Last weekend in amongst all the craziness of HYPER JAPAN I decided to take a few moments of peace for myself and visit Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. Despite having lived in London for a number of years, I had never made it to Holland Park, so this was my first time to visit the … Continue reading
As I sat with my new friends in a small, newly rebuilt restaurant in Shichigahama today looking at the sea I realised why I feel such a connection with Tohoku and with the disaster area in particular. Of course I was in Japan at the time of the earthquake and tsunami, which brought me closer … Continue reading
A few weeks ago I visited the Holburne Museum in Bath. I first heard about the Holburne Museum at a netsuke exhibition at the Embassy of Japan earlier this year, just before I moved to Bristol. I noted down that the museum had a small collection of netsuke, and decided I must make time to visit. … Continue reading
Miss Kitty White sure is a popular girl here in the UK, and recently I’ve been spotting her everywhere! Here are a few places I’ve caught Kitty-chan recently… She was in the window of the Build-A-Bear Workshop in Covent Garden, and I have to confess I was tempted to build a Kitty! Aren’t they cute? … Continue reading
They say if you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life, but I beg to differ. When I came back from Japan almost two years ago (April 2011), I looked for jobs in London almost by default. I did consider other cities, but it seemed highly unlikely I would find anything suitable outside of the … Continue reading
I had a great day out on Thursday at Kew Gardens in south-west London. There was a special offer to get free tickets between 22nd December and 4th January, so I decided to take advantage of the offer and take myself out on a little day trip. I’ve fancied going to Kew for a while … Continue reading
Happy December everyone! (*^_^)v I’ve been a bit quiet over the last month, so I just wanted to let you all know what I’ve been up to, and say that I’m still here. November was a mad month! I did manage to squeeze a few blog posts out, but I still have so much to … Continue reading
The current exhibition at the ICN gallery in London, ukiyo-e pop, showcases classic ukiyo-e (浮世絵 / Japanese woodblock prints) and modern art influenced by these traditional prints, which falls under the umbrella of contemporary ‘Japonism‘. This exhibition is part two of a three-part series. Part 1 “What is Ukiyo-e?” provided a good introduction to ukiyo-e, and this … Continue reading
Calling Japan lovers in the UK! The Japan Matsuri will be back this year on Saturday 6th October. This year’s Matsuri will be held at Trafalgar Square. Last year the Japan Matsuri was held at County Hall, which I wasn’t sure was a particularly good venue (I heard Spitalfields in 2010 was better). I’m not … Continue reading
(Image source: Japan Probe) The other day a friend and I were talking about ukiyo-e (浮世絵 / Japanese woodblock prints) and she mentioned “Kuniyoshi’s Skytree”. I didn’t know what she meant, but soon found out after a little Googling… Around 1831, Japanese ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi ((歌川 国芳, 1797 – 1862) made the picture “Toto Mitsumata no Zu” (“The view … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 