I manage to catch the last day that photographer Kishin Shinoyama’s photographic exhibition The People is showing at Kanazawa’s stunning 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. (Do take a peek at the building here as it is beyond words.) Continue reading
I agree with Matt Zoller Seitz the editor in chief at RogerEbert.com who states that Martin Scorsese’s Silence is a film you experience and then live with. That’s true in spite of its flaws. Continue reading
Image credit to Sogetsu Ikebana website http://www.sogetsu.or.jp/e/
Last week I downloaded Microsoft’s Translator to my phone. Now I can photograph, keyboard or speak into the phone and get an instant English to Japanese or Japanese to English translation. Someone with whom I wish to communicate can hear as well as read the result. Continue reading
Satori: Image Credit to Erin Silversmith – Own work, Public Domain
As part of the ongoing celebration of five years of blogging at The Way of Words, today I reprise a single story in 5 posts. These describe an intense experience in a remote Japanese temple during a single afternoon which unexpectedly and forever altered my perception of everything. Continue reading
The last time I was part of a group where everyone minded each others business was before adulthood. During that time I belonged to a church; a small, conservative, community of Mennonites who despite their unique culture, good works and upstanding qualities felt compelled as a group to regulate the behavior of others. Sometimes that meant great pressure on members to conform and often to make public apologies for transgressions.
In that respect, even though it’s set in present day Japan, I found the world of Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City oddly familiar. Continue reading
Photo Credit: Copyright © Coto Language Academy. All Rights Reserved
So sorry. I’m overdue. I ought to have posted some time ago. Though you wouldn’t know it to look at me, I’ve been busy.
What have I been up to, you ask. Answer: Binge-watching Netflix. Continue reading
Often (sometimes multiple times a day) something unexpected and special takes me by surprise when traveling through Japan. Out of curiosity, I’d gone to Jizo Dori mainly to check out the “Harajuku for grandmothers” and “aka pantsu.” Continue reading
That year snow began falling during the Christmas Eve service. Afterwards, groups of men worked to shove each car through the nearly 12 inches of heavy white stuff. Fortunately a snow plow had passed along the Island Highway while we were inside church, and carloads filled with excitement-crazed children made their way home without too much difficulty at the end of the service. Continue reading
Greater Victoria, my new home-city, goes all out during the Christmas season. The Legislature Buildings, Government House, Empress Hotel, Butchart Gardens, as well as numerous local establishments light up. Carolers wander the downtown streets and musicians perform in various plazas. One evening a huge fleet of transport trucks lights up and roars through the city in an amazing show; another sees a flotilla of brightly lit boats in a sail past.
Indoors, venues feature elegant garlands, wreaths, trees, and offer craft fairs, delectable food and entertainment. It’s a city of constant concerts and theatrical shows which are conveniently listed in glossy holiday guides.
I always decorate early (First Advent) and take down late (Epiphany). My tree is up, and the crèche displayed on the sill of a leaded glass window that very conveniently has a rosette over the manger.
My new tree in my 6.5 x 10′ living room.
In addition to my own vast collection of Christmas carols, offerings from the CBC’s classical Christmas stream play constantly.
As the days get gloomier, it’s gratifying to defy the night with light and song. (The northern ancients knew what they were about when they created Yule, the Saturnalia and other similar festivals. Thank heaven the church had the sense to steal from them when they saw austerity and penance weren’t working!)
This year I’ve added a 90-minute horse-drawn carriage ride beside the sea, through Beacon Hill Park and into downtown to my personal celebrations. If I bring the bubbly Victoria Carriage Tours supplies the ice-bucket, the glasses and warm blankets.
Since no one was interested in joining me, I will go solo. More bubbly for me! I reject the notion that Christmas is for children or not worth celebrating if you live alone. No matter what time of year, I’ve never let that stop me from creating beauty, comfort and joy. Bring on the Ho! Ho! Ho! And even the Happy Humbug!
Disclosure: Part of this content previously appeared in a comments thread.
Kotatsu photo credit to Pinterest
What’s not to love about Japan? Plenty. Like any other nation and culture it has flaws and problems galore. Even though I don’t have blinkers on, my purpose in writing about my journeys and adventures in Japan is not to criticize but chronicle my experience.
I admit it: There are selective omissions in what I write. Occasionally however, I disclose what I don’t get, what I can’t appreciate and why.
One of those things I don’t appreciate but is dearly beloved by every Japanese person I’ve met is the kotatsu. Click here to read why not.
To celebrate five years of blogging, this post links to previous content from The Way of Words.Your comments are always appreciated.