Tag: Book review

Hidden Japan by Alex Kerr

September 11, 2023 /

Book Review by Rebecca OtowaHidden Japan by Alex Kerr (Tuttle, 2023) The original Hidden Japan was in Japanese, titled Nippon Junrei, and this translation gives us another example of Alex Kerr’s stupendous literary, cultural and linguistic gifts. It comprises a description of journeys in 2017-2019 and is in a way an extension, or re-visitation, of …Read More

Review: The Book of Form and Emptiness

September 30, 2022 /

Book Review of The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (560 pages)  Reviewer: Rebecca Otowa Readers of this website may remember that I wrote a piece called “Insight on a Rainy Day” in August 2022, largely about the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo) and its central message, “Emptiness is none other than form; form is …Read More

Of Arcs and Circles

December 30, 2021 /

Book Review by Rebecca Otowa OF ARCS AND CIRCLES: insights from Japan on gardens, nature, and artby Marc Peter Keane (Stone Bridge Press, 2019) The first thing I noticed about this book is that it is made up of essays, similar to Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard, which …Read More

Short Story Collective

November 15, 2021 /

THE SHORT STORY COLLECTIVE: 13 TALES FROM JAPAN by Andrew Innes Available from Amazon in paperback and ebook formats Review by Rebecca Otowa This collection of 13 short stories invites the reader to join the author in a challenging navigation of the seas of reality and fantasy. There are twists, turns and illusions galore, and …Read More

Review of ‘Tokyo: A Biography’

January 21, 2020 /

Book Review of Tokyo: A Biography by Stephen Mansfield (208 pages) Disasters, Destruction and Renewal: The Story of an Indomitable City Reviewer: Ian Yates Tokyo, the city, the metropolis, the legend, has always been overpowering to me. It has intimidated and frightened me by its vastness. This fear morphed into disdain and a belief that …Read More

About Writers in Kyoto

Writers in Kyoto is a group of published and self-published English-language authors working or living in the city. It is run on a membership basis and its purpose is for writers to help each other by creating opportunities for promotion, book launches, readings, the exchange of information, and social events. Read more

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