Hiroko: Congratulations on your visit to Australia for writers festivals. Melbourne, where my wife and I married; Margaret River where we visited seven years ago and Sydney where I was born, later studied and taught. And thank-you for sharing that lovely letter to your parents. I endorse that concept - having in the last few years written three long letters to loved ones suddenly gone - a younger fellow Australian met in Japan - but who died just before his 40th birthday - leaving a son, one of my god-children; a Shintō priest mate in Ube-shi in Yamaguchi-ken; and my younger brother, who died suddenly five years ago. Those lengthy letters gave me the chance to spend time with each one - remembering significant times and conversations - to honour them. I'm glad you liked your time here and met up with Australians and international writer guests at the same time. And congratulations again on your book! Jim
Crikey dickens, that many "boutique" bookstores in Melbs, you say? I had no idea. I waa not long ago in the part called Brunswick (fulla hepcats and coolcats?).and do not recall seeing one!
I'm so happy our country greeted you warmly and especially our writers' festival attendees took good care of you. I really enjoyed your book and would have loved to meet you in person - maybe if you write another book and come back in the future! Having recently not finished a number of books I've picked up, I'm pleased to say yours had me captivated from start to finish. I lived in Japan for a year after studying Japanese and Asian History at university and I didn't even begin to scratch the surface of the depth of culture there - your book brought back wonderful memories as well as new insights, and connections to my own spiritual practice (paganism, for want of a better term, which can be as flexible as Japanese spiritual approaches - I enjoyed thinking about the parallels and differences as I was reading, especially with regards to chaos magick; I think you would enjoy delving into that if you ever feel inclined to!)
Hiroko: Congratulations on your visit to Australia for writers festivals. Melbourne, where my wife and I married; Margaret River where we visited seven years ago and Sydney where I was born, later studied and taught. And thank-you for sharing that lovely letter to your parents. I endorse that concept - having in the last few years written three long letters to loved ones suddenly gone - a younger fellow Australian met in Japan - but who died just before his 40th birthday - leaving a son, one of my god-children; a Shintō priest mate in Ube-shi in Yamaguchi-ken; and my younger brother, who died suddenly five years ago. Those lengthy letters gave me the chance to spend time with each one - remembering significant times and conversations - to honour them. I'm glad you liked your time here and met up with Australians and international writer guests at the same time. And congratulations again on your book! Jim
Crikey dickens, that many "boutique" bookstores in Melbs, you say? I had no idea. I waa not long ago in the part called Brunswick (fulla hepcats and coolcats?).and do not recall seeing one!
That sounds like it was an amazing trip. Even though I have no idea who all the people are you mention
I'm so happy our country greeted you warmly and especially our writers' festival attendees took good care of you. I really enjoyed your book and would have loved to meet you in person - maybe if you write another book and come back in the future! Having recently not finished a number of books I've picked up, I'm pleased to say yours had me captivated from start to finish. I lived in Japan for a year after studying Japanese and Asian History at university and I didn't even begin to scratch the surface of the depth of culture there - your book brought back wonderful memories as well as new insights, and connections to my own spiritual practice (paganism, for want of a better term, which can be as flexible as Japanese spiritual approaches - I enjoyed thinking about the parallels and differences as I was reading, especially with regards to chaos magick; I think you would enjoy delving into that if you ever feel inclined to!)