Kyoto Journal is an award-winning,
quarterly magazine founded in Kyoto, Japan,
presenting cultural and historical insights from
all of Asia since 1987.
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- Fiction, Poetry & Reviews
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“Timeless” – A Collaboration Bridging Past and Present at artKYOTO 2024
While each gallery specializes in works from different periods and genres, they unite in this exhibition with a shared mission: to pass on the essence of Japanese aesthetics to the next generation. The selected pieces, chosen for their potential to resonate across time, seek to connect the timeless qualities of Japanese art with the contemporary atmosphere. This exhibition at artKYOTO 2024 will be the first step in an ongoing dialogue.
artKYOTO 2024- Free Tickets for Kyoto Journal Readers
Kyoto Journal is proud to be a media partner of artKYOTO 2024. This festival will contemplate the theme of “enduring beauty,” honoring Japanese aesthetic sensibilities passed down for generations, with artworks that span several eras. Sixteen different galleries and art dealers will exhibit crafts (kogei), antiques, modern and contemporary art, available both for appreciation and for purchase
Revisiting Medieval Faith and Anarchy
For some, the Covid lockdown was an incarceration. Others hunkered down and found it liberating. Projects that had been relegated to the back burner by the everyday distractions of “normal” life caught fire, fueled by more focused attention spans. One such long-neglected endeavor was a novel first envisaged by Tokyo-based poet, writer, editor and publisher Richard Evanoff some 45 years previously.
Delphine Diallo and the Warrior Journey
Delphine Diallo is a photographic artist based in New York City and Paris. Her portraits and collages celebrate heroine and goddess figures to open conversations about multiculturalism, race, and female empowerment. A solo exhibition of new photography, The Warrior Journey, is currently on show (until the end of October) in Tokyo at space Un, an arts and culture venue focusing on contemporary African art and cultural exchange between Japan and African countries.
KYOTO JOURNAL RECENT ISSUES
KJ has been mostly published as a quarterly magazine, in print format. Covid severely disrupted our distribution system, so we are currently publishing three issues per year. One in print, and two digital issues. At present we are unable to offer subscriptions, and KJ is available in very few bookstores, in Japan or overseas. Fortunately, all issues can be ordered through our website’s Shop pages.
The Great Fire of Kyoto, 1788: A Forgotten History
It was mid-afternoon on the last day of the month when fire broke out just east of the Kamo river and south of the small Donguri Bridge (south of Shijō). By 6pm flames had spread as far as Teramachi, a thoroughfare containing many temples. By midnight it was at the Shimogamo Shrine. At 2am the Dairi (today called the Gosho, or imperial palace) was threatened; shortly thereafter the main walled section of the shogunal compound, Nijō Castle, was alight. Rain fell, but it was not enough, and by morning 201 temples, 37 shrines, 36,797 common dwellings and a total of 1,424 city blocks in 20 separate locations were gone.
Charcoal-inspired Sumi Artistry
The Kyoto-based artist known simply as Hakama uses sumi (charcoal) as his medium in creating innovative artworks with a subtle but impressive aesthetic imbued by direct use of natural materials transformed by fire.
His work was featured in KJ 107, ‘Fire & Kyoto.’
Kyoto Flame: sparking untold narratives in Kyoto
Charles Roche, long-term Kyoto resident, reminisces about The Flame, a unique monthly community-based storytelling event held at his hospitable Papa Jon’s Eatery. As figurative keeper of the flame for three years, Charles sparked a conflagration that lit up the local scene.
MICHIKO AND THE SHUMISEN STONE
612 CE: This year a man emigrated from Baekje whose face and body were all flecked with white, perhaps having been infected with white ringworm. Disliking his extraordinary appearance, the people wished to cast him away on an island in the sea. But this man said, “If you dislike my spotted skin, you should not breed horses or cattle in this country which are spotted with white. Moreover, I have a small talent. I can make the figures of hills and mountains. If you kept me and made use of me, it would be to the advantage of the country. Why should you waste me by casting me away on an island of the sea?”
Kyotographie 2024, “Source”: Wellsprings of Creativity
For the past 13 years, co-directors Lucille Reyboz and Nakanishi Yusuke have invited the people of Kyoto – old, established families to tourists just passing through – to engage in a month-long jeu d’esprit inspired by their ecumenical embrace of all aspects of the photographic medium, from crude pinhole cameras to high-powered scientific instruments, and everything else in between.
The Japanese Diaspora in Japan
What does it mean to be Nikkei, a member of the Japanese diaspora? By being simultaneously Japanese and non-Japanese, Nikkei are forcing a re-evaluation of Japanese identity.
Japanese identity is complex and often oversimplified, its nuances underappreciated. Through interviews with Nikkei—particularly those who have returned to their ancestral homeland—I hope to shine a light on their experiences as outliers of Japanese identity, find common threads, and gain a deeper insight into the edges and unspoken essence of Japaneseness—what it means to be Japanese.
White Lines
Horizontal lines on an earthen wall. Found on the outer walls of temples, some shrines, and the Imperial Palace, these lines indicate close historical ties to the Imperial family. Some temples have three or four lines, but the walls of monzeki jiin, where members of the Imperial family have served, are decorated with five.
Throughout the city of Kyoto, these lines are so ubiquitous as to go unnoticed by visitors and residents alike. For me, they have a mysterious beauty. Amidst all the classic scenes of Kyoto, I have found myself photographing these simple walls again and again. They are images which were literally painted by the weather.
Bringing the delights of hojicha tea to the West
Torontoites and hojicha lovers Danielle Geva and Francois Mathieu wanted to make freshest, most authentic roasted Japanese green tea available outside Japan.
Take a Gourmet Journey through Japan with Kokoro Care Packages
We filmed our unboxing of the monthly themed box of quality Japanese ingredients and treats from Kokoro Care Packages. Find out more and subscribe to receive next month's package straight from Japan!
