did not leave Russia without an emperor
Satsumi rebellion shocked Japan. For almost 8 months of 1877, an untitled aristocracy led by the samurai Saigo Takamori occupied part of Kyushu Island. Anti-government sentiments were unusually strong in…

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JAPAN'S POSTAL MARKS
Her Majesty Postage Stamp! It is a unique invention in itself. And she appeared at the behest of the time. Rather - at the behest of economic progress. The vigorously…

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Toshiro Mifune
Here is the scenario for a movie someone should make. If they can get Toshiro Mifune for it, he'd be terrific as the lead: September, 1945. The war has just…

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country greets

Traditional japanese tea ceremony

Japanese culture has given the world an ideal recipe for estranging from everyday worries and gaining a sense of peace and harmony with the world. A complex, symbolic tea ceremony is subject to fairly simple principles; they connect naturalness and sophistication, unpretentiousness and beauty. The “Way of Tea” – not eating, not gathering with friends – is a form of Buddhist meditation that arose about four centuries ago.
Ritual history

Like other traditional Japanese practices, the tea ceremony came to the islands of the Land of the Rising Sun from China. The drink itself has been familiar to the Japanese since the 7th century; it is believed Continue reading

Secrets of “Japanese Disney”: Why Hayao Miyazaki’s cartoons are so different from Western

The great master of Japanese animation creates completely unique works. Each of his films immerses the viewer in a separate, fully-fledged world. It seems that outside the frame, its inhabitants continue to exist according to their laws. To better understand the famous animator, you should look into his creative laboratory, because Miyazaki creates special paintings and he does it by his own rules.
The fate of Hayao Miyazaki can serve as an example of the fact that “real talent will always break through,” because in childhood, it seemed, nothing could help this boy become a famous animator. He was born in 1941, and in the first years he was forced to experience all the horrors of the bombing and evacuation with his family. His father was the director of a factory for the manufacture of aircraft parts, his mother for many years suffered from a serious illness of the spine and was often in hospitals. Continue reading

BEAUTY OF BUDDHIAN AND SINTOIST SCULPTURE ATTRACTS THE SHOWER OF A EUROPEAN

Having bought an amazing enameled vase decorated with a figure of some deity as a Christmas present for my daughter, I wanted to find out who is depicted in this vase. And I headed to the house of Monasmit Byron, located in the Tokyo area of ​​Sinanomati.

Byron put on tiny Taisho-era silver-framed glasses (1912-1926) and delved into the reference book.

“This is the deity of Benzai-ten, better known as Benten-sama, the prototype of which was the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Benzai-ten is the only female deity among the Shifufujin – the seven Shinto gods of fortune. The goddess of water and music, she is usually portrayed playing the lute” biwa ” as in this vase, “he said.

I knew that I had come to one of the most competent experts.

When I came to Byron again, but as a journalist, to talk with him in more detail, he photographed a black lacquered zushi – a vertical double-leaf casket where Buddhist statues are usually placed, preparing to sell it at the eBay online auction. Since Continue reading

ABS and other delights of Japanese civilization
When I was in the country of Hipponia (I hope no one needs to explain where it is :)) it came out, which means that the case is so unprepossessing,…

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ABOUT THE CINEMA SERIES "A MAN IS DIFFICULT"
In 1996, the movie series Y. Yamada "It's hard for a man" ("Otoko wa tsuray yo") got into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest series of films with…

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ABS and other delights of Japanese civilization
When I was in the country of Hipponia (I hope no one needs to explain where it is :)) it came out, which means that the case is so unprepossessing,…

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