi was well-known in artist and fashion circles for revolutionizing the underwear Japanese women wore, and was once described as "someone who has advanced the cause of women's liberation through her underwear designs. But beyond this, Kamoi was an essayist, an exhibited painter, and - pertinent to this new book -- a maker of handmade dolls.

She presented to Hosoe a series of her handmade dolls and told him, "Do with them what you want." For Hosoe, they were more human than doll, and they seemed to take a life of their own, the scenes he eventually photographed them in seemingly situations these dolls were getting themselves into - or so Hose felt, so strong was their human-like nature.

Hosoe photographed these situations around his studio in Yotsuya, Tokyo, and even took the dolls -- more companions than props -- on trips to Aomori and Nagano.

The photos were eventually used to illustrate a small book of Kamoi's underwear designs, but only 300 of these were printed.