Long before Japan opened to the Western world in 1850s and Japonism became the latest trend, Europe already knew about Japanese lacquerware. The first items were imported to Europe by Continue Reading
14th century Italy, ten young men and women flee Florence to protect from the Black Death or plague epidemics, and find a shelter in a remote villa in the countryside. Continue Reading
You may remember the movie “The Last Samurai”, where Tom Cruise was playing a US captain who joins to fight alongside the last samurais in Japan. What you may not Continue Reading
This year the rainy season happens to be a real one. By “real” I mean that it rains often, especially on weekends, and whenever you check the forecast with an Continue Reading
Coming back after long holiday is always tough, even more so if this marks the start of yet another year and carries the weight of the widely common “new year, Continue Reading
I always thought that Japan has four seasons, or maybe five, if we count the rainy one. It was just recently that I discovered it was not entirely true. Based Continue Reading
“With clouds and mist In a brief moment a hundred scenes Brought to fulfillment” (Matsuo Bashō, translated by D. L. Barnhill) I have always been the one to claim that Continue Reading
Imagine a samurai in Saint-Tropez, a coastal town in the French Riviera. Sounds like a scene from a comedy movie? That was my first reaction as well. The fact remains Continue Reading
I wake up to the sound of rain, the start is not promising. By the time I am about to leave my hotel, it is pouring. If I told you Continue Reading
Some years back there was a movie called “Silk” with Keira Knightley. The story itself aside, it was about a Frenchman traveling to Japan for silkworm eggs, as at the Continue Reading