Posts Tagged ‘Japan’
The Philosopher’s Walk: Nishida Kitaro’s Contemplative Route
Taking a daily walk helped him to switch his mood. He therefore began a daily routine, walking not only to the Silver Pavilion (Ginkakuji) but to the Honen’in and Nanzenji area, where the scenery is exquisite.
Read MoreMore than a Rock: Photographing Kyoto’s Gardens
Love of rocks and gardens is what lured me to Japan. During an extended visit I photographed gardens in Kyoto every day for a year…
Read MoreA Small Restaurant on the Edge of Life
Dread clouded the joy that surged in Tomé’s heart when she heard the voice call out “Obachan, I’m back.” In May, 1945, the only pilots who came to Chiran were volunteers for the Special Attack Corps, boys who rammed their fighters into the American ships off Okinawa.
Read MoreHope for the East Asian Peace Process
With the human race as a whole increasingly threatened by global climate change, overpopulation and food scarcity, our very survival depends on our ability to overcome history-based animosities…
Read MoreNakagawa Shuji: Oke Maker
When Nakagawa Shuji’s grandfather, Kameiichi, turned ten years old, he went to work at Tarugen. This famed maker of oke (wooden pails or buckets) and barrels, had been established in Kyoto during the waning years of the Edo period (1603-1868), and was to become Kameiichi’s workplace for the next 40 years. In the process, Kameiichi…
Read MoreMigrating Genius: The Art & Life of Jack Madson
“There’s so much to learn from birds. When I was a child they were my first absorbing fascination in life.”
Read MoreDoctor Stories: Excerpts from the journals of Kenjiro Setoue
Dr. Setoue was a successful surgeon who agreed to take a job at a clinic on a small rugged island off the west coast of Kyushu. For many years the only surgeon on the Lower Koshiki Island, he was the last and only line of defense when there was a medical emergency.
Read MoreThe Hojoki : Witness in a Torn World
The times are calamitous, and it is scarcely less frightening to look back than forward. A horrific earthquake turns the world upside-down.
Read MoreNature and Culture in Japan
Japanese cultural tradition hides a vast storehouse of notions and practices that may be helpful in establishing a culturally-grounded eco-philosophy…
Read MoreA Sense of Place: Urban Renewal in Kyoto
Of all cities in East Asia, Kyoto has the oldest and probably the strictest official preservation policy…
Read MoreShakuhachi and Zenga
ART, MUSIC
BY PRESTON HOUSER
The player of the Japanese bamboo flute seeks to display his spirit through musicianship—even if only in a single note, a single exhalation…
Read MoreHatching Beauty: Life in Tonoharu
The art illustrating that plot remains exquisite…especially notable are the views Martinson gives us of mundane Japanese life, scenes that any resident will recognize.
Read MoreCurling
i have been a fern unfolding. in a forest of deep slanting shadows, close to the ground with its many tiny scratchings and slitherings, surrounded by the steady rumble and rush of a waterfall, i was a fern.
Read MoreClarity, Compassion, Peace
“Haiku mind” is a simple yet profound way of seeing our everyday world and living our lives with the awareness of the moment expressed in haiku — and to therefore hopefully inspire others to live with more clarity, compassion and peace.
Read MoreFireflies
When the summer nights begin to resemble a damp wool blanket thrown over our house and the rainy season pounds relentlessly onward, my husband and I like to drive out to a village in the nearby mountains…
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