Books

Kyoto: A Literary Guide
Publisher: Camphor Press; July 8 2020
e-book: $7.10/￥794; ISBN 978-1-78869-207-6
paperback: $14.99/￥1,704; ISBN 978-1-78869-208-3
hardback: $24.99/￥2,840; ISBN 978-1-78869-209-0

Collated & Edited by: John Dougill, Paul Carty, Joe Cronin, Itsuyo Higashinaka, Michael Lambe, David McCullough

Kyoto: A Literary Guide is a fascinating selection of Kyoto-specific literature which takes readers through twelve centuries of cultural heritage, from ancient Heian beginnings to contemporary depictions. The city’s aesthetic leaning is evident throughout in works by a wide-ranging cast that includes emperors and court ladies, Zen masters and warrior scholars, wandering monks and poet “immortals.” We see the city through their eyes in poetic pieces that reflect timeless themes of beauty, nature, love and war. An assortment of tanka, haiku, modern verse and prose passages make up the literary feast, and as we enter recent times there are English-language poems too. Translations in the book have been carefully finessed, with particular regard to the fine balance between linguistic accuracy and literary rendition. Accompanying the translations are the original Japanese with transcription and an informative footnote. The book is generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs, old prints and picture scrolls, adding visual accompaniment to the verbal description.

Deep Kyoto: Walks
Publisher: Deep Kyoto; May 18, 2014
e-book: $7.99/￥811; ASIN B00KFM2J0C
paperback: $15.99/¥1,840; ISBN 979-8561499616

Editors: Michael Lambe & Ted Taylor
Authors: Jennifer Louise Teeter, Bridget Scott, Miki Matsumoto, Robert Yellin, Pico Iyer, Chris Rowthorn, John Dougill, John Ashburne, Stephen Henry Gill, Sanborn Brown, Joel Stewart, Izumi Texidor-Hirai, Perrin Lindelauf & Judith Clancy.

This is a delightful collection of essays written by a diverse group of writers who share an obvious and contagious affection for Kyoto.
– Matthew Stavros (Author: “Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital”)

Deep Kyoto: Walks is an anthology of 18 meditative strolls in Japan’s ancient cultural capital. Independently produced by 16 writers who have made their home in Kyoto, this book is both a tribute to life in the city of “Purple Hills and Crystal Streams”, and a testament to the art of contemplative city walking. In a series of rambles that express each writer’s intimate relationship with the city, they take you not only to the most famous shrines and temples, but also to those backstreets of memory where personal history and the greater story of the city intersect. Join Pico Iyer, Judith Clancy, Chris Rowthorn, John Dougill, Robert Yellin, John Ashburne and more as they explore markets and mountains, bars and gardens, palaces and pagodas and show us Kyoto afresh through the eyes of those who call it “home”.