After New Years I went to Stockholm with my son Maarten to see where he lives. He does cancer research at the Karolinska Institutet for his Masters for 8 months. He lives again in one room after living in a bigger apartment, but it is still quite big. It also snowed in Stockholm ... Continue Reading
New Years Eve celebrations in Holland are as divers as the people, but with the recent economical situation a lot of people go back to old traditions like having the party at home, watching TV or playing boardgames together. My sister-in-law Inge, my son Roland and niece Esmee. ... Continue Reading
This Kamakura Bori tray I found in an antique shop here in Kamakura. It has a beautiful Marguerite flower design on it and the texture around the flower brings everything in balance and harmony. This texture is typical for Kamakura Bori ware. You clearly see the black lacquer la ... Continue Reading
In the beginning of November I went to the “Shariden”, which is the centerpiece and the oldest building in the whole Engakuji complex and the only building in Kamakura that is designated as a National Treasure. The original one, which no longer exists, was built in 1 ... Continue Reading
Today, I finally visited the Kamakura Treasure Museum. It is situated on the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine grounds in a beautiful setting surrounded by lots of trees and of course, the autumn colors were astounding, especially the yellow from the Gingko tree. The featured ex ... Continue Reading
On Sunday, yesterday, we bicyled to Enoshima, which is a small island near Kamakura and famous for her goddess of Music and Entertainment, Benzaiten, who is enshrined on the island and who is said to have made it rise from the bottom of the sea in the sixth century. It was a bea ... Continue Reading
Last week, there was a festival “Matsuri” at our neighborhood temple (YOU TUBE video), the Komyoji. Every year they have an event at the temple called Ojuya, which means a Buddhist memorial service for the repose of the dead for 3 days. The temple belongs to the Jodo ... Continue Reading
In this blog I will give a quick overview of the development of Kamakura Bori in the different periods of Japan history. The origin of Kamakura Bori starts in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) when the Shogun Minamoto Yoritomo establishe his military government in Kamakura on 1192 ... Continue Reading
Yesterday, we visited the studio of the Gotoh family. Normally, they don’t allow visitors to enter the studio, but we were very lucky and this was a big favor. The studio is behind the store and is like an old Japanese big house, all from wood with elevated floors for the a ... Continue Reading
Last week, I had an interview with the head of the Gotoh family, Gotoh Keiko. This family is one of the two families left who have been sculpting Buddhist images since the Kamakura Period and is heir to the craftsmanship handed down from father to son for 28 generations. But now ... Continue Reading
