A KYOTO PILGRIMAGEby N. J. Teele About twenty years ago, walking down Teramachi-dori from Shijo, I came across a musty little shop specializing in pre-Meiji wasōbon (books printed and bound in the traditional Japanese manner). Among them, I found a slim rather-worn and weathered book which was titled Kannongyō Hayayomi eshō, which roughly translates “An …Read More
Category: On Kyoto (Page 9 of 11)
Writings about Kyoto, whether by Japanese or foreign observers
New Murakami article recounts memories of his late father By MARIKO NAKAMURA/ Asahi, May 10, 2019 (see here for original) Haruki Murakami attends a speaking event at La Colline Theatre National in Paris on Feb. 23. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Influential novelist Haruki Murakami has spoken and written about many subjects in his long internationally …Read More
Running is not an activity you associate with my family. So says my brother Rod. This is true in recent decades. Vigorous exercise has not been our forte. That changed when I was lured to join the regular circuit runners around Nijojo (Nijo Castle) in Kyoto. A 2 km circuit that encircles the castle, its …Read More
Many of us will be aware of the Okuni statue that stands near Shijo Bridge. The statute shows her cross-dressed as a samurai, in acknowledgement of the plays she put on at the riverbank that became the starting point for kabuki. It’s well-known that she was a miko (shrine maiden) from Izumo, though not everyone …Read More
With ten days left to the deadline for the 2019 competition, WiK is reposting a winning entry from last year in order to stimulate the thoughts of those hesitating about entering….. (Full details about how to enter can be found by clicking on the notice to the right.) ************ The 2018 winning entry was by …Read More
As the deadline nears for the 2019 Writers in Kyoto Competition (March 31), we turn back the clock to look again at some of the winning entries from years past to see if there is anything that might serve as inspiration for those thinking of entering. (Full details of how to enter can be found …Read More
Risa Wataya From Wikipedia Risa Wataya (綿矢 りさ), born February 1, 1984, is a Japanese novelist from Kyoto. Her short novel Keritai senaka won the Akutagawa Prize and has sold more than a million copies. Her work has been translated into German, Italian, French, Thai, Korean, and English. Biography Wataya was born in Kyoto, Japan. Her mother was a university English …Read More
What was it like in Kyoto in the 1950s? You hardly ever saw foreigners, for one thing. If you did, you stopped to say hello. That was the Kyoto a banker from Holland called Hans Brinckmann got to know and love. Though he lived in Kobe, he visited whenver he could at weekends. As he …Read More
“”””””””””””””””””””””” A KYOTO NEW YEAR The true soul of Japan is neither Shinto nor Buddhist. It’s Shinto-Buddhist. Until the artificial split of early Meiji times, the country had more than 1000 years of happy syncretism. Born Shinto, die Buddhist is the Japanese way. Shinto is this-worldly, concerned with rites of passage and social well-being. Buddhism …Read More
Rebecca Otowa Self-Introduction for Writers in Kyoto I was born in 1950s America, grew up in 1970s Australia, and came of age in 1980s Japan. My Kyoto years (when I lived there as a student and then as a young wife and mother) are 1978-1984. I now live in Shiga, the next-door prefecture, so I …Read More
WiK 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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