Pop Culture and Japan

Cultural Displacement And Complex Identities: An Overview Of The Kamuni

Japanese culture has had a big impact on me. Hell, it inspired the creation of Yamato Magazine and it’s been influential in crafting a world in which I’ve been able to publish my debut novella AT THE DEAD OF DUSK. Set within a dark western world called The Frontier, the novella follows an infamous witch hunter transporting a young woman across dangerous terrain.

When creating The Frontier, I dipped into my love of Japanese culture and created a group of people called kamuni. Much of the kamuni’s history has been inspired by the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan who have their origins in Hokkaido. Read on to discover more about the kamuni.

Continue reading “Cultural Displacement And Complex Identities: An Overview Of The Kamuni”

Poetry

Akogare

The day I started drawing

I wanted to be like Hiroshige

who painted poetry in colours

carved landscapes from pigment

willed animals to exist by the force of his technique

I imagined what it must’ve been like

for him to travel 300 miles on the Tokaido Road

an artistic pilgrimage, chasing seasons

guided by the force of his vision

There’s only one Hiroshige

The same as there’s only one me

And that’s enough

Poetry

Somewhere Between Science And Poetry

The life of a sake brewer

Is somewhere between science and poetry

Harnessing nature on the smallest of scales

Living, breathing, organisms, working, together,

Stop watches, singing, koji spores blooming,

See the moromi dance and bubble

Controlled and perfected over centuries

Terroir of the land

Terroir of the people

Filtered down into mythical proportions

Stories bottled and shipped 

Spreading the message one sip at a time

Kanpai