What is the secret of the Japanese rock garden
The mystery of the disappearing fifteenth stone is, perhaps, the first thing the European has associated with the traditional Japanese “dry” garden. However, neither the "invisible" stone, nor "Mount Fuji",…

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…

Continue reading →

Japanese genre movie. Pink eig
Pinku eigu (literally - “pink film”) is a direction in Japanese cinema that exploits the theme of a woman in criminal circumstances, containing a large number of scenes of violence…

Continue reading →

bustling city

JAPANESE GARDENS WITH THE EYES OF A JOURNALIST

The famous rock garden of the Ryoanji Monastery in Kyoto. Japanese gardens do not bear material fruit. Their purpose in another is to awaken the work of thought.

Divine emptiness

It is known that in Zen monasteries there are rooms for contemplation. They are empty. According to legend, the founder of the Darum sect, in order to renounce both the world and himself, for many years sat in such a room facing the wall. Contemplation of empty space is one of the methods of understanding the Absolute. Such are the classic Japanese gardens – stones, mosses, water, young pine … They resemble the same rooms and are not created for admiring. The concept of immortal emptiness is hardly Continue reading

HIROKAZU KORE-EDA: UNSUMPENT MEMORIES

Whatever skeptics say, we cherish our memories. But do we ourselves know about this? Acquired life experience is nothing more than a collection of memories. Both the good ones, pushing for activity in the same direction in which we liked to go once, and the bad ones, taking a step on a curved path.

But is it possible to choose one, only one memory, with which you would stay forever, and lose everything, forget, erase everything else?

Employees of one celestial office help to answer this question to just dead people, giving them only three days to choose, in the film by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda / After Life / After life /, which premiered on our television not so long ago. After all, it is this very unique memory that will determine the new karma of rebirth … Continue reading

Japanese Restaurant Menu

The theater, as you know, begins with a hanger, and restaurants in Japan with osinagaki, the menu. Externally, menus often resemble, without exaggeration, works of art. There are oshinagaki, which are written with a brush on thin rice paper in the style of famous masters of calligraphy. In many restaurants, the texts of the menu are not inferior in artistry to the design. The list of dishes sometimes resembles the classic poetic three-verses. In any case, many images from poetry migrated to Osinagaki. In autumn, for example, you will be offered momiji oroshi. Momiji is a scarlet autumn maple leaves, a traditional poetic image, and osi, literally, is something passed through a grater. The Japanese mood is also caused by a dish with a name such as tsukimi van. A van is a thick vegetable soup with meat or fish in a wooden bowl. And tsukimi is an autumn ritual of admiring the reflection of the moon in water-flooded rice fields. Again in the name of the dish is a hint of the season. Late autumn is associated with boiled shigure-ni dishes. Sigure – translated autumn drizzle, but not cooking. Continue reading

BORN EARLIER, Sensei
Who do you think this is? “Born before” preserves the wisdom of generations and transfers it to others. They go to him for advice. He is respected and loved. This…

...

Christians versus Samurai: What caused the bloodiest rebellion in Japanese history
Japan is traditionally associated with two religions - Shintoism and Buddhism. But in fact, Christianity has existed in it for several centuries. True, the relations between Japan and Christianity are…

...

THEORIES OF "NIHONDZINRON" IN JAPANESE BILLS
In the near future, the Japanese government plans to put into circulation new-type banknotes with new "faces." Gradually, such money will supersede the existing banknotes of the 1984 model. An…

...