Posts by lucinda
Announcing the KYOEN 京縁 Exhibition
Kyoto Journal is delighted to announce that we will be holding a special exhibition at the Terminal Kyoto in early 2020 from January 25 – February 18. Over recent decades, international recognition of Kyoto’s deep and rich cultural traditions has established the city’s reputation as a new international art center. A wide variety of cosmopolitan…
Read MoreBy Any Other Name…
Tiberiu Weisz contends that contact between the Hebrews and the Chinese started probably sometime around 980BCE. If this is true, Israelite presence would have left traces in the historical records kept by the Chinese since their earliest dynasties.
Read MoreMatsumoto Hajime of Masutomi Soba Restaurant
“After the war, flour was rationed in Kyoto, so a fixed number of noodle manufacturers was established. The result is that all udon and soba noodles in Kyoto are basically alike…”
Read MoreFrom Abacus to Zen: A Short History of Tuttle Publishing
The Tuttle story stretches back to the printer Richard Tottel (1553-1593) of Fleet Street, London, who first published Thomas Moore’s Utopia, and compiled the first English poetry anthology, Songes and Sonettes…
Read MoreConfronting Disaster
In Ghosts of the Tsunami, Richard Lloyd Parry confronts us with the startling human reality of this astonishing disaster. Parry’s chief concern is with the harrowing events that transpired at Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, a heartbreaking drama that is notorious in Japan but perhaps less well-known internationally.
Read MoreNew Life for Kyo-machiya
Hachise is a realtor that has come to the forefront of a growing city-wide endeavor to restore kyo-machiya. Starting in 2000, the company began to acquire properties for renovation and resale, hoping to spark renewed interest among locals who may otherwise have thought of machiya as stale relics of the past.
Read MoreCoffee Ceremony with Doi Hirotomo
A report from a coffee ceremony with lacquer artist Hirotomo Doi.
Read MoreSenzo: The Japan Cosmology of Abdullah Ibrahim
‘For me, the application of the concepts of budo is the same as we play in jazz music. Musashi Miyamoto said, “Under a sword lifted high, there’s hell to make you tremble.” It’s basically the same principles when you play jazz music.’
Read MoreGlossary of Japanese Onomatopoeia for Gaijin
While living in Hokkaido and studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, my friends and I surrendered to laughter every time we encountered Japanese onomatopoeia. Connecting these unique expressions with daily life as JET teachers became a useful, stress-free way to memorize them…
Read MoreMiksang Contemplative Photography Workshops in 2020
Announcing the dates for John and Mitsue’s Miksang Photography courses in Kyoto in late spring 2020.
Read MoreThe World in English
For Levy Hideo, the first Western author to write Japanese literature, the past speaks in tongues…
Read MoreIma Tenko: Butoh dancer
Ima Tenko believes that transforming butoh performance from a big-budget spectacular, as it was with Byakkosha, into the intimate encounter she performs today is much more sustainable.
Read MoreKJ Autumn/Winter 2019 Reads: Titles from Tuttle
As part of their 70th-year anniversary celebrations, KJ has teamed up with Tuttle Publishing, the Asia specialist, for this four-part series.
Read MoreMinako Hiromi Exhibition at The Terminal Kyoto
Minako Hiromi’s new exhibition “An every-day life of reminiscence” (11.2–12.1, 2019) showcases her mesmerizing mandalas, each of which invite the viewer to explore the hidden stories in their stunning, hand-drawn detail.
Read MoreHearing their Voices: the Afghan Women’s Writing Project
In 2004 when Masha Hamilton first visited Afghanistan, Afghan women sought to begin careers, get educations and participate in public life…when she returned, life in Afghanistan had become more difficult, and opportunities for women were increasingly scarce. She established the Afghan Women’s Writing Project to create a forum for both women’s education and their voices.
Read MoreStone Wall
The Japanese countryside is full of stone walls. They are not freestanding grey lines used for dividing property but rather buttresses that hold back the mountains and shape them into something that can be lived on and farmed.
Read MoreSomushi: The Story of Kyoto’s First Korean Teahouse
“I wanted to create a space where people could have their senses stimulated by using natural material all around. At the start, I purposely didn’t put up signs for the restrooms, nor did we have a menu. I wanted people to use their instincts and figure stuff out — to think before immediately asking for what they wanted.”
Read MoreDream Landscapes in 3D: An excerpt from Another Kyoto by Alex Kerr
Another Kyoto is a “spoken” book which resulted from conversations between Alex and Kathy Arlyn Sokol as they explored temples and gardens over the years.
Read MoreCapturing Wellbeing: Behind the Scenes of the KJ95 Cover Shoot
Sisters Reylia and Johnna Slaby, interviewed for KJ95: Wellbeing, were tasked with creating a stunning cover in a collaborative work of photography and painting.
Read MoreSurrounded by Trees
When I was six, I developed a grass-like skin disease around my neck after my family and I visited a hilly area in Tagaytay. My grandfather, Tatay Marcial, who believed it was a punishment from a naughty dwende (elf), warned me against expressing my admiration for plants, especially those that grow in the wild.
Read MoreLuck or Curse? The Stories of Two Hibakusha
“I worry somewhat that people in this country still think that by dropping those bombs we hastened the termination of the war and also saved a million lives of soldiers. I’m a little worried about that perception.”
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