Kyomojo (by Kevin Ramsden, British, Kyoto resident) A one, two three … Scoffin’ down a bento / slippin’ in a sento / Air BnB for rento Yamazaki whisky / pickled veg from Nishiki / horumon very risky Rubbery wakame / shellin’ edamame / dollars? sorry, dame Peko chan and poko, have a go at taiko …Read More
Author: John Dougill (Page 22 of 45)
(For a full list of prizewinners, please click here on 2019 Competition ). Fadeby Samantha JC Hoh, Philadelphia, USA “Did you know cicadas actually live for many years?” Tak, tak. Our sandals smack the stone in rhythm as I try not to stumble over the hem of my yukata. “Really? I didn’t know that.” …Read More
Radio Gidayū Created by Allen S. Weiss and Daisuke Ishida for the Klangkunst program of Deutschlandradio Kultur Berlin, 2014, commissioned by Marcus Gammel, Radio Gidayū is simultaneously a soundscape of Kyoto, a sonic travel diary, the evocation of a utopian space, and a work of musique concrète. It is inspired by the art of gidayū, …Read More
‘Kyoto gaijin are different. Tokyo gaijin are there for money or sex. Kyoto gaijin are here for Zen, or lacquerware, or Heian poetry, or to learn shakuhachi. Nearly everyone plays shakuhachi!’ So began the absorbing talk by Richard Lloyd Parry at Ryukoku’s new stylish building on the Omiya campus, next to the World Heritage site …Read More
News of a new book set in the contemporary city. The Kindle version on amazon japan has a discount for ¥988. Here’s the press release, which is a model of marketing. We’ll carry a review of the book later in the year… Lovesic in Kyoto Seen through the lens of Buddhist wisdom, Lovesic in Kyoto …Read More
Book review by Josh Yates People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo – and the Evil by Richard Lloyd Parry (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2012,454pp) ***************** “Japan’s a safe country” “Women can walk around in the middle of the night and not worry” These …Read More
(Richard Lloyd Parry will be speaking at Ryukoku University, Omiya campus, on May 12. All welcome; see right hand column for details. The book review that follows is a slightly amended version of the posting on the Green Shinto blog by John Dougill.) *************** March 11, 2011 was a devastating day for Japan. Over 18,500 …Read More
Reggie Pawle combines being a Kyoto psychotherapist with being a Zen practitioner, which has enabled him to explore the world within while helping others find their true selves. Zen and psychotherapy go back to the 1950s in fact, with Carl Jung holding ground-breaking discussions in 1958 with Hisamatsu Shinichi, a Zen philosopher with the Kyoto …Read More
The following is taken from ‘Donald Keene: The American Who Became Japanese’ by Oliver Jia. (Click here to see original.) After the American occupation of Japan ended in 1952, restrictions on outsiders entering the country finally eased. Acquiring funding to study in Japan proved to be difficult for Keene because the committees looked for applicants …Read More
Many of us will be aware of the Okuni statue that stands near Shijo Bridge. The statute shows her cross-dressed as a samurai, in acknowledgement of the plays she put on at the riverbank that became the starting point for kabuki. It’s well-known that she was a miko (shrine maiden) from Izumo, though not everyone …Read More
Kyoto Writing Competition
WiK Anthologies
The Nature of Kyoto (2023)
Eds. Lisa Twaronite Sone & Robert Weis
Foreword by Pico Iyer
Structures of Kyoto (2021)
Eds: Rebecca Otowa & Karen Lee Tawarayama
Foreword by Judith Clancy
Encounters with Kyoto (2019)
Eds: Jann Williams & Ian Josh Yates
Foreword by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Echoes (2017)
Eds: John Dougill, Amy Chavez, & Mark Richardson
Preface by Alex Kerr
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