Friday 4 November, 2016 at 6:00 – 8:00pm
Travelling Through
131 Lower Marsh,
London SE1 7AE
Illustrated talk: ‘ “Traveller” – let that be my name.’ Travelling Japan through the ages […]
SOAS University of London
Illustrated talk: The Ooku, the Shogun’s ‘Harem’: Life in the Women’s Palace in Nineteenth Century Japan
In 1854 Atsu, an 18-year-old girl, was chosen to become the shogun’s consort and rule over the ooku, the shogun’s harem or Women’s Palace.[…]
Thursday 10 November 2016 at 6.45pm
The Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended
Book online here
Fragrance of the orange Flowering at last in June Wafts through the summer night The memory of scented sleeves Of someone long ago Scent has an amazing power to evoke and transport, to bring back a sudden memory of somewhere or someone once loved and long forgotten. The Japanese have always celebrated scent but not … Read more
‘The tayu knelt next to me, adjusting her skirts. Underneath it all she had a cheeky, elfin face with a tiny nose and pointed chin. How long had she been a tayu, I asked, then gasped when she opened her small mouth to answer. In the chalky-white face with the blood-red lips, her teeth were … Read more
On a hot steamy summer’s day like the last few here in England, 163 years and 14 days ago, on July 8th 1853, something happened that would entirely change the course of Japanese – and world – history. Read my short story … Sharp-eyed Hambei the Fisherman and the Invading Aliens Sharp-Eyed Hambei is the … Read more
Here is a wonderful article with great photographs about walking in the Kumano region. The Kumano Shrines are among the most revered in Japan and for many years women were not allowed in these sacred mountains. Many many years ago I spent time in nearby Shingu and took the waters in the hotspring at Kii-Katsura … Read more
“We are in the eye of the storm,” says Sami, the moustachioed owner of a tiny café perched on the edge of a precipitous canyon. “Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia – they’re all around us. But here is calm.” He gestures around the spectacular ravine in front of us. We’ve spent all day zig-zagging down one side and up the other. “Is Jordan not calm and peaceful?” I have to agree. “But tourists no longer come,” he adds gloomily. “They’re afraid. Tourist industry is in trouble. We can’t make ends meet.” […]
As the great ship surges into Tokyo Bay I’m on the prow, hair streaming in the wind, like Kate Winslet in “Titanic.” Wooded crags come into view, dotted with buildings and the odd factory chimney. The buildings are modern, not wooden houses, but the crags are still much the same as Commodore Matthew Perry must … Read more
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