Michael Lambe is the main editor and writer of this blog. There are also two regular and several irregular guest contributors.

The Regulars

Ian Ropke

Ian Ropke is from from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada. He first came to Kyoto in 1985 and completely fell in love with it. When asked why, he explained, “I love Kyoto for its mystery and elegant old forms of beauty. Living here is like living in a fairytale . . .”. Ian is among other things, author of the Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto, editor of Kyoto Visitors Guide, and director of Your Japan Private Tours. With his knowledge of traditional and historical Kyoto he is helping to make Deep Kyoto just a little bit deeper.

You can find former articles by Ian Ropke here.

John Dougill

Born in Yorkshire, John Dougill first came to  Japan  in 1986 and to Kyoto in 1994. He has taught in several universities but is now happily employed at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University  as professor of British Studies. His fascinating book Kyoto: A Cultural History makes his love for the city clear. In conversation he explained why he has made Kyoto his home: “It’s a city of one and half million people, full of cultural opportunities and historical associations, yet small enough to cycle around. Within 10 minutes I can be walking on a deeply wooded hill or looking at the bird life on the Kamo river”. John is a prolific author and the founder of Oxface Publications. Among his other books are Oxford’s Famous Faces, Oxford: A Literary Guide, Oxford in English Literature ( Univ.  of Michigan Press), and Gentleman and Hooligan: The British in Film 1921-1971 (Ryukoku University Press). He is currently working on a book about the Hidden Christians of Kyushu. Each month on Deep Kyoto he will be unveiling for us a little bit of the hidden knowledge he has about this great city’s cultural heritage.

The Irregulars

Here are some other characters who often appear on these pages.

Bridget Scott from England is a shiatsu therapist, English teacher and dancer. She describes her passions as “Dance, performance, hiking, cycling, and eating home cooked Japanese food”. She first came to Japan in 1989 to study ceramics (but never did).”However long you are in Kyoto,” she says, “there is always something new to discover whether it’s a traditional sweet, a hidden shrine or an uncycled street. If you keep your senses open Kyoto delivers endless delights.”

Photo by Jeremy Black

Felicity Greenland, from England, is a teacher but her first passion is singing. She first came to Kyoto in 1987 on a youth project and asked to describe her relationship with the city says, “We go back a long way”. Felicity sings and plays traditional British and Irish folk music. Check her site Song House for details of her musical events. You can view her photographs here.

JJ O’Donoghue is from Cork, Ireland and was a journalist in London before coming to Japan last year. He never thought he would live in Kyoto, but now that he is here he likes it because “it`s nearby and a river runs through it.” He also likes bicycles, Ballymaloe relish, and Murphy`s stout (the latter two both from Cork, but best consumed separately). JJ has high-minded intentions to study Japanese and to write more: “Really, I am trying. But, I have issues.”

Jennifer Louise Teeter is Campaigns and Media Coordinator for the Greenheart Project and also contributes to the Kyoto Journal blog 10,000 Things. She hails from Turtle Island, lists her occupations as “singer, lecturer, translator, and life-long learner” and her passions as “music and contributing to and creating a culture of peace through the arts and dialogue”. She was “called to Kyoto by a new job when the sakura were in full bloom in April 2009″ and she has come to love this city for “the Kyoto Moon”.

Teacher and performer Mitsu Salmon hails from the USA. Her passions are the arts and travel and so she is the organizer of the globe-trotting International Love Cabaret event performed here in Kyoto’s Urbanguild. Describing her relationship with Kyoto she says “I have been here two years. My mother is from Japan, so I was seeking to get in touch with my roots.” She loves Kyoto for “the Wabi Sabi, the Japanese aesthetic of the beauty in the old and imperfect. I love these crumbling buildings next to large hills and obaachans selling vegetables by the river.”

Roger Walch is a film-maker, photographer and  jazz pianist from Switzerland. He fell in love with Kyoto when he was a student here between 1990 and 1994 and moved here permanently in 1998. He describes Kyoto as a “city of contrasts, refined culture and tranquility – a place of constant inspiration.”

Sean Roe was born in the UK but raised in South Africa. He lists his occupations as “Artist, Musician, Curator, Concert Promoter, Record Collector/Seller and English Teacher”! And his passion is for “an independent Palestine within 2 years!” He came to Kyoto in “April 2007, kind of the opposite of London Calling!” And he loves Kyoto because “it’s unlike London!”

Ted Taylor is a writer, translator and yoga teacher from the US. His passion? “American western landscapes”. He came to Kyoto in late summer 2005, to study Takeuchi-ryu Sogo Bujutsu. Though no longer resident in Kyoto he still loves it for its “Good cafes, prevalent music, and lots of green spaces”. Ted is the writer of the blog Notes from the ‘Nog and has published online the only English guide to the Kansai section of the Tōkai Shizen Hodō.

If you feel you could make a special contribution to Deep Kyoto, why not get in touch? Please mail me, Michael Lambe, at luain37@yahoo.co.jp