Land encircles water in various ways, and each essay in this collection spotlights a different shape of that sort: (1) an elongated body of water that's parallel to the coast and set off by islands or reefs, (2) a narrow place where the sea comes a long way into the land, (3) a circular atoll that is the rim of an extinct underwater volcano, and (4) a portion of ocean partly enclosed by land. These essays focus on famous places (e.g., Niigata, Edo, and Taiwan), explaining how those names connect to certain bodies of water.

Japan boasts a complex coastline, and as these essays show, that's for better and for worse. The numerous capes jutting out into the sea have caused disastrous shipwrecks, one of which exposed inequity that sparked outrage in Japan. But this island nation also abounds in winding beaches, and those gentle curves have influenced the designs of everything from pottery and furniture to family crests. The endpoints of the main islands beckon to tourists who want to visit the southernmost point, for instance. The outline of one cape as seen from space even gave rise to a popular song.