With Mt Fuji’s registration, World Heritage sites are much in the news at the moment, and in this regard I’ve been looking at Japan’s Tentative List and the twelve sites which are currently waiting their turn to be nominated. … Read the rest
Category: General (Page 18 of 25)
Alan Watts this week has been talking about the limitations of the brain in processing reality (a lecture entitled ‘Seeing through the net’). The brain works in ways that are reductionist, ‘digital’ and linear. Reality comes in waves, vibrations … Read the rest
An article in today’s Japan Times raises the important point of whether terms like kami, matsuri and jinja should be translated when writing in English, or should they be left as they are as technical terms. There are valid … Read the rest
“The number of Shinto shrines in Japan has changed over centuries due to various political and social changes. There were about 190,000 shrines during the early Meiji Era (1867-1912), before a drastic change came about … Read the rest
One of my favourite writers about Japan, Michael Hoffman, has brought out a long article in the Japan Times today on Japan and notions of beauty, prompted by the current right-wing prime minister’s declaration that he wants to promote a … Read the rest
This news item seemed so unlikely I had to re-post it… English and Japanese share a common linguistic origin?!! It certainly didn’t strike me that way when trying to learn the language. But according to British scientists it seems they … Read the rest
Islands are one of Japan’s greatest assets. These little microcosms dotted around the mainlands offer idlyllic escape from the rat race and transport the visitor to an earlier age of timeless traditions. The Shinto practised here is unencumbered by the … Read the rest