Edward J. Taylor writes: ‘As John Dougill, the editor of this Writers in Kyoto webpage, has been posting about Korean Shamanism at his blog Green Shinto, I thought that I’d submit a travel piece about a two-week meander up Korea’s east coast in 1997, playing connect-the-dots with the country’s sacred Buddhist and Shamanistic peaks, which …Read More
Category: Featured Writings (Page 7 of 14)
Featured writing
Goddesses and Ninjas: the mad, dashing world of Shakespeare interview with Marianne Kimura Q. It was a fiercely hot summer in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. How did you cope? A. I stayed indoors in my air-conditioned bedroom and sat on my futon writing papers. First, I wrote about the goddess in As You …Read More
July in Kyoto means the Gion Festival, the city’s premier event which stretches over the whole month and provides tourists with an array of glittering photo-ops. The piece below is an excerpt from “Kyoto Souvenir,” a book by Fernando Torres still in the preliminary stages which tells of buying a forsaken house in Higashiyama. (He describes …Read More
Those familiar with the rich heritage of artwork in Japan will be aware of numerous stories about painted figures which are so life-like that they come alive and step out of their frames, like the characters in Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo. The Kyoto painter Okyo Murayama for instance painted a ghost that …Read More
It’s on the outskirts of Kyoto. It’s in spacious woodland. It dates back to the eighth century and pre-Heian times. It’s little-known, but once it was counted amongst the top 22 shrines of Japan. Oharano Shrine is closely associated with the powerful Fujiwara clan. It was set up by the dominant family at the time …Read More
“A white day” Fluffy white motifs Decorate a hospital window— Evanescent art Mountains and cars Wearing white caps— Frosty morning A cup of coffee At the hospital room— News of snowstorm Cars and buses Timidly on the road— Snowman smiles White footsteps Start vanishing at once— Wintry sun Evening grows …Read More
This year’s winning entry was by Terin Jackson, an American living in Kyoto who writes a blog for his private tour company. The competition took him out of his comfort zone, forcing him to cut down on his natural verbosity in order to keep within the word limit. ‘The process of whittling it all down …Read More
The judges felt that this description of an outing to a temple in Ohara combined interesting historical background with an intriguing personal encounter. There is a lightness of touch in the way that the narrator enjoys the old man’s commentary, and a dash of humour too in ‘you only get one chance for lunch.’ This …Read More
Kyoto – an elemental city Text and photos by Jann Williams Kyoto has a remarkable dimensionality inspired by the elements. In his cultural history of the city, John Dougill conceived Kyoto as eleven different ‘cities’ distinctively epitomising Kammu; Genji; Buddhism; Heike; Zen; Noh; Unification; Tea; Tradition; Geisha and Japaneseness. Elsewhere I have seen Kyoto referred …Read More
Review of TOKYO POETRY JOURNAL VOL. 5: ‘JAPAN AND THE BEATS’ There’s something deliciously cool about ToPoJo 5. There’s a handwritten poem on the front cover by Nanao Sakaki, with GWOOON BALI BALI! crying out for attention. There’s a back cover photo of Allen Ginsberg et al. in which his hair, jacket and tie stand …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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