Owner: Of Rice and Zen: The Memoirs of a Gaijin URL:http://www.memoirs-of-a-gaijin.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:39:21 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I'm moving to Japan in 5 days... Shit. The. Bed. Site statistics:Click here
Cafe Independants 2008-09-17 21:34:01 This Kyoto cafe is a hit with the young and trendy students that frequent the shopping Mecca of the downtown area, but how is it striking that arty chord?
The Sanjo and Shijo areas of Kyoto are well-trodden ground for most residents. They are places of work, rest and play that you may think you know [...]
Introducing… Hideo Kojima 2008-10-18 21:01:29 Hideo Kojima is a world famous gaming auteur. He is also fully trained in stage combat and willing to do partial nudity. This man had conceived a classic sneak ‘em up on the NES, but it wasn’t until the 3D revolution and the massive popularity of Sony’s PS1 that the scope of Kojima-san’s vision became [...] Read more:Introducing
Introducing… Akira Kurosawa 2008-10-16 11:43:30 Kurosawa’s reputation
When the Of Rice and Zen team were kids and we discovered Kurosawa we were blown away and felt like we’d made a foray into art cinema. Later on we realised that he is, on the contrary, one of the most successful and kinetic mainstream filmmakers who’s ever lived, we were just ignoramuses who [...] Read more:Introducing
, Akira
Introducing… Yasujiro Ozu 2008-10-15 11:22:52 Ozu Yasuhiro (小津 安二郎) was born in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo and buried at Engaku-ji in Kita-Kamakura. Ozu was initially hired as an assistant cameraman. He became an assistant director within three years, and directed his first film, Zange no Yaiba (The Sword of Penitence, now lost), in 1927. He went on to make [...] Read more:Introducing
Introducing… Shigeru Miyamoto 2008-10-14 09:55:22 The heart and soul of Nintendo who oversaw their domination of the video games market through the NES and SNES eras. He displayed, in the Mario games especially, the kind of imagination, innovation and aesthetic creativity that is rare and marked him out as one of the founding fathers of video games. You could you [...] Read more:Introducing
, Miyamoto
Introducing… Kitano Takeshi 2008-10-13 11:49:49 The breadth of Kitano’s talents is attested to by the fact that he is know in the west for completely different reasons than in Japan. Over here he has his finger in many pies and is best known for coming from a background in live stand-up comedy with his foil Kiyoshi Kaneko. He went from [...] Read more:Introducing
Introducing… Inoue Takehiko 2008-10-10 20:15:03 A recent issue of trendy men’s design and lifestyle magazine Brutus was given over to manga artist Inoue Takehiko. The story coincided with a gallery exhibition that was both about Takehiko-san’s work and also acted as the final installment in his long running manga series Vagabond (バガボンド). It this man’s art is good enough to [...] Read more:Introducing
Places to see… Shogun’s lookout 2008-10-29 21:54:58 Shogun’s Lookout (Shogun-zuka) is a point on a mountain over Kyoto. Legend has it that the first emperor in Kyoto, Emperor Kammu, buried a statue of a general here in order to protect the city. More importantly though, if Japan was a 1950s American teen-comedy Shogun’s lookout
could quite easily have been called “Get It [...] Read more:Places
Places to see… Fushimi-inari 2008-10-28 11:24:07 History nibblet: Kyoto expats with a strong dislike for crowds, aside from living in the wrong country, may wish to avoid Fushimi Inari Taisha over the course of New Year. In 2006 the shrine attracted 2.69 million people over 3 days, setting a record for western Japan. It is no coincidence that Memoirs of a [...] Read more:Places
Places to see… Yasaka-jinja 2008-10-27 22:34:31 Yasaka-jinja holds a special place in the hearts of the Of Rice and Zen team. It’s situated at the east end of Shijo-dori. For residents of Kyoto, like the Of Rice and Zen team, Yasaka-shrine is a central hub all year round. It’s a convenient and well-known landmark with which to orient and direct newcomers. [...] Read more:Places
Places to see… Kiyomizu-dera 2008-10-25 06:48:09 Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple) is a heavyweight among Kyoto buildings and a contender for the best view in Kyoto. You may think you’ve never seen it before but the Of Rice and Zen team would like to assure you that if you’ve ever a photobook of Japan, it’s almost inevitable that you’ve seen a photo [...] Read more:Places
Japanese economic roundup… America’s “Japanese-style” recession 2008-10-22 10:43:00 The Of Rice and Zen staff, along with most of the expatriate population of Japan has been capitalising on the recent comparative strength of the yen against the pound and the dollar. Today £1 buys you ¥161.50, compared to about ¥260 two years ago. It’s a great time to be sending yen home or investing [...] Read more:Japanese
, America
Recommend Site To A Friend
