In Chapter 6 of Kokoro (1896), Lafcadio Hearn writes of some of Kyoto’s sights, an unusual topic for a man who normally looked to folklore and tradition for insight into the culture of his adopted land. However, his belief that religion reveals the heart of the people comes across in the final part of the …Read More
Category: On Kyoto (Page 11 of 11)
Writings about Kyoto, whether by Japanese or foreign observers
A Kyoto Journal Update, Summer 2017 From Ken Rodgers, KJ managing editor Now celebrating its 30th year, Kyoto Journal is about to return to print with KJ 89, after a sojourn of 13 diverse issues in the not-quite-parallel universe of digital format. With this issue we will shift from quarterly to biannual publication, supported by …Read More
NORMAN WADDELL born in Washington, D.C. in 1940, was attracted to Japan by the works of the legendary D.T. Suzuki and his protégée R. H. Blyth, taught at Otani University for over thirty years, and was editor of the Eastern Buddhist Journal for several decades. He has published more than a dozen books on Japanese Zen …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
(John Dougill writes…) News comes of the passing away of Edith Shiffert (1916-2017), long time resident poet and a revered figure for those of us who belong to Writers in Kyoto. Other English-language authors lived in Kyoto before her, but for the postwar generation and those who followed in their footsteps, Edith was a groundbreaking …Read More
As the deadline for the 2017 WiK Writing Competition approaches (March 1), we’re posting some of the best ‘also ran’ entries from the 2016 competition in the hope that they may stimulate others into creativity…. Richard Newton – 2016 Bainiku John and Supa Dupa Bainiku John’s wife died when she ventured too close to the …Read More
John Dougill writes… Lafcadio Hearn had a taste for the macabre, as is well-known from his Kwaidan (1903) collection of strange stories. In Ghostly Japan (1899) contains one such story which is set in Kyoto. Fittingly enough, it concerns a tengu, for the creatures were much associated with the city, particularly the northern area around …Read More
The latest Kyoto Journal update, from managing editor Ken Rodgers Kyoto Journal’s 88th issue, to be released in February, is another eclectic feast; I’d like to share a few highlights with Writers in Kyoto, as an appetizer. An extraordinary set of “cadenzas” by a notable British poet, calling himself John Gohorry, celebrates the real-life exploits …Read More
Phantasmagoria Ⅰ An old well left In an empty land— A cherry petal drops into it. Desolate lands, Beaten by the rain–– A dayflower blooms Construction noise Echoing in the rain— A machiya screams A Cicada’s voice Lost in the noise– Demolishing another machiya The cicadas’ call and respond …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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