A Short Story by Rebecca Otowa (Historical note: This story is set in the late 1580s, in the mountains somewhere between Kyoto and Nagoya. At that time, Japan had been for centuries a conglomerate of lots of little strongholds based on clans, much as England was before King Arthur. Three men emerged as “unifiers” of …Read More
Tag: Rebecca Otowa (Page 1 of 3)
A Short Story by Rebecca Otowa Introduction We don’t know very much about the 12 Apostles of Jesus, his constant companions during the latter part of his life, except that Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and another pair of siblings, James and John, were fishermen; and the writer of one of the Gospels, St. …Read More
Talk with Author Simon Rowe at David Duff’s home, April 14, 2024 Nine people gathered to listen to Simon Rowe talk about his phenomenal success in publishing and other things on April 14 in Kyoto. Thanks very much to David Duff for opening his home/library once again for an event. Due to the absence (by …Read More
A Tiny Nature: Recollections of Poems and TreesBy Robert Weis (self-published, September 2023) Review by Rebecca Otowa ********************From the WiK Website:“In this ‘recollections of poems and trees’, Robert Weis unites two seemingly distant worlds: that of short poems inspired by haiku and that of bonsai trees. Flora and poetry blend naturally on these pages through …Read More
Papa Jon’s Café Rokkaku, January 13th, 2024 Writers In Kyoto aims not only to bring together members of the local literary community to focus on writing, but also to support each other’s activities. WiK member Rebecca Otowa exhibited her watercolor paintings between January 10th and 15th at Papa Jon’s Café Rokkaku in downtown Kyoto, a …Read More
WiK Members Enjoyed a New Year’s Bowl of Tea – Jan. 7, 2024Written by Rebecca OtowaPhotos by Karen Lee Tawarayama and Kirsty Kawano Four guests from WiK were guided by fellow member Bruce Hamana (Hamana Sosei sensei), a tea master born in Hawaii, and teacher of the Urasenke tea school, to a New Year’s celebratory …Read More
Malcolm Ledger lives in a remarkable house, a restored ryokan situated by a wooded mountain stream in Kyoto’s north-west. So special is the setting that the prestigious Aman franchise chose it for the location of their Kyoto hotel. Though billed as a maple-viewing party, the event was more of a socialising and networking occasion. The …Read More
What an honor to hold the newest book by author Rebecca Otowa in my hands. Inspired at Miidera Temple by a picture showing “100 Views of Miidera” in the style of small cards, 100 Objects in My Japanese House contains intricate, colorful images drawn by the author and divided into three broad categories: Exterior, Deities, …Read More
Book Review by Rebecca OtowaHidden Japan by Alex Kerr (Tuttle, 2023) The original Hidden Japan was in Japanese, titled Nippon Junrei, and this translation gives us another example of Alex Kerr’s stupendous literary, cultural and linguistic gifts. It comprises a description of journeys in 2017-2019 and is in a way an extension, or re-visitation, of …Read More
REPORT FOR WIK ON ALEX KERR’S TALK May 10, 2023Sponsored by KUAS (Kyoto University of Advanced Science)by Rebecca Otowa A capacity audience was on hand for a talk by Alex Kerr (in Japanese) entitled “Kankou ha Rikkoku ka?” (Will Tourism Lift Up the Country?) at Kyoto Hotel Granvia on May 10. At least three members …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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