“Kusamakura” – A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity

RKS Japanese Literature: Suffering the Result of Attachment (Natsume Sōseki)

“While we live in this world with its daily business, forced to walk the tightrope of profit and loss, true love is an empty thing, and the wealth before our eyes mere dust. The reputation we grasp at, the glory that we seize, is surely like the honey that the cunning bee will seem sweetlyContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Suffering the Result of Attachment (Natsume Sōseki)”

RKS Japanese Literature: The Lack of Beauty of Western Food (Natsume Sōseki)

“Not a single Western food has a color that could be called beautiful-the only exception I can think of are salad and radishes. I’m in no position to speak of its nutritional vale, but to the artist’s eye it is a thoroughly uncivilized cuisine. On the other hand, artistically speaking, everything on a Japanese menu,Continue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: The Lack of Beauty of Western Food (Natsume Sōseki)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Eyes Blinded by Worldly Passions and the Artist (Natsume Sōseki)

“I suppose you could say that the artist is one that lives in a three-cornered world, in which the corner the average person would call “common sense” has been sheared off from the ordinary four squared world that the normal inhabit. For this reason, be it in nature or human affairs, the artist will seeContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Eyes Blinded by Worldly Passions and the Artist (Natsume Sōseki)”

RKS Japanese Literature: The Journey and its Poetic Component (Natsume Sōseki)

“While we are on our journey, shod in our straw sandals as of yore, we may do nothing but grumble about its hardships from dawn to dusk, but when we come to tell the tale to others, we will never make a murmur of such complaints. No, we will speak smugly of its fascinations andContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: The Journey and its Poetic Component (Natsume Sōseki)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Where Art and Poetry are Born (Natsume Sōseki)

“If you work by reason, you grow rough-edged; if you choose to dip your oar into sentiment’s stream, it will sweep you away. Demanding your own way only serves to constrain you. However you look at it, the human world is not an easy place to live. And when its difficulties intensify, you find yourselfContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Where Art and Poetry are Born (Natsume Sōseki)”