Exceptionally scarce and highly sought-after, The Banquet is a pivotal early title that shows Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki moving from his handmade, Xerox-style photo-diaries into the more deliberate, provocative work that would define his career. The book focuses on Araki’s recurring themes of food, sensuality, and impermanence, presented through rich gravure printing. The layout maintains the direct, intimate feel of Araki’s early albums with sequences arranged with intentional roughness, and moments captured quickly but organised with a clear narrative rhythm. Plates move from still-life arrangements to more suggestive imagery, building a steady visual tension. The Banquet shows Araki refining his approach to pairing images across spreads, using contrast, repetition, and subtle shifts to shape the viewer’s experience. An important document of Araki’s evolving artistic voice, this book is an essential for collectors and a key work in understanding the legendary photographer’s early direction and enduring themes.