Sept.03

How Art Historians Cracked the Case of Enigmatic Japanese Painter Hasegawa Tōhaku

Sept.03 Allison Meier

From Artsy.net:  by Allison Meier Hasegawa Tōhaku’s legacy has played out like an art-historical whodunit—which is precisely why Dr. Miyeko Murase, former special consultant in Japanese art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and professor emerita at Columbia University, found it so fascinating. “I thought, this reads like a detective story,” she told Artsy, “and…

Sept.02

Lacquer artist, Seiichiro Fujino

Sept.02 Simon Pilling

by Simon Pilling, specialist in Japanese lacquer ware Lacquer – the most perfect and finest objects ever issued from the hand of man (Louis Gonse, L’Art Japonais, 1900) Lacquer ware has traditionally defined arts of Japan in the West – the western name  ‘japanning’ once having as powerful a resonance as ‘china’ still has in defining the…

Sept.01

When Art Met Craft in Meiji Era Japan

Sept.01

From the Japan Times https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/04/03/arts/art-met-craft-meiji-era-japan/#.W3LUWMJ9jIU  

Aug.26

Overlooked gems in Japan as seen through the eyes of artist Gail Rieke

Aug.26

by Gail Rieke,  Japan Living Arts, artist-at-large A joy like none other… returning to Japan over and over… camera in hand… eyes and heart wide open a stroll down Teramchi Street in Kyoto… collage of asking for blessing the collaboration of people and nature paints masterpieces on the walls… Kanazawa… the whole town seems asleep…

Aug.16

Master chef raises vegetables and creates magical lunches in an old farm house called Wappado

Aug.16

by Mora Chartrand, the Foodies’ Foodie Wappado, a haven for those who yearn for a meal that expresses the terroir of the northern Kyoto countryside. Ōhara, a sleepy, agricultural hamlet just outside of Kyoto, is best known to visitors as the home of Jakko-in and Sanzenin temples, among others. It’s hard to match the rural…

Aug.15

Contemporary Glass Artist Takeshi Sano

Aug.15

by Dasha Klyachko, specialist in Japanese contemporary glass                                                                     Contemporary glass art combined with Japanese sensibility philosophy and aesthetic Although records show that…

Aug.15

Checking Out: The Final Days of Hotel Okura

Aug.15

by Russel Wong in an article from the Kyoto Journal The announcement that the Hotel Okura was slated for demolition in the summer of 2015 reverberated around the world, and was duly met with harsh criticism. Architects, designers and historians, not to mention the hotel’s former patrons — including heads of state, world-class actors and…

Aug.15

“If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof, Japanese version

Aug.15

Historically, the most popular musical in Japan  

Aug.15

Clams are superstars at Ibaraki destination restaurant: Hamaguri-ya

Aug.15

by Akemi Koyama, Cultural Ambassador Restaurant in Hitachinaka city serves only one special prix fixe hamaguri meal.  Hamaguri is Japanese for clam, I mean a huge clam that is a size of the palm of a hand. I stopped with friends at Hamaguri-ya on the way to Fukushima from Haneda airport.  It was a pleasant…

Aug.15

Shoji Hamada’s grandson, Tomoo, redefines his family’s sensibility for the 21st century

Aug.15

by Robert Yellin, specialist in Japanese ceramics The perks and pressures of being the son of someone famous can be enormous. In Japan,