Thank you to everyone who entered my competition for a chance to win a copy of The Moe Manifesto by Patrick W. Galbraith (see the review and competition post here). The winner has been selected by a random draw, and will be contacted shortly. I’m delighted to announce that the winner is… ☆★☆ Denny Sinnoh ☆★☆ I hope you enjoy … Continue reading
Reading The Moe Manifesto by Patrick W. Galbraith (published by Tuttle, 2014) was a bit like diving into Alice’s rabbit hole for me. I took a trip into the complete unknown, and to be honest I’m still a little befuddled. Don’t get me wrong – this is a fantastic book for those already super keen on … Continue reading
Love Strikes! (モテキ / Moteki) (2011) Director: Hitoshi One Cast: Mirai Moriyama, Masami Nagasawa, Kumiko Aso, Riisa Naka, Yoko Maki There really is nothing like losing yourself in a movie for a couple of hours, and that’s exactly what I did this afternoon. I went to the Watershed in Bristol to see another of the Japan Foundation’s Touring Film Programme films – … Continue reading
Otakus in Love (恋の門 / Koi no Mon) (2004) Director: Suzuki Matsuo Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Wakana Sakai, Suzuki Matsuo, Kiyoshiro Imawano, Hijiri Kojima The second of today’s movies was Otakus in Love (恋の門 / Koi no Mon), based on a manga by Jun Hanyunyuu. As I came out of the cinema I heard a fellow … Continue reading
As some of you will know, one of my other hobbies is taking photographs of street art. It’s always interesting to look at the influences in street art, and often I notice Japanese influences. A while ago I was in London and I spotted this manga-esque paste-up in Shoreditch by Tian: Tian is a French … Continue reading
If you follow my other blog, Picturing England, you’ll know I’m a big fan of street art and often photograph the art I find here in the UK. Last weekend there was a street art festival called Upfest here in Bristol, and I was delighted to find a number of Japanese-inspired pieces of street art! … Continue reading
It’s time for A to Wa of Japan again! Last week’s post was about things beginning with け (ke) and we looked at Kesennuma (気仙沼). This week we are looking at things beginning with く (ku). A big thank you to everyone who joined in with suggestions this week: shiotadesu suggested Korilakkuma (コリラックマ / Rilakkuma’s little female friend), Kodomo no hi (子供の日 … 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
Although I am really interested in Japanese culture, and I can’t deny my love for Studio Ghibli, I’m not actually that much of an anime/manga geek. When I was a student I did go through a bit of a computer games, comics and sci-fi phase but even that seems to have passed now. However, I … Continue reading
I’ve had more things to do than I’ve had time to blog about them recently, so I apologise in advance for the next couple of blog posts which will tell you about exhibitions which have now closed. Where possible, I try to blog about things as they are happening so that, if you’re in London … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 