Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Part II I’ve described how Japanese religions have made an impression on the country’s main media export: manga and anime. References to Japanese religion and folklore often appear in media as tropes, storytelling devices for describing situations the creator can assume the audience will recognize. In Part I we examined Shinto and natural […]
Arts & Entertainment
Shinto and Buddhist Influences on Anime and Manga – Part I
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Part I Just as Christian symbolism and references have made their way into popular media worldwide, Japanese religions have also made an impression on the country’s main media export: manga and anime. References to Japanese religion and folklore often appear in media as tropes, which the website TV […]
Invitations to Stillness: Japanese Gardens as Metaphorical Journeys of Solace
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Kōmyō-in (光明院) garden sub-temple of Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto. Photo by John Einarsen, courtesy of Kyoto Journal
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! This post, courtesy of our friends at Kyoto Journal, is adapted and condensed from an article by Japanese garden expert Mark Hovane. You can click here to read the entire article, and read other insightful stories about Japan and Asia in Kyoto Journal. There is a significant […]
How we can use “wa” 和 now more than ever
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! The beauty of Japanese kanji characters is that they can convey so much meaning in so few strokes. Take the kanji “wa” 和 for example. It has numerous connotations wrapped up in just eight simple lines, and one those meanings, “harmony”, is particularly significant during this time of worldwide crisis. Let’s […]
Paper Screens: Book Recommendations
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! So many wonderful books have been written to help us better understand the Japanese people. These books help us reconcile the contradiction of a culture that finds beauty in unrefined simplicity and yet feels infinitely bizarre and complex to most foreigners. Travellers, scholars, and Japanophiles have written volumes about […]
Hanko stamp being stamped out
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! For those of you have lived or been to Japan, you may have noticed the little red stamps called ‘hanko’. One of the first things I had to do when moving to Japan back in 1999 was to go and get myself an official ‘hanko’. For all […]
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! For those of you have lived or been to Japan, you may have noticed the little red stamps called ‘hanko’. One of the first things I had to do when moving to Japan back in 1999 was to go and get myself an official ‘hanko’. For all […]