The Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries by Catherine Pawasarat (2022) Reviewed by Paul Carty The Gion Festival, an integral part of Kyoto’s cultural heritage, spans the month of July, culminating in vibrant processions on July 17th and 24th. Catherine Pawasarat’s book, The Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries, provides a comprehensive guide to this historic event, …Read More
Category: Kyoto Books (Page 1 of 4)
Books set in Kyoto
THE KIMONO TATTOO by Rebecca Copeland (Brother Mockingbird, 2021) Review by Rebecca Otowa June 2023 Many themes come together in this complex novel about a famous kimono, the design of which is transformed into a tattoo inscribed on a beautiful woman, the daughter of a famous kimono-designing family in Kyoto. The main character of the …Read More
by Allen S. Weiss My desire to return to Kyoto has been frustrated for over two years due to the covid epidemic, just as work on my most recent book project, Illusory Dwellings: A Kyoto Travelogue, has been stalled for the same reason. But there are many ways to travel. A voyage has neither beginning …Read More
Writers in Kyoto would like to extend heartfelt thanks to our friends at the Ireland Japan Association (IJS) for their assistance in promoting our fourth anthology, Structures of Kyoto, across the Emerald Isle. Structures of Kyoto is now housed in the library of the Visitors’ Centre at the Lafacadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in County Waterford. …Read More
By Liane Grunberg Wakabayashi From New York City, the ink barely dry on a master’s degree in arts administration, I’d come to Tokyo to try my luck as an arts writer. My self-assigned beat became the top floor art galleries of Tokyo department stores, purveyors of some of the finest nihonga paintings in the nation. …Read More
On sale now from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp and other Amazon marketplaces in print and Kindle formats. Edited by Rebecca Otowa and Karen Lee Tawarayama Foreword by Judith Clancy Structures of Kyoto explores the physical, spiritual, and artistic elements of Japan’s ancient capital and beckons one to “step through the gate” to interact with them. Bookended by the insights of authors Judith …Read More
Kyoto: A Literary Guide which came out last year with Camphor Press was a collaborative effort by six different people, who collectively made the selection and agreed on the translation and editing. Now one of them, Michael Lambe of the Deep Kyoto blog, has made a short five minute video with the help of his …Read More
by Chad Kohalyk A physical space for your inner self — reading a new translation of Hōjōki by Matthew Stavros My clearest memory of my grandfather is the little cot in his back room. Lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, he would spend hours on that folding metal bed with the thin …Read More
Authors’ presentation and social event, Nov 15.Report by Felicity Tillack (photos by her unless otherwise stated) On a beautiful November Sunday afternoon in northern Kyoto city, the WiK members congregated for a special social and celebratory event. The main reason for the gathering was to support authors whose books were published in the time of …Read More
This is the first chapter of a novel titled Kyoto Dreamtime being written by Everett Kennedy Brown. ************************ Chapter 1 The Voices in Rocks “Quietude in the temple grounds. Quietude in the surrounding hills and forests. In the stillness you can hear them. The rocks. Listen to the way they murmur. Listen to how …Read More
WiK Writing Competition
Eighth Annual Writing Competition Winners (2023)
Previous years:
Seventh Annual Writing Competition Winners (2022)
WiK Anthologies
The Nature of Kyoto (2023)
Eds. Lisa Twaronite Sone & Robert Weis
Foreword by Pico Iyer
Structures of Kyoto (2021)
Eds: Rebecca Otowa & Karen Lee Tawarayama
Foreword by Judith Clancy
Encounters with Kyoto (2019)
Eds: Jann Williams & Ian Josh Yates
Foreword by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Echoes (2017)
Eds: John Dougill, Amy Chavez, & Mark Richardson
Preface by Alex Kerr
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