Michael Lambe of Deep Kyoto has been writing for a few months on a shortsighted scheme under way in Kyoto City, selling off part of Umekoji Park near Kyoto Station to Orix Corporation to build an aquarium. Today he has a guest column on the Japan Today website.
There are many reasons why Kyoto doesn’t need an aquarium, starting with the fact that there is already a large, well-known aquarium in neighboring Osaka, WHICH IS A PORT CITY where an aquarium makes some sense. Kyoto Prefecture’s port is far away beyond …
I was surprised the other day to read in the news a brief story about the Kyoto team in the Girls Professional Baseball League, not only because I didn’t know that Kyoto had a team, but also because I didn’t know there was a league for women (or “Girls,” as they put it). So I went digging, and there is a website for the team, the Kyoto Asto Dreams, but I couldn’t find league standings, only results for Kyoto’s games against one team, the Hyogo Swing Smileys. …
Japan Times: Link to story
By NAOKO KURAMOCHI, Staff writer
There’s nothing sweeter than being introduced to a foreign culture than through tea and confectionary.
And screenings of films about the beverage and traditional sweets in Kyoto next week are aimed at introducing these and other aspects of Japanese culture. In collaboration with the Kyoto City International Foundation, the Japan Foundation will screen two films with English narration on Aug. 26.
The first film, the 47-minute “The Spirit of Tea: Sen no Rikyu” (1988) portrays the life of legendary …
Wall Street Journal: Link to story with slideshow
(anyone know where this is?)
Squeezed next to a centuries-old shrine in this historical city stands a slight, two-story abode that looks modern, but is meant to embody the spirit of Kyoto’s homes of the past.
The all-white structure with a dramatic glass façade is long and thin, curving slightly to the right, and is comprised of a main living area just over 6½ feet wide, with two wings on each side. In one wing is a little alcove …
This is the Daimonji Fire Festival video for 2010. 9 minutes, 16:9.