Jan 8

JET alum encounters Lady Murasaki, scoops NYTimes

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After a recent business trip to Tokyo, Seattle JET alum David Kowalsky spent the weekend in Kyoto.  He snapped this shot of the Lady Murasaki statue (a tribute to her authoring of The Tale of Genji), along his walk from Uji Station to the impressive Byodo-in Temple. Upon returning to the U.S., he subsequently noticed this article in the NYTimes — “Kyoto Celebrates a 1,000-Year Love Affair” — though he points out that while the NYTimes article mentions fans shooting photos in front of the statue, in his own experience there was nary a Genji fan to be found.

Note: Look for David’s book review of Natsuo Kirino’s Real World in the upcoming issue of the JETAA NY Magazine, due out at the end of January.