The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: Japanese

  • Kadomatsu

    A wonderful tradition from another part of the world.

  • Bonsai Drama

    Bonsai are subtle. They’re peaceful. They’re quiet.

  • Weird Travel Syndromes

    They’re enough to make you want to stay home. Well, no they aren’t. But they certainly make you think.

  • Honne and Tatemae

    Recently a dear friend introduced me to the Japanese concepts of honne and tatemae. I had never heard these words before. Without her, I would  probably just have assumed they were the names for a Japanese pop culture couple or something. (They do say that opposites attract.) After reading several articles on the subject and…

  • High-End Mud Pies

    A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this video, saying, “This seems right up your alley,” or words to that effect. It describes the Japanese art of Hikaru Dorodango, which means, literally, Shiny Dumpling. Basically, one forms a mud ball, about the size of a cue ball, allows it to dry, and…

  • The Cats of Mirikitani

    One of the things I love about being a City of Seattle employee is that I am required to do at least two hours of race and social justice training per year. As part of that this year, I had the distinct pleasure of viewing a documentary called The Cats of Mirikitani. In keeping with…

  • Dogs for Defense

    Proof positive that we Americans are not the people we used to be: shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a program was created called Dogs for Defense. Citizens were asked to volunteer their dogs to be trained to help with the war effort. They were to become sentries, scouts, messengers and mine detectors.…

  • Environmental Meddling

    Anyone who lives in the Southeastern United States is familiar with kudzu. This amazingly insidious vine was introduced to this country by the Japanese at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and since then, according to Wikipedia, it’s been spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres annually, which seems really intimidating until you realize that…