The Spirit of Yokoso (Welcome) Japan I often wonder these days about how Japan going to welcome the many tourists from China who will begin to visit this country in large numbers from this summer because of newly relaxed visa regulations. It is not enough to merely have things written in Chinese and rely on […]

Artist Mr. Ikuo Hirayama, a Personal Sketch The words “Silk Road” became so familiar in Japan due largely to the paintings and lectures by the famous painter Hirayama Ikuo. His works depicted people and scenes from along the ancient land and sea routes that connected cultures over a thousand years from Nara to Rome. Hirayama […]

Sweet Persimmons Bring Back Memories The bountiful persimmon harvest from the tree in my back yard this year has made me grateful for the place where I live and has helped me to reflect on the tree’s meaning to me and my family. When I taste the sweet fruit that has come from the earth […]

Our Mothers’ Ancient Lineage Family trees traditionally were paternal-centered graphs， passed on from father to son. It is noticeable, however, that women were usually only included as spouses or children, and rarely given a line of their own, going back daughter to mother to mother to mother. In my American ancestral chart I can follow […]

Behind the Facades, the Spirit of Old Beijing has Disappeared Having recently returned from Beijing, I am thinking about what has been going on in the heart of that city. No, not the Olympics, but another large undertaking also affecting the history of that city. It is a massive urban development project of the Qianmen […]