Echoes: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 2017

by John Dougill (Editor), Amy Chavez (Editor), Mark Richardson (Editor)

This anthology collects writings by established and new writers associated with Kyoto. The contents range widely from fiction to non-fiction: an extract from a novel, a short story, and a fantasy; articles on child-rearing, ceramics, the tokonoma, and the spirit of rocks; contemporary free verse, poetry with a Taoist flavor, and new translations of Basho. Also included are three winning entries from the Writers in Kyoto Competition, and two longer pieces about that giant of Japanology, Lafcadio Hearn, who continues to cast a shadow more than a hundred years after his death. Rounding out the anthology is an essay by Alex Kerr, leading commentator on present-day Japan, together with photographs by award-winning designer, John Einarsen.

128 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2017

About the author

John Dougill grew up in Grimsby and has spent the rest of his life getting as far away as possible. He currently resides in Kyoto, Japan, where he is professor of British Studies at Ryukoku University. His student days took place at Leeds University and Queen's College, Oxford, in the heady days of the early 1970s when the future beckoned with golden arms. He completed his education at the University of Life when he spent a year travelling round the world: Nepal and Bali were his favourites. As a teacher, he spent three years in the Middle East and seven years in Oxford before moving to Japan in 1986. In addition to the books listed here he has produced twelve Japanese college textbooks and 'Gentleman and Hooligan: The British on Film 1921-1971' by Ryukoku Univ. Press. He completed a PhD in English Literature in 1993, and is now consumed in the fascinations of Japanese spirituality. Amongst his hobbies are chess, haiku and visiting Shinto shrines. He has a particular interest in the spirit of place.

Reviews

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Echoes: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 2017 is a collection of written pieces of various genres from the Writers in Kyoto group that was edited by John Doughill, Amy Chavez, and Mark Richardson. This volume has an explanatory note from the editors and a preface from the group’s most prominent member, Alex Kerr, author of classic books on Japan such as Lost Japan, Dogs and Demons, and most recently Another Kyoto. Later in the volume, Kerr also contributes a piece about three old Japan hands (Harold Stewart, David Kidd, and William Gilkey) in Kyoto that inspired him in “Three Old Men of Kyoto.” The other entries in the collection range from poetry, journalistic nonfiction, essays, and fiction. Even though the theme of the collection is Kyoto, many of the pieces collected here will appeal to readers with an interest in Japan in general. For example, kJoseph Cronin looks at the relationship between two early influential Japanophiles in his essay “Lafcadio Hearn and Basil Chamberlin.” This is followed by a closer and more personal look at the writing of Hearn in Doughill’s contribution, “Hearn, Myself, and Japan.” There’s another literary discussion in Jeff Robbin’s essay, “Basho’s Appreciation for Women: 15 Poems of Female Experience.” Other aspects of Japanese culture are investigated as well, such as the role of the tokonoma (an alcove) in tea ceremony as discussed by Paul Carty in “Tokonoma Lessons.” Japanese ceramics are the focus of two separate essays, the first, by Robert Yellin “Pride of Place-Sake Vessels” discusses the artistry behind these ceramics created for consumption of the domestic liquor which is followed by a more academic discussion of the aesthetics behind Japanese ceramics by Allen S. Weiss in “Equivocal Ceramics.” The collection ends with Chavez’s piece about a remote island in the Inland Sea in “Return to Goat Island.” Also included are the winners of the 2017 Writers in Kyoto Competiton. This collection also features tasteful photographs throughout and was designed by John Einarsen (award winning designer of Kyoto Journal). This eclectic collection of various writings seems to have something for every taste and will hopefully continue to be an annual event to showcase writers in Kyoto and Japan.

[Ian Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echoes: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 2017
John Dougill, Amy Chavez, Alex Kerr, Mark Richardson
130pp

Kyoto holds a special place in heart of many a traveler to Japan.

I will admit that for years I preferred Nara, and even today choose the older capital when I can't face the crowds of the more popular neighbor to the north. However a few years ago I began to visit Kyoto again for work and was taken aback in a different way than during my original visits over a decade ago. It felt like art. It smelt like history. It tasted much less saucy than the takoyaki and okonomiyaki sold in the streets of Osaka.

Kyoto became quickly an important part of my life. It was a balance against the honest plainness that I found in my daily life in Osaka and Hyogo. It was a bit more polished and proud than my weekend visits to Nara. In Kyoto I could dream that I was a part of the art scene. I could walk the rivers and peek inside the stores and restaurants and feel like I was part of the scene. Not a big part, but maybe some part. Kyoto was my geisha mistress who made me feel alive.

That is my Kyoto story. What's yours?

In Echoes over 20 authors with connections to Kyoto present short works of poetry, fiction, and various examinations of pottery, journalism, and Hearn.

The level of writing ranges from interesting and enjoyable all the way to important and useful.

Karen Lee Tawarayama and Isil Bayraktar both present sweet tales of very different love, one for a son and the other for a lover lost too soon.

Dougill's look at Lafcadio Hearn brought me back to my visit to the Hearn museum in Matsue, and for anyone unable to make it to the out of the way castle town, Hearn, Myself and Japan offers a museum's worth of tidbits and information about one of the first japanophiles.

And Alex Kerr's introduction to three old old Kyoto hands is marvelous and makes this a must for any fan of the famous Japan expert.

So, this is a good opportunity to read through writers, some new and others widely experience, and hear numerous stories of Kyoto, and Japan, and art, pottery, poetry, and love.