Nepenthe

by Mizuki Uchiyama for BBC Travel . As Studio Ghibli turns 40, we visit the forests, springs and villages that inspired its most beloved films, and meet those preserving their magic. From moss-draped cedar forests to steamy bathhouses and suburban woodlands, the animated worlds of Studio Ghibli often feel fantastical yet familiar. Across 23 feature films, the Japanese studio's vividly drawn landscapes – where kurosuke  ( soot sprites ) scuttle and giant cat-buses roam – have transported generations of viewers into realms where nature and fantasy blur. But many of these beloved settings weren't born from pure imagination. They were inspired by real places across Japan – some sacred, others endangered but all profoundly cherished. As Studio Ghibli celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, we're exploring the real-world places behind some of its most iconic films. Yakushima is a rare and enchanting landscape that inspired Princess Mononoke (Credit: Alamy) Yakushima: T...

  Interpreting Shōgun Was More Than Just Translation From Vulture : Shōgun is a show about fate. About cross-cultural differences, statecraft, chaos, about war never changing, and about getting my ship the Erasmus back. But most importantly, it’s a show about communication . Court etiquette of the Sengoku era, as well as the gender politics of the time, mean a lot of things cannot be said explicitly. Even if you speak the same language as someone, you can never fully know them, and yet you all have to work together toward a common goal. The making of Shōgun mirrored these themes in many ways. As a cross-cultural production — shot in Canada, produced by Hollywood, filled with Japanese actors — interpretation was key. Enter Eriko Miyagawa. The producer worked closely with lead actor/producer Hiroyuki Sanada to ensure the show was accurate to period Edo yet still relatable to modern Tokyo. From consulting on translating English scripts for Japanese actors, to t...

The Boucheron Wave Diamond Tiara, constructed by the firm ca. 1910. The tiara was intended to echo the famous 1831 "Great Wave Off Kanagawa", a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai.  

Katsushika Hokusai spent decades recreating and perfecting his ‘Great Wave’ painting, the last one being in 1831 which is its most iconic version, becoming one of the most notable artworks in history.  

Obituary from The Guardian For more than 50 years,  Isao Takahata , who has died aged 82, played an instrumental role in forging the international reputation of Japanese animation. He was one of the two key figures behind Japan’s leading animation house, Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded in 1985 alongside  Hayao Miyazaki , and the director of such poignant works as the antiwar film  Grave of the Fireflies  (1988) and the Academy award-nominated  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya  (2013), based on a 10th-century folktale and realised in a style influenced by traditional Japanese ink-wash painting. Yet in contrast to the freewheeling and design-based approach of his more prolific colleague, Takahata never put so much as a pen to paper during the animation process. Nonetheless his sophisticated, character-driven animations explored a diverse range of themes and aesthetic styles, often confounding expectations as to what was possible within the medium. ...

I see (actual) pig tails all over the scripts. Oinc!

The Impossible Cool

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Check it on BoingBoing :) And yes, the Ghibli zoetrope, in dire need of a decent video on YouTube, Vimeo, anywhere...

~ Eating splendid meals for next to nothing ; Japan is said to be an expensive destination, but it's certainly not because of the food. Sure, there are many fancy restaurants, but these are not (at all) the ones we sought out, and we rarely spent more than ¥2000 each for a meal (about 16€ or $21) -- often a lot less. ~ Traveling by train and buying ekiben -- railway bento -- from the platform stands; thinking about the styrofoam sandwiches they sell on European trains and weeping for our civilization. ~ Finding the Japanese people we interacted with to be incredibly helpful and patient, trying their very best to get us where/what we wanted despite our lack of common language. On several occasions, the person whom we'd asked for directions went literally out of his way to accompany us to a place from which he could better show us where to go. ~ Having tea served at restaurants without having to ask (or pay) for it; learning to use the personal tea taps at ka...

Did you know? - You may not find cherry blossoms on wedding kimono, but cranes and  Mandarin ducks are common adornments. Why? Both birds mate for life. - The length of the panel of fabric that hangs from the underside of the sleeves of a kimono depends on the age—and availability—of its wearer. In other words, the draping is longest when a woman is young and single—the idea being that she can wave her arms and the beautiful flowing garment will attract the attention of suitors. Whereas an older woman would have shorter, less flamboyant sleeves. - Evergreen pine needles and pine boughs, two popular motifs found on kimono worn for all occasions, symbolize endurance, a hugely important characteristic in Japanese culture. The literal translation for the Japanese word for good luck (”gambate”) is actually “endure.” - Just like cherry blossoms, you won’t often see the big beautiful blossoms of camellia on a kimono. When a camellia dies, the whole bloom falls off of its ...

The Life & Love of Trees -- Trees are vital—without them we simply wouldn't be here. Not only essential, they have been an inspiration throughout our history. In breathtaking photographs and stories we are taken on a journey from the boreal forest at the edge of the Arctic to the rainforests girdling the planet; from ancient bristlecones to fresh-leaved seedlings; from the charming and familiar to the scary and rare. An elegantly written and highly accessible text is complemented by an extraordinary collection of images created by some of the world's leading nature photographers. Lewis Blackwell is recognized as a leader in creative and photographic practice. For almost a decade he led the creative development of the world’s largest photo agency, Getty Images, and previously he was widely regarded as a trend watcher and innovator with his work as editor/publisher of the prestigious title Creative Review . He is a visiting professor at the School of Creative Leadership at...

 

Ou a «culpa» finalmente é atribuída à editora (que tudo manda, o tradutor continua a ser um obreiro): "Mil Grous", de 1952, inicia-se com uma cerimónia do chá ("chanoyu") nos arredores de Tóquio. A caminho do templo, o protagonista Kikuji recorda com repulsa a ocasião na infância em que viu Chikako, a amante do seu falecido pai, a cortar com uma tesoura os pêlos do sinal de nascença que lhe cobria metade do peito. Kikuji está reticente: a cerimónia é organizada pela mesma Chikako, cujas intenções, ao convidá-lo, são indecifráveis. A mórbida imagem do sinal dá então lugar à sua antitética: a de uma rapariga que também se encaminha para o templo e que é metonimicamente definida pelo lenço que transporta, decorado com um padrão de mil grous. Na cerimónia, Chikako desempenha o papel de mediadora amorosa, apresentando Kikuji à portadora do lenço. Mas ali também está presente a senhora Ota, que substituiu em tempos a ominosa Chikako nas atenções do pai. Kikuji, naquel...

( CBS )  When people in a specific area are more than ten times more likely to live to 100 than those who live elsewhere, odds are they're onto something. And renowned explorer Dan Buettner was determined to find them, and learn their healthy-living secrets. He dubbed the longevity hotspots " blue zones ," and started an ongoing project of the same name. Buettner, the National Geographic Society and a team of scientists identify and study the regions and their common threads regarding lifestyle, behavior, diet, outlook and stress-coping mechanisms. The idea is to help other people live longer, healthier, happier lives. It's all chronicled in Buettner's best-seller, "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest." ( Read an excerpt. ) Buettner visited "The Early Show Saturday Edition" as part of its special broadcast, "Secrets for a Longer Life." He also explained blue zones to r...

Yukichi the snow leopard cub is groomed by his mother Yuki at the Tama Zoological Park A cat models an earthquake survival kit for pets, produced by Oyagokoro, from Japan. The kit includes a pet-sized padded jacket and rain hat, special boots to protect paws and aromatherapy oil to soothe the frightened animal

Once the standing ovation died down, anticipation among the 6,500 people packed into a Comic-Con convention hall in San Diego was almost electric as they waited for the first words from the silver-haired alchemist of animation, Hayao Miyazaki. To the opening question from Pixar leading light John Lasseter about how he develops his stories, the white-jacketed, 68-year-old director replied, "My process is thinking, thinking and thinking -- thinking about my stories for a long time." Then with an impish smile, he added, "If you have a better way, please let me know." His answer sparked laughter and affectionate applause, if little revelation, and foreshadowed much of what was to come in Miyazaki's ensuing West Coast tour before thousands of fans in the last week of July, a visit that provided rare U.S. exposure for the reclusive Japanese creator of "My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke" and the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away." Before ...