Something you may not know about me is that I am a bit of a David Bowie fan. I’ve loved him since I was a kid, have all of his studio albums, and have seen him play live a couple of times. It’s been a while since I’ve really given much attention to Bowie, but … Continue reading
When I lived in Japan I became aware of the Tokaido (東海道), an ancient road which once connected Tokyo (then Edo) to Kyoto. The Tokaido was the most important of the Edo Five Routes (Gokaidō / 五街道), five routes set up by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康) (1543 – 1616) to connect Edo to other parts of Japan during the … Continue reading
March 2013 marks the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami which devastated the Tohoku region of Japan. Despite everything that happened, and the very many lives that were lost (approximately 16,000 people killed and around 2,700 people still unaccounted for), Japan has maintained a fighting spirit throughout. Although this tragedy taught … Continue reading
Broken Things (こわれたもの) is a photography book by Sam Seager. The photos in the book were taken over the two weeks which Sam spent in Tohoku, northeastern Japan, a year after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 11th March, 2011. Photographed in Kamaishi, Rikuzentakata and the island of Oshima, the book shows people … Continue reading
I’ve decided to enter another photo contest, and this is a begging post asking for your votes, dear reader! If you like any of the photos below, please vote for them so I might have a chance of winning a trip to Japan. All you have to do is: 1) Click on the image above … Continue reading
March 2013 will mark the second anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated eastern Japan. In the months since the disaster struck, and through much pain and suffering, a spirit of hope has prevailed. Now, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and Mitsubishi Corporation will celebrate the nation’s courage by hosting The Great East Japan Earthquake … Continue reading
Earlier this year I read Japanese Street Style by Pat Lyttle and my review of it has just been published by the Japan Society of the UK. Click on the picture below to go to their site and read the review. (Read my review of Japanese Street Style) In April this year there was an exhibition … Continue reading
As some of you will know, I often participate in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge over on my other blog, Picturing England, but this week I decided it would be appropriate to do it here instead. The theme this week is ‘Happy‘, and Japan is probably the thing that makes me happiest in the whole … Continue reading
Last week’s post was about Beppu (べっぷ / 別府), so this week I need to start with ぷ (pu). A big thank you to japanaustralia for joining in the game of Shiritori this week and suggesting Puccho (ぷっちょ) – a kind of Japanese sweets, and puroyakyuu (ぷろやきゅう), professional baseball. However, this week I had a burning desire to write … Continue reading
Up-and-coming Japanese photographer Yoshiteru Hagiwara, from Hyogo, is currently holding his first solo exhibition at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch, and I highly recommend stopping by. Taken around England since 2011, Yoshiteru’s photographs capture rare moments and convey interesting emotions. I really took to both the photographs and the friendly, enthusiastic photographer as I wandered around … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 