Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2026

Hokusai to Hara: Ukiyo-e to Anime

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Looking back… Anton: I came to study woodblock prints and thought I’d do my research in a museum. But one contact led to another and I ende...
Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Lorna sees the Nenes

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Lorna is taken to a club some years ago… Sanae:  It’s a small place but a bit special. They’re famous. Lorna:  What does Nenes mean? Sanae: ...
Sunday, October 26, 2025

Charlie and Mamachari

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Borrowing a bicycle… Charlie:  I need to pop down to the shops. Hiroshi:   うん、いいよ。うちの二台目の自転車、使っていいよ。 Use my Mama-chari. Charlie:  A what? So...
Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Steampunk coffee shop

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Sign on a Kitsch street… Hugo : Hmm. And are the coffee beans here ground by a dirigible? Sophronia : I’ve heard the barista’s name is Perci...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025

White Tanabata Rabbit

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Tanabata, when wishes are written on strips of colored paper (tanzaku) resembling very narrow postcards. Tanabata celebrates the annual atte...
Friday, June 27, 2025

Porky and Bess

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Porky picks up a package from Bess, an old acquaintance… Bess : To Narita, Terminal 1, South Wing, Baggage pick up. Porky : A suitcase disgu...
Sunday, June 22, 2025

Origami Reading Woman

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In a stationery store in a remote Japanese town… Mariko : Just look at this. Stunning, isn’t it? Shiho : Ooh, very delicate. What ’ s it cal...
Sunday, June 15, 2025

Rainy Season Strategies

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Avoiding humidity… Hiroshi : You sleep like a cat, curled up,  Hiroko : I nap a lot in the rainy season. Hiroshi : I don’t sleep.  Hiroko : ...
Thursday, June 12, 2025

Solitude or Spooks?

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On moving from a rundown overgrown house… Ricardo : Eventually, you stop noticing the mountains because you’ve spent too long staring at the...
Thursday, June 5, 2025

Eggplants and Butterflies

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Fifty years on… Harold : Never thought I'd see this place again. Almost no change. Look - the house still stands. Akiya now, huh? Hirosh...
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Spy Family in the Onsen Manga Room

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Late back... Ken : Sorry. I dropped by the hot spring after work - needed a reset. Louise : Fall asleep in the bath again? Ken : Ha! No, but...
Sunday, May 18, 2025

Noodles, Noise and a Vulnerable Voice

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Argument over ambience… Fred : Noodles? Kyushu Ramen, big, cheerful place. Carl : Hmm. Loud? My hearing’s not what it used to be, and I have...
Monday, May 5, 2025

Sōseki meets Hearne in Kumamoto

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A  curious symmetry as H departs for Tokyo, S arrives. Hearne: It is not an easy place to settle. There is a loneliness. Sōseki: I’ve only...
Thursday, May 1, 2025

White Rabbit, Golden Week

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Three white rabbits celebrating Golden Week as samurai, singer and shaman are on a quest to admire azaleas on a mountain hike. May the month...
Tuesday, April 1, 2025

White Rabbits Brave Blossoms

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  What have blossoms bravely blooming in the Japanese spring got to do with rugby you may ask? Well, the Japanese ruggards team is called th...
Monday, March 31, 2025

Minamata Mercury Poisoning

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Recognizing a scene in an old photo … Dennis: That’s the Chisso plant in Minamata isn’t it? Antonio: Sharp eye. Yes. 1973. Dennis: Wasn’t...
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Up climbing

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Moving house… William : It’s on the fourth floor. Time to "up climb". Andrew : Good to hear you’re not "down climbing" a...
Sunday, February 9, 2025

Kimono and Hiking Boots

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Costume contrast… Mari : Zori or geta are prescribed protocol. Hiking boots jar the aesthetic. Haru : Unusual, yes. Perhaps it’s for pract...
Saturday, February 1, 2025

White Japan February Rabbit

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Feb 1-2: skiing,  Feb 2-3: soaking off the sunburn in an onsen, Feb 2: throwing beans so the tax office gives a refund (a setsubun invocatio...
Saturday, January 25, 2025

Naoshima or Kyushu

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Planning the next trip… Yoko : Ferruccio, we need to decide on our next trip. Should we go to Naoshima or Kyushu? You’re not still obsessed ...