Japan features some of the most distinctive superheroes in the world, particularly in the Marvel Universe. The most famous is Sunfire, a mutant who stirs the same national pride as Captain America does in the USA.
Shiro Yoshida has been a part of the X-Men, Avengers and Big Hero 6, highlighting his prominence. The character’s backstory has turned him into a symbol for post-WW2 Japan and I’m looking into Sunfire’s history to see what makes him so important.
The light of morning,
a dispassionate witness
reveals character
The world is full of fascinating drinks. Beverages that go hand in hand with the stories and histories of different cultures and a perfect example is Japanese sake. Versatile, delicious and accessible, sake has lots of enjoyable qualities and in the UK, the majority of sake activity is concentrated in London. But the capital isn’t the only sake game in town.
Manchester is flying the flag for Japan’s national drink up north through organisations like the Northern Wine School for sake education and tastings.
Meanwhile, the Japanese food scene in Manchester continues to go from strength to strength with loads of tasty concepts that involve finding the meaning of life at the bottom of a bowl of ramen or elevating sushi to new heights.
Among these restaurants and bars, you’ll find plenty of great sake and this guide will take you on a voyage across Manchester in search of what to try and buy.
Life becomes messy
When you don’t want it to be
Uncertainty makes
the pain feel unbearable
Help comes with the horizon
Japanese whisky is one of the hottest drink categories in the world, with plenty of innovation happening year to year. It’s wonderful to see the industry growing and a brand to look out for on the horizon is Kamui whisky K.K.
It was a pleasure to interview founder Casey Wahl about the journey of distilling whisky in the far north of Japan on Rishiri island, the uniqueness of local culture and how the whisky is going to be a champion for the region.
Continue reading “The Kokoro Files: A Conversation With Kamui Whisky K.K Founder Casey Wahl”
Tonight there is joy
The music of the city
is alive and well
in the hearts and minds of men
cherishing partners always
One evening not too long, my daughter surprised me an unlikely question about, of all things, Japanese baseball. I am keenly interested in Japan and always enjoyed attending baseball games during my many visits to that country, but still the question came out of left field.
“What is baseball to the Japanese?” she asked, explaining that “during the Second World War, Japan’s military government suppressed all things American, even the English language, but the Japanese continued to play baseball, even professionally.” She then added, almost innocently: “Didn’t they know it was an American game?”
I assured her that Japanese people knew the game’s origins well. Other than that simple fact, I had nothing specific to offer her. In the back of my mind, I sensed that the answer somehow connected to a broader mystery about the Japanese – how they can so readily adopt so much from abroad and never for a moment lose their sense of self or their commitment to steward Japan’s unique culture and values. Americans, when they adopt something foreign, often feel a tension between their identity and the new practice as if somehow indulging it makes them less American. Not so the Japanese.
Continue reading “Guest Post: Japanese Baseball: Fun, Modern, Sacred”
The Cante de las Minas Festival’s contests have launched the career of many flamenco artists through its 61 years of history in the disciplines of singing, dancing, guitar and other instrumental playing
Flamenco bass player Yusuke Morita (Nishinomiya, 1988) has been selected to play on August 4th at the semifinals of the Cante de las Minas International Festival, the world’s largest flamenco event that takes place in the Spanish town of La Unión.
Shochu is one of my favourite spirits and the amount of ingredients that can be used to make it is one of its main appeals. On my shochu journey I’ve tried sweet potato, rice, barley, kokuto (brown sugar) and a category that’s blown my mind recently is soba (buckwheat).
Specifically, Takara towari soba shochu blew my mind because of how good it tastes and here are my thoughts.
Continue reading “Takara Towari Soba Shochu Is A Mind-Blowing, Shape-Shifting Sort Of Spirit”
As an industry, marketing is huge in the west and is the foundation for which popular culture and products are built on. I’ve always been curious how it’s perceived in Japan and it was great to have all my questions answered by Johnny Pawlik.
Co-founder of Mantra Media, Pawlik have worked on many international marketing campaigns centred on Japan and infuses Japanese philosophy into his view of marketing.
Yamato Magazine 