Category: Nonfiction

Kyoto Visual Stories

On staying near Shisendō and the many discoveries made.

The Day I Met the Photographer

An excerpt from a memoir in progress on learning to read in Japan.

Words and Music: Reflections

Writing and reflections on listening and life.

Debt Crisis in Peach

A short piece on family dynamics and culture.

From Tanshinfunin to L.A.T.

On living alone together.

Sakura Zuihitsu

The cherry blossom season in Kyoto is both celebrated and dreaded by the author.

On Seeing

Words and photos from the author's latest publication.

Kyoto and Anime Director Satoshi Kon

A biographical sketch of a notable anime director.

Otomodachi

On meeting friends of a sort at Yarikuri.

Kyoto Snow

On rare opportunities to photograph snow in Kyoto.

Yokoo Tadanori’s House Garden

Description and photos of a very modern garden.

A Living National Treasure

A description of a Japanese cultural centre dedicated to dance and an event which the author attended.

Accidental Real Estate

On finding a place to live and a necessary exorcism.

An unexpected encounter in the cosmos of Kyoto

Kawano describes a meeting with a smiling butt-scratching nutria.

Rock Band Queen and Kyoto

When Queen came to Kyoto.

The Back Way to Kiyomizu-dera

An ode to Kiyomizu and a different way to reaching it.

The Story of Jisshinbō Renshō (実信房蓮生 – Clan Head, Priest, Poet

History and poetry related to two temples in Kyoto.

Foreign women writers give alternative view of Japan

A link to an article for Asia Nikkei which serves as a comprehensive overview of the works and lives of foreign women writers in Japan, both past and present.

Book Announcement: This Very Moment—A new book of Miksang contemplative photographs

The author describes his book which is the first photography book to introduce the Miksang approach in Japan.

A Lie I Don’t Regret

A lie told at a nursing home.

English Teacher Iwao Inagaki, Second Son of Lafcadio Hearn

On the life of Hearn’s second son, Iwao Inagaki, who lived in Kyoto.

Multicultural daughter

An excerpt from “Enabled by the Internet: A Multicultural Mother and Daughter in Japan."

Ohigan

The author looks down from his window at a small temple graveyard during the Autumn Equinox.

The Fruit of the Moment

A visit to a garden that was experienced during the writer's long-awaited first trip to Japan.