by Cody Poulton On New Year’s Day in Kyoto my wife and I visited a friend in Fushimi. He is an architect and amateur soccer player who also happens also to be a Pure Land Buddhist priest. I discussed my interest in finding some old house in town to fix up and make liveable. But, …Read More
Author: WiK (Page 2 of 12)
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
Monochrome images capture the stark realities of Okinawa’s vassal status. Stephen Mansfield is a Japan-based writer and photographer, one of the leading contributors about contemporary Japan, and a reviewer for The Japan Times. He is the author of 20 books, and his work has appeared in more than 60 magazines, newspapers and journals worldwide. This …Read More
Writers in Kyoto, Words & Music Bōnenkai, Dec. 10thReport by Mark Willis Pulling open the door to Irish Pub Gnome at six o’clock on December 10th, I found the basement pub already filled with writers, readers, singers, and listeners gathered for the Writers in Kyoto Words & Music bōnenkai. I left my daypack on an …Read More
by Stephen Benfey Kazu sat in the freezing waterfall beside the white-bearded yamabushi. The mountain priest’s temple lay below. Kazu knew it from hikes in Kyoto’s hills with his high-school mountaineering club. He’d sought refuge here three months ago, in November. Heartbreak had sent him, and fear. It was her smile. Every time his co-worker …Read More
Report by Felicity Greenland (all photos by her unless otherwise stated) John Dougill’s latest book, Off the Beaten Tracks in Japan: A Journey by Train from Hokkaido to Kyushu, was launched in Kyoto on Sunday November 19. The event was held at Irish Pub Gnome, with music by Quin Arbeitman on piano, and 35 guests …Read More
Recently I reviewed a travel book by Alex Kerr, Hidden Japan (Tuttle, 2023), and in that review I extolled the virtues of “armchair travel” (traveling in one’s imagination instead of physically). At the same time as I was writing that review, I was also reading John Dougill’s Off the Beaten Tracks in Japan (Stonebridge Press, …Read More
by Kirsty Kawano The Japan Writers Conference 2023 This year’s Japan Writers Conference was held at Sugiyama Jogakuen University in Nagoya on October 14-15. Presentation topics ranged from English-teaching textbooks to budging writer’s block, using technology, and building fantasy worlds. The conference covered a lot of genres and offered a lot of inspiration and motivation …Read More
Report by Lisa Twaronite Sone of a workshop given by Felicity Tillack, Sept. 23, 2023 at Ryukoku University Omiya Campus Writers in Kyoto member Felicity Tillack, a writer, director and cinematographer, held a screenwriting workshop for WiK members late last month, in which she offered far more than writing tips. Tillack candidly shared insight based …Read More
A short story by Andrew Innes Andrew writes: “Anger is an emotion that you seldom see expressed in Japan. I did however once see an old man at a festival repeatedly try to start a fight in front of a large crowd with a rather reluctant participant who simply bowed in response each time. The …Read More
WiK Writing Competition
Ninth Annual Writing Competition Winners (2024) (Coming in Mid-May)
Previous years:
Eighth Annual Writing Competition Winners (2023)
Seventh Annual Writing Competition Winners (2022)
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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