tangentially related or other stuff I thought to share
When I asked on my Facebook page what people wanted to know about kitsune or the setting, a reader asked:
Are the kitsune faithful to any kind of code, other than obedience to those they serve? I mean, are they faithful to their friends, or more live-by-what-best-serves-the-moment?
Great question! And the answer is, yes. Sort of. Always. Sometimes.
They are, after all, kitsune. Continue reading
Ready to try something new to wrap those gifts this year?
Furoshiki is a distinctive and environmentally-friendly way to disguise (and carry!) your packages.
This is a traditional Japanese method of wrapping items for both protection and easier carrying, as the tie can become a convenient handle instead of needing to cradle a bulky or oddly shaped package.
Continue readingAs we come to the Ninth Day of Kitsune, let’s treat one of the senses which has been left so far untouched despite our forays into images, taste, and touch; let’s listen to music, both period and related, from Heian era to today.
Nearly every year of my life, my immediate family has gathered on Christmas Eve, invited friends and pseudo-adopted family, eaten ourselves silly on shrimp and brownies and cheese balls and red and green M&Ms, and watched It’s a Wonderful Life.
“That old hack of a film? Really?” you ask.
If you asked it silently to yourself, read on, and I’ll explain. If you asked aloud, there’s the door over there. We don’t argue about It’s a Wonderful Life.
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In recent years, kitsune and other folklore creatures have been making a striking comeback, it seems. Yes, they were always there, but now they’re everywhere, from fashion (French clothing line Maison Kitsune) to music (several music groups go by the name Kitsune).
Here’s a very brief collage of modern media in which you might spy a kitsune — and one of my favorite kitsune scenes in which there is no kitsune at all.
Continue readingSo for thousands of years, creatures of folklore and mythology have stalked the Japanese countryside, keeping wayward children in at night. But what about in the era of electric lights and digital cameras? What happened to the youkai, the bakemono, the monomo and ayakeshi — where are they now?
They’re glad you asked.
Continue readingToday we feature a guest post by my friend Emilia Blaser, a collector of kimono. Because there’s a lot of misinformation and false assumptions regarding kimono, Emilia is graciously allowing me to repost her convenient guide to kimono for beginners.
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nishiki food market, kyoto, pickled vegetables (nukamiso) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today we’re going to have a meal with the oyakata-sama and okugata-sama, the lord and lady of the household. Have you been practicing with your chopsticks? I hope you’re hungry! Continue reading
Today we will learn an important aspect of polite society — chopsticks! Or, as they are known in Japanese, hashi.
Continue readingI don’t usually do a Wordless Wednesday post — for one thing, I’m pretty bad at “wordless” — but here are some fantastic pictures I collected for research and inspiration while working on Kitsune-Tsuki and Kitsune-Mochi.
Click through to see so many pretty pictures.
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