When visiting Japan, one of the first things that stand out is the calm and respectful way the Japanese behave. A weaver meditatively repeats the exact same movement a thousand times a day, while the tea master dedicates every serene gesture to the harmony of the room. Although in the West we might find it hard to explain this mindful way of moving, the Japanese have a word for it: shosa.

In this book, design journalist Ringo Gomez and photographer Rob Walbers, who share a long-standing fasci...