Sometimes I struggle to keep a large picture view of history. When I’m researching or reading about a time period, I don’t think about what was happening elsewhere in the world at the time. This causes me to keep a siloed view of history. Yet, we have evidence that humans from across the world have…
Category: Culture
The Diary of Lady Murasaki
Murasaki Shikibu wasn’t her name. Like many female writers in history, we don’t know her real name. Murasaki, however, is a nickname derived from her greatest work The Tale of Genji. She lived during the Heian period, a cultural flowering period in Japan between 794-1192. She was a contemporary with Sei Shonagon and Akazome Emon, two of…
Miyamato Musashi’s “The Way to be Followed Alone” (Dokkodo)
Miyamato Musashi’s work “The Way to be Followed Alone,” or Dokkodo, is the samurai’s lesser known work next to The Book of Five Rings (Gorin no Sho). Musashi is a ronin, or masterless samurai, and considered to be the best samurai who lived. Musashi was born around 1584. His father was named Hirata Munisai, and his mother was called…
Tea Time with Sakuraco
I’m not a subscription box person, but when Sakuraco reached out to me with a demo offer, I thought I’d give it a try. Sakuraco is a company that mails monthly subscription boxes stuffed (and I do mean stuffed!) with goodies from Japan. The box I received was designed for a tea for two. I…
Seven Samurai (1954)
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai remains engaging despite being 66 years old. The story follows seven ronin, masterless samurai, as they defend a farming village from a band of starving bandits who want to steal the village’s rice and women. The film outlines the wrangling of the samurai’s pay to the final defense of the village….
Tales of Ise
Tales of Ise is referenced throughout early Japanese literature. If you hadn’t read it, you won’t catch some of the meaning Sei Shonagon, Lady Nijo, Murasaki Shikibu, and other writers make through their references. Tales of Ise is a collection of 209 short stories and anecdotes written and collected somewhere between 850 CE and 950 CE….