Like this post? Help us by sharing it! People see Japan as a country where there’s a great deal of pressure to conform to social norms. Although it’s something of a tired trope, the phrase ‘the nail that sticks up gets hammered down’ does have a degree of truth to it here. In my eleven […]
Culture & History
Exploring the everyday in Shin-Maruko, Tokyo
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! People come to Japan and expect the unexpected, but it is funny how many unexpected things you associate with the ‘normal’ and ‘everyday’ after living in Japan. Behind all the famous sights and scenes, people’s daily life ticks along with a societal rhythm very different to our […]
Hibaku Jumoku: Survivors of Hiroshima
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Ever since 1945, August 6th has been a big day in history. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the day an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. There are many stories that come from ‘the bomb’ which killed an estimated 140,000 people initially and […]
The Olympics that didn’t happen: Tokyo 1940
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Tokyo was gearing up for the Olympics. Planned as a cornerstone of national pride, the Games were designed to showcase Japan to the world and cement its place as a modern, global leader. Posters were designed, travel companies began offering package holidays for the games, and the […]
The Wild Heart of Japan
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Japan is a land forged by fire and ice, as well as what happens when the two of them meet – mainly lots of water! Formed by volcanic activity at the merger of four tectonic plates, Japan is the product of massive forces – forces that have […]
Shokunin kishitsu: The Craftsman’s Spirit
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! The meticulousness that drives the craftsman’s spirit, or shokunin kishitsu, has made the arts and crafts of Japan famous worldwide. In this blog, I would like to focus on a few examples of Japanese craftsmanship techniques that epitomise this spirit, along with a few of my favourite Japanese […]
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! The meticulousness that drives the craftsman’s spirit, or shokunin kishitsu, has made the arts and crafts of Japan famous worldwide. In this blog, I would like to focus on a few examples of Japanese craftsmanship techniques that epitomise this spirit, along with a few of my favourite Japanese […]