Happy Fall! It’s cold and windy but surely Indian Summer will return. What’s happened to our hot October days? Arashiyama, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Kyoto, has a rural feel and is full of Autumn color, the momiji maple trees. As I was wandering around looking for old Japan, falling into the past, I saw this. The husband at the ryokan had kindly driven me to the area so I would arrive before it filled up with Japanese enjoying the sunny season. As Maraini, an Italian, observed in his great work Meeting With Japan how different to approach winter through a warm sunny season. I ordered that beautiful old book from http://www.alibris.com.
It’s a treatise on Japan and autobiography of Maraini’s years in Japan, ending in the mid 50s. The book is full of rich black and white photos, deep, the way b&w used to be.