Last year on 10th March I attended a concert by Joji Hirota and the London Metropolitan Orchestra at St John’s Wood Church in London (read more about that here). It was absolutely incredible and, as you can imagine, I was thrilled when I heard Joji was back this year with another ‘Beyond the Requiem’ concert … Continue reading
Last week’s post was about jinrikisha (じんりきしゃ / 人力車), so this week I need to start with either しゃ (sha) or や (ya). A big thank you to everyone who joined in this week – JapanAustralia with shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ / a Japanese variant of a hot pot), yakitori (焼き鳥 / grilled chicken on a skewer), Yamadera (山寺 … Continue reading
As I said in my last post, there’s an awful lot going on in London at the moment. Right now there are two Japanese festivals happening at the same time. On Thursday last week I attended Japan Festival 2012, which you can read about here, and on Saturday I went along to Arigato in London. … Continue reading
I’ve always thought of churches as quiet places full of whispers, but St John’s Wood Church in London was shouting tonight. I don’t know if I believe in God but, if he is up there I think he would have noticed one Joji Hirota banging on his door tonight. I’ve just come home from “Beyond the … Continue reading
Yesterday I went to the Destinations Holiday & Travel Show at Earl’s Court. Even though I can’t really afford a holiday this year, I thought I would go for some inspiration (plus I had a free ticket!). I enjoyed wandering around and looking at brochures for far away destinations but, at the end of the … Continue reading
About a month ago, on Sunday 18th September, the Japan Matsuri was held in London. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to write about it, but life has been busy. It was a fantastic day, with almost too much to take in. I wished I could split myself into two people to be on … Continue reading
Last weekend the Thames Festival took place in London. The Thames Festival celebrated the mixture of different cultures present in London, including Polish, Brazilian, Spanish, Korean and Japanese. The Japanese community was represented by the Akari Lantern Project, organised by the Japan Society of the UK and lots of volunteers. During the day, there was … Continue reading
Japan seems to be popular in the UK this year, which is good for me! I’ve just learnt that the Mayor’s Thames Festival in London will be featuring a Taiko and Lantern Parade. Here are the details, taken from the Japan Society of the UK website: TAIKO and LANTERN PARADE Evening, Sunday 11th September 2011 … Continue reading
Hyper Japan 2011 was held at Olympia Two in London from 22nd – 24th July, and I attended on all three days. There was so much to take in at the event – at times it was almost overwhelming. It was much bigger than I expected, and there were more people than I think anyone … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 