Each volume of the New Directions series focused on contemporary architecture of a different country - United States, USSR, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Latin America, as well as Japan, the one Boyd was commissioned to write. The brief for each book was identical and prescribed in scope and format: specifying approximate number of featured architects, word count and number of illustrations. Boyd accepted the invitation within a week. Boyd was disappointed that the publishers said that there was insufficient time for Boyd to travel to Japan for this project.