Whenever the seasons change, it’s a good time to check in with Kenko (1283-1352), the medieval Japanese monk scholar behind one of my favorite books, Essays in Idleness. ”No season is so crowded with events as autumn.” I love his take on the turning leaves, and the darkening atmosphere of autumn: “Here the autumn moor, in wanton [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=1362
I’ve been too busy, so today I looked back at Essays in Idleness, by the medieval Japanese monk and scholar Yoshida Kenko (1283-1352). I need Kenko to remind me what it’s all about. “What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing better to do, [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=1201
The great Japanese art of origami is found in Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, but today I’m interested in its cousin—furoshiki, using square pieces of prettily printed cloth to wrap up packages. During the 1600s, furoshiki, literally meaning ‘bath mat,’ were wrapped around precious relics, scrolls and ceremonial clothing to protect these items from getting scorched [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=1085
Now is the time, according to Japanese connaiseurs, when the suzumushi cricket sings at its sweetest, in the autumn, just before it dies. I write about these insect musicians in the Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, but I couldn’t give you audio on the page. Now you can hear the song of these revered creatures via [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=843
The regular New York bento box has nothing on the real thing. In Japan, mothers of lucky preschool children spend their mornings preparing special kyarakuta bento, box lunches brimming with cabbage leaf flowers, boiled egg bunnies, rice-ball rocket ships and lemon-slice butterflies. Tomatoes become ladybugs. Cauliflower clouds and tiny seaweed seagulls dot a rice sky. [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=333
It is the height of cherry-viewing season in Japan, according to my online Cherry Blossom Forecast, with blooms at their peak in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Since the 5th century, when Emperor Richiu had himself rowed around his lake under their boughs, the annual appearance of the cherry blossoms has been a cause for celebration [...]
http://www.encyclopediaoftheexquisite.com/?p=269
