Old Japan Related Books

My girlfriend is currently volunteering at a small book shop and the best part of her job is that she is able to see all the good books as they arrive. As she knows I am totally in love with all things Japan she got me 3 books as a present.

I do not know much about old books and I must confess that I do not know anything about these books and I have yet to read them. So for now I thought that I would share with you a few photos of them and I will let you know more about them when I get around to reading them.

The first book is Haiku in english.

The second book is The Civilization of Japan

The final book, A year of Japanese Epigrams I think is my favorite so far because of the beautiful prints throughout the book and the embossed cover.

You can see more photos of these books at my new Flickr page.

Tweet

Japanese Homes

One of the things I love about Japan is where and how people live. I live in central London which can be a very crowded place to live sometimes and many people like me live in very small houses. I myself live in a studio flat which is basically a large room which is my bedroom and living space with a very small kitchen room and shower/toilet room.

Having such a small a place I have to be creative with storage space and use things like a sofa which folds out to become a bed. Also I try to keep my home as minimalist as possible something that the Japanese have been doing for generations.
As you can see from this tour of a traditional Japanese house.


A good way to learn how to organise space is to take a lesson from the Japanese, not only do they have some of the most confined living spaces in the world but they are very organised and have adapted very well with living in these small spaces with some very ingenious ideas for storage and living.

Below is some examples of space saving Japanese homes.


Tweet

Teruteru-bozu (shine shine, little buddy of mine)

Teruteru-bozu, are little hand made dolls, made from cloth. These dolls are hung outside or near a window during the Japanese rainy season. The dolls are said to bring good weather and keep the day dry.

Here is a great little video showing you how you can make a doll yourself.


Tweet

Performances from the Japanese Matsuri 2010 in London

A few clips of some of the performances that took place at the Japanese Matsuri in london 2010
It was alot of fun and so much to do I will definatly be attending this year too.



Tweet

Some photos taken at the Japanese Bunkasai 5th March 2011

Here is a few photos taken at the Japanese Bunkasai 2011. click here

Tweet

My Visit to the Japanese Bunkasai 5th March 2011

My first Japanese event I attended this year was the Bunkasai Japanese Festival and the European Cosplay Gathering in London held at Conway Hall, Holborn.

There was lots to do including food tasting, drumming lessons as well as talks on the tea ceremony and martial arts demonstrations.

The day also included many cosplay performances and there were lots of stalls selling various Japanese related items from Manga to clothing.

Below are a few videos of the cosplay performances on the day.







Tweet