Contemporary Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto is known for working with salt--often in the form of temporary, intricate, large-scale installations--and he has created acclaimed projects around the world. Return to the Sea is the first book to take measure of Yamamoto's engagement with salt installations since he began making them in 1994.

Yamamoto began to create art out of salt while mourning the death of his sister, out of an effort to preserve his memories. He views his installations as exercises that are at once futile yet necessary to his healing. An important aspect of the installation is the dismantling of his work at the end of each show and delivering the salt back to water, usually in collaboration with the public.