by Elizabeth Andoh ODEN おでん Japan’s iconic ODEN is a slow-simmered, hodgepodge: fish sausages, daikon radishes, octopus, potatoes, boiled eggs, konnyaku (a broth-absorbing, speckled aspic processed from a tuber vegetable), and all sorts of tōfu. On the first chilly nights of autumn, oden is welcomed back to the family dinner table, pub-like izakaya menus and…

by Gail Rieke White turns to black/ black turns to white The Japanese design concept of Notan is the balance between light and dark elements. Adachi Garden in Yasugi It demonstrates the idea that the image and the ground or the positive and the negative spaces are of equal importance   Toji Pagoda in Kyoto…

The Omote Senke school of tea was founded in the 1600’s by the great grandson of Sen no Rikyu.   In addition to their modern administrative offices, the original site of the school has a number of tea rooms and a garden of impeccable refinement.  Omote Senke is one of the great architectural and cultural…

My doctor in Japan for many years, HONJO Soji was a true master of moxibustion. Below, I re-post my article from 2009. I used to think that all doctors’ offices were located in medical buildings with names like New West Professional Plaza and a pharmacy on the first floor, a huge parking lot and long…

The biwa (琵琶) is a kind of lute, with a short neck and frets. Jetavana Vihara, for Biwa and Voice The biwa (琵琶) is a kind of lute, with a short neck and frets.   It is usually used in narrative storytelling. The origin of the biwa is the Chinese pipa. It arrived in Japan well…

by devapnek I knew we were in for a visual fest last spring, when we received an invitation to join our friend Masa to visit a temple and garden that is only open to the public for a short time in the spring and autumn. I didn’t know that the visit would prompt a spontaneous…

A TREE MOVES IN MINATO-KU It’s a matter of priorities.  Minato Ward has its right! Unbeknownst to me, the powers that are in Tokyo’s Minato ward, where many Embassies are located, and many international residents of Tokyo live, decided that the venerable camphor tree in the historic Arisugawa Park needed to be moved.  By chance or…

The work of Jin MORIGAMI is currently being shown in his first U.S. solo at Tai Modern Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, until September 22nd, 2018. Morigami’s delicate designs are presented as a radical departure from traditional Japanese bamboo basketry.   “To materialize your vision in bamboo art, you have to keep working with…

3 minute video The late kabuki actor, NAKAMURA Kanzaburo V, performs a comedy medly of dance styles inspired by a number of famous kabuki performers of the 20th century.  Biography  Nakamura died at the young age of 57, in 2012. The 3 minute video focuses on a legendary 1930’s tap dance-inspired performance.  If you have…

A review by John Dwaine McKenna of Barry Lancet’s latest book Although prognostication and predicting the future isn’t what we normally do here at the MBR, there’s always exceptions, and this is one.  I’m gonna stick my neck all the way out to the cut-on-the-dotted-line tattoo and forecast the near future.  In about a week…