This Sunday is May 21st, which means that the popular flea market known as Kobo-san will be held at To-ji. It’s a busy bustling and packed affair, quite different from the To-ji which Gary Snyder depicts in his poem below. In a 2011 visit to Japan, at the age of 82, he recalled the Kyoto …Read More
Author: John Dougill (Page 33 of 45)
Hikers on the Yagyu Kaido trail can rest and recharge at the Toge Chaya tea house (above), which dates from the Edo period and has, on its walls, swords and rifles of samurai who left their weapons behind to pay their bill. PHOTO: EDWARD J. TAYLOR The 17km Yagyu Kaido, one of Kansai’s best hikes, …Read More
Kyoto has three annual book fairs of interest to expatriates, for amongst the Japanese selections are a number of English books going relatively cheap, including art books and ukiyo-e prints. The spring fair is coming up next week at the Miyako Messe in Okazaki, the summer fair is at Shimogamo in August, the autumn fair …Read More
Robert Yellin yesterday launched the third year of WiK with a wonderful talk at The Gael, which was inspired and inspiring in the passion for pottery which infused his every word. Now recognised as a world expert on the subject, Robert is in demand as a speaker at museums and galleries abroad as well as …Read More
On this day, over a hundred years ago, Lafcadio Hearn wrote a journal entry in Kyoto that found its way into the collection of essays in his book Kokoro (1896). Here, long before Kawabata wrote his well-known thesis In Praise of Shadows, Hearn describes evocatively the attraction of silhouettes on shoji (paper screens) and the …Read More
The Joys of Silence and Bewilderment by Jane Kramer, California Yesterday I went with our Japanese obaachan, aged 87, for a massage. I didn’t know for sure if we were really going because my Japanese is primitive. But at 8:15 she emerged from her machiya [traditional wooden house] carrying a bag with polka dot material. …Read More
Yamaguchi-san by Florentyna Leow, Malaysian student in Kyoto That’s a nice haori you’re wearing. Are you on an errand now? Taking photos? Come in. I’ll make you some matcha. I’m all alone anyway. Well, come on in. Sit here. I’m 104 years old, you know. 104. The doctor paid me a visit, right before you passed …Read More
Palm-of-the-Hand Story: The Blue General by Mark Cody Poulton, Victoria, Canada After my mother-in-law died, my wife and daughter were sorting through her things. When they opened her wallet, a funky smell filled the room. My wife pulled out something papery inside—the skin of a snake. It was good luck, I learned, to keep a …Read More
Blessings Unto Kasane: Basho’s Haibun and Tanka of Hope to a Newborn Girl Translation and commentary by Jeff Robbins Assisted by Sakata Shoko (Basho’s own words in bold to stand out) Illustration by Ogura Reiko (Photos by J. Dougill) In Summer of 1689 Basho and Sora, on their journey to the Deep North, …Read More
The Beach in Winter Yaki soba/tako yaki sign spins outside the closed shop. Pine tree leans, dropped needles rusted. Sparrows flung from a tree. Ducks disappear between waves. The fishing boat moves deeper. ******************* Beachcombing A leaf, red stalk and veins and on it still – gold glinting now – the shower remains. **************** Reds, …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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