I celebrated Christmas 2009 and the New Years in the Netherlands with some of my family. While there I visited an aunt, sister of my Mom, I had never met before. Family quarrels happen in a lot of families and we are one of them. I have no idea what all happened. My grandfather ( ... Continue Reading
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
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
Kamakura has of course a Kamakura Bori Museum: Kamakura Bori Kaikan. It is situated in the middle of the city on the main street on the way to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura’s most important shrine, which was founded by Monamoto Yoriyoshi in 1063, and enlarged ... Continue Reading
