Nagoya has many memories for me. I used to live near here, in a little city called Gifu, half an hour away on the local train. In those days Nagoya seemed like a huge industrial city. Many years later, when I was researching my book on Sadayakko (the turn of the last century geisha who … Read more
So I watched from my balcony as the great ship glided away from her berth in Tokyo Bay with the Kodo Drummers there on the quay to drum us out … To reposition a little farther up the bay in Yokohama. I’d never realised Yokohama was beautiful! I used to always come here by train … Read more
The poet Basho wrote: Summer grasses – All that remains Of mighty warrior’s dreams Was reminded of this poem when I went back to the women’s palace, the women’s vast palatial residence which formed a huge proportion of Edo Castle, the shogun’s headquarters. (Akin to a harem, the women’s palace housed 3000 women and the … Read more