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When the Going Gets Tough, the Weak Get Going…to Singapore and Thailand
So I guess the truth is, I am not tough. Along with much of the rest of the expat community, I am leaving (fleeing?), ostensibly just early spring break, as school is now closed this week as power and...
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Junking in Singapore…Arab Street and the Dinky Di Store
Singapore is such a crossroads of cultures – Chinese, Malay, Indian and elsewhere, former British colony, port city and now a powerhouse Asian financial center – and the neighborhoods and shops reflect...
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Katagami…Perfect Thank You Present Found
It was the best of times, during the worst of times… When you live your life as an expatriate, friends become like family. You join them for holidays like Thanksgiving and they get to know your...
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After the Earthquake…Help Rebuild the Kilns at Mashiko
“In Mashiko, nearly all the Nobori kilns fell down, and Mashiko’s firing is about to go out. We, potters, cannot help being shocked because the kiln is the soul of us. We cannot turn off this fire in...
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Guest Post…Visiting the Mashiko Pottery Festival
For my first ever guest post, Dalia Gold reports on a shopping excursion to the famous Japanese pottery town of Mashiko. The destruction of the kilns after the Great East Japan Earthquake was featured...
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Back in Business…The Higuchis Unveil Their Newly Rebuilt Studio
While Dalia was off visiting the Mashiko Pottery Festival last week and checking on post-earthquake progress there, I was busy visiting Kimiake and Shin-ichi Higuchi, two of the world’s foremost Pâte...
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Hands On Tokyo…A Taste for Volunteering 2012
With the tag line “Be the change. Volunteer,” Hands On Tokyo addresses the critical needs of the community by partnering with other organizations focusing on educational and social issues in Tokyo as...
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Beach House Dreaming…”Rooms to Inspire by the Sea”
Even though it is finally warming up here in Tokyo and the cherry blossoms are opening more than a week late, I can’t seem to stop dreaming about summer. Perhaps it is the fact that just about everyone...
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Shrine Sale Stories…Vintage Matchboxes, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel...
Today was slim on the ground for shrine sales being the second Sunday of the month, but Tomioka Hachiman did not disappoint. It was a day full of friends from out-of-town and extraordinary porcelain,...
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A Tohoku Tale for Girl’s Day
In my recent post about jubako, I mentioned that there was quite a story to tell about the soft cloth dolls displayed next to the porcelain in the photo above. As the second anniversary of the Great...
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