Robert Weis has a passion for Japan, and for Kyoto in particular. ‘It’s my spiritual home,’ he says. He draws inspiration from its famous and not so famous spots, and for WiK’s fifth anthology he wrote of the significance of mountains around Kyoto. His appreciation of trees, especially maples, is evident in his writing. ‘When I think of Japan,’ he writes, ‘the first thing that comes to mind is the symphony of colorful leaves during fall.’
Robert lives in Luxembourg, and at an informal gathering at Ted Taylor’s house he disclosed that he is fluent in five European languages. As well as the Luxembourg language, he knows German, French, English and Italian. Given that, and his prolific writing, it comes as a surprise to learn that he is a scientist by profession. A paleontologist who is also a poet.
Robert’s poetic side has resulted in a self-published collection entitled, A Tiny Nature, and he read out several of his which spoke to “the heart of things’. For his reading, Robert selected poems about the spirit of place in some of Kyoto’s special ‘power spots’, such as Kiyotaki. Robert’s aim in the collection was to make his readers see ‘the beauty within’. He also talked of his liking for bonsai, and what caring for the diminutive creations means to him. Not so much a matter of gardening, but a practical way of appreciating Japanese values.
Though Robert lives in Luxembourg, he actively pursues his life-long fascination with Japan and has made eleven visits so far. This time he was involved with Shugendo contacts. Evidence of his close connection with the country came last year when he organised an exhibition for Luxembourg’s national museum on Japan’s engagement with the environment, which featured several WiK members. His next visit to Japan is scheduled for 2025. We look forward to hearing him again, and whatever project his Japanophilia inspires him to next.
About the author:
Robert Weis works as a natural scientist, and nature is also at the core of his non-fiction and poetry writing. In 2022 he published, together with Davide S. Sapienza, the travelogue Rocklines — a Geopoetic Journey Across Minett Unesco Biosphere (Editions Phi, Luxembourg). He is a contributor to Luxembourgish travel magazine Diariesof, the French Japanophile magazine Ryoko and Japan-based Kyoto Journal as well as Writers in Kyoto anthologies. His first poetry volume, Rêves d’un mangeur de kakis (Michikusa Publishing) came out in January 2023. In summer 2023, the travel narrative Retour à Kyoto (Editions Transboréal) was released. Visit him at www.theroutetokyoto.com.
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For his article on bonsai, see here. For an excerpt from the self-published volume A tiny nature – recollections of poems and trees (August 2023), available from Amazon, click here.
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