Nobuyoshi Araki is the most controversial photographer working in the world today. To his critics, he is no more than a pornographer and a misogynist; to his supporters he is a radical and a revolutionary, a figure who has challenged not just artistic limits, but social limits in post-war Japan. At home, he is a national celebrity. In the West he is considerably less understood. This is the book that will explain Araki. In its sheer range of text and images, it is also the most comprehensive volume ever to be published on his life's work.

Akiko Miki is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris and contributor to art magazines including Bijutsu Techo, Studio Voice, Tema Celeste and Exit Express.

Yoshiko Isshiki has been working with Araki for over 10 years and has been closely involved in all exhibitions of Araki's work in Europe.

Tomoko Sato is a curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, where she has organized and curated a wide range of exhibitions. She has edited and published a number of books and catalogues.

Kotaro Iizawa is a photography critic and writer. He is the author of many books on Japanese photography, including Araki!: The Legacy of a Prodigy (1994). He was also the founder of Déjà-vu magazine (1990).

Ian Jeffrey is a photography writer, lecturer and curator. His books include Magnum Landscape (1997) and Shomei Tomatsu (2001), also published by Phaidon.

Hans Ulrich Obrist is a curator (at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris), writer, editor and interviewer.

Yuko Tanaka is Professor at Hosei University, Tokyo, and has written extensively on Japanese literature and culture during the Edo period (1600-1868).

Jonathan Watkins is Director of the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. He was the Artistic Director of the 11th Sydney Biennale (1998) and has curated many exhibitions, including 'Nobuyoshi Araki: Tokyo Still Life' (2001).