Posted in life, architecture, art and photography, business, news on Apr 20th, 2007 No Comments »
With sadness we note the passing of Clifton Karhu on March 24 at age 79, the great American-born blockprint artist who made Kyoto his home. Karhu’s prints are known for their strong lines and vivid colors and his themes pay tribute to the beauty of Japan’s old capital. Norman Tolman, founder of the Tolman Collection […]
Posted in culture, life, intercultural on Apr 11th, 2007 1 Comment »
A visitor from outer space, studying the different peoples of the earth, could easily get the impression that Japan is a devout Christian nation.
After all, our space traveler would observe that churches are so popular here that you even see them on the roofs of other buildings. Here an old English country church has been […]
Posted in life on Mar 7th, 2007 No Comments »
Cat in Kobe, on Nakayamatedori - the ideal life?
Posted in books, culture, life on Dec 26th, 2006 No Comments »
When I studied Chinese characters (kanji) my teacher strongly advised me to practice by writing them. Only after you remembered the strokes with your pen (or pencil or writing brush), he said, could you also remember them with your eyes.
I was reminded of my kanji practice of more than thirty years ago by the recent […]
Posted in culture, life, intercultural on Nov 30th, 2006 No Comments »
I have written about the importance of bathing and cleanliness in Japan in my review of Getting Wet.
What Japan Thinks has now translated a survey about bathing habits. From this survey, held by DIMSDRIVE, it appears that 85% of Japanese take a daily bath, and others also regularly clean themselves.
It is still surprising […]
Posted in life on Nov 29th, 2006 No Comments »
Kohaku Uta Gassen (”Red and White Song Battle”) is an annual music show aired by NHK on New Year’s Eve (omisoka). The program divides the most popular pop and enka singers of the year into competing teams of red (female artists) and white (male artists).
The show was first aired on radio in 1951 […]
Posted in life, architecture, kyoto on Nov 29th, 2006 No Comments »
As a “Kyotophile” I am glad to read in the Asahi that the Kyoto city government has decided to tighten building rules. For parts of central Kyoto this is already too late, but prevention of further damage is welcome. The proposed new rules:
Building height for new buildings will go down from 45 to 31 meters.
Flashing […]
Posted in life on Nov 29th, 2006 No Comments »
When you switch on Japanese television, there is a fat chance you will be staring at the face of Mino Monta.
As reported by BBC News, he appears weekly in 11 live shows, spending 22 hours on TV. This has now earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
But that is not all. Mino […]
Posted in life, intercultural on Nov 27th, 2006 No Comments »
First I thought “extreme ironing” was an example of the fanatism some Japanese bring to their hobbies, but now it appears the sport originated on that other island of eccentrics, the United Kingdom. Who else would carry an ironing board and battery-powered iron to a remote location, say a mountain top, just to iron a […]
Posted in life, business, intercultural on Nov 25th, 2006 No Comments »
Is Japan expensive? Not if you know where to go.
Of course, rents and the price of houses are outrageous (considering the often low quality of what you get), but for the rest it is not so bad at all.
On the contrary, I find Japan often much cheaper than my home country, the Netherlands. That is […]
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