Satoyama. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of living sustainably, especially when water is part of the living space. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden. That documentary just pulls me in every time. And then, life threw in an unexpected connection—I got to know a professor from Kyoto University. Turns out, one of his relatives actually lives in the Lake Biwa area. That made it all feel even more real to me.
I’m also glad I get to write in English, but Japanese culture has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It all started back in school when I came across a Japanese magazine. I still remember flipping through those pages, mesmerized by the photos of different prefectures, their landscapes, and unique traditions. That was decades ago, but the curiosity never left.
Thank you so much for reading this and for your wonderful comment! Wasn’t that documentary amazing? I’ve watched it so many times too!! Japan is such a unique and wonderful place. I think it’s a place that fascinates so many people around the world! I know it did for me!!!
I loved reading Alex Kerr’s Lost Japan. I won’t get to visit Shikoku on my trip to Japan in April. But will have to go back and spend more time there perhaps as part of the pilgrimage. I would love to see Kerr’s house.
That’s one of my favorite Japan books!! he also has a wonderful book about Bangkok that was written in a similar style that I really like. I have been to Shikoku once, but I never saw the house. I was wanting to do the pilgrimage route.
As wonderful as it is that the inn is now at the Huntington, I'm amazed that the Japanese government didn't try to keep it as a landmark or invest in maintainting it. I love your tilted first photo, which paradoxically emphasizes the consecutive right angles in the dynamic perspective.
Satoyama reminds me somewhat of the belt of small gardens around european cities where people who live in apartments can go for the weekend to garden or grow vegetables or just relax.
I think it’s kind of like all of the wonderful Spanish colonial mansions in Los Angeles, or the colonial houses on the East Coast that have been left to disarray. They’re not quite at the level of being something the government would think about.. the house is not significant and is a family home—albeit a high ranking family. It’s funny you mention that about satoyama and the belt of small Gardens, because I was thinking of Vienna…. I forget what the green zone is called but I just remember the belts around the city where there were foxes and rabbits, and of course a lot of the roofs in Vienna have beehives on them. I’ve never seen so many bees as is in downtown Vienna.
Oh, this pine tree! Here is Thomas Merton: "No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees". (And I have been thinking all day about your piece here about Hagoromo.)
Satoyama. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of living sustainably, especially when water is part of the living space. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden. That documentary just pulls me in every time. And then, life threw in an unexpected connection—I got to know a professor from Kyoto University. Turns out, one of his relatives actually lives in the Lake Biwa area. That made it all feel even more real to me.
I’m also glad I get to write in English, but Japanese culture has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It all started back in school when I came across a Japanese magazine. I still remember flipping through those pages, mesmerized by the photos of different prefectures, their landscapes, and unique traditions. That was decades ago, but the curiosity never left.
Thank you so much for reading this and for your wonderful comment! Wasn’t that documentary amazing? I’ve watched it so many times too!! Japan is such a unique and wonderful place. I think it’s a place that fascinates so many people around the world! I know it did for me!!!
Fantastic recommendations - I’m watching Satoyama right now and have just put The Japanese Inn on my wish list!
I loved reading Alex Kerr’s Lost Japan. I won’t get to visit Shikoku on my trip to Japan in April. But will have to go back and spend more time there perhaps as part of the pilgrimage. I would love to see Kerr’s house.
That’s one of my favorite Japan books!! he also has a wonderful book about Bangkok that was written in a similar style that I really like. I have been to Shikoku once, but I never saw the house. I was wanting to do the pilgrimage route.
As wonderful as it is that the inn is now at the Huntington, I'm amazed that the Japanese government didn't try to keep it as a landmark or invest in maintainting it. I love your tilted first photo, which paradoxically emphasizes the consecutive right angles in the dynamic perspective.
Satoyama reminds me somewhat of the belt of small gardens around european cities where people who live in apartments can go for the weekend to garden or grow vegetables or just relax.
I think it’s kind of like all of the wonderful Spanish colonial mansions in Los Angeles, or the colonial houses on the East Coast that have been left to disarray. They’re not quite at the level of being something the government would think about.. the house is not significant and is a family home—albeit a high ranking family. It’s funny you mention that about satoyama and the belt of small Gardens, because I was thinking of Vienna…. I forget what the green zone is called but I just remember the belts around the city where there were foxes and rabbits, and of course a lot of the roofs in Vienna have beehives on them. I’ve never seen so many bees as is in downtown Vienna.
Oh, this pine tree! Here is Thomas Merton: "No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees". (And I have been thinking all day about your piece here about Hagoromo.)
Oh Sally I’ve never heard that one by Merton before… thank you so much for sharing it with me!