Saturday, 7 November 2020

A Matter of Distance – Musashi's duel with Sasaki Kojiro

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Miyamoto Musashi confronts Sasaki Kojiro at the start of their fateful duel (from the 1973 film Miyamoto Musashi ) An understanding of dista...
2 comments:
Tuesday, 30 June 2020

The Daimyo's use of symbols – hawks from the Kano school

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Kano Tanyu's painting from Nijo Castle - a reproduction is now on display The beautiful paintings of the Kano school were made fo...
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Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Miyamoto Musashi's squirrel – samurai wordplay

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Musashi's Squirrel and Grapes (cut off slightly on the right) The bushi were a cultured lot – some of them, anyway – and Japan...
1 comment:
Friday, 10 April 2020

When the going gets tough... a kiai shugyo

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Kogan Gengei - Zen monk, student of Hakuin. A bull fears nothing, and when he sits, he really sits; when he moves, he really moves — t...
1 comment:
Sunday, 1 March 2020

'Do not despise the snake for having no horns...'

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The ancient sages said, "Do not despise the snake for having no horns, for who is to say it will not become a dragon?" So may...
4 comments:
Friday, 31 January 2020

Zen Secrets of the Spear

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The letters sent by the priest Takuan are perhaps the most famous example of giving an explanation of bugei in terms of Zen (or vice vers...
Tuesday, 31 December 2019

2020 – Year of the Rat

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A rat nibbling New Year mochi from Ehon Shuyo of 1751 (printsofjapan.com) 2020 is, in the Japanese tradition, the Year of the Rat (or ...