Patti Smith to Perform with Soundwalk Collective in Kyoto 14 Feb 12:02 AM (2 months ago)
Patti Smith and Soundwalk Collective will give their premiere live performances of CORRESPONDENCES in Japan on Tuesday, April 29th at the Rohm Theatre in Kyoto.
CORRESPONDENCES CORRESPONDENCES is an ever-evolving project between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith that spans over ten years and traverses a wealth of geographies, histories, and natural environments. The process sees Soundwalk Collective’s Stephan Crasneanscki visit distant lands of poetic inspiration and historical significance, collecting sonic memories through field recordings. Smith then composes poems through an intimate dialogue with his recordings, whilst Soundwalk Collective edits visuals to match the soundtrack. This process of “correspondence” has resulted in the eight video works that form the core of the exhibition and performance. These works explore themes such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, forest fires and the mass extinction of animals, while also referencing artists and revolutionaries such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Pyotr Kropotkin; questioning the relationship between man and nature, the role of the artist and the nature of humanity.
Previous formats of CORRESPONDENCES have included live performances, exhibitions, film screenings, poetry readings and workshops. These works have been presented around the world, including at the Venice Biennale and the Museum of Modern Art in Medellín, Colombia. In 2022, they also produced an exhibition titled Evidence at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
An advanced sales lottery for the matinee and evening performances begins on the e+ website on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 10:00 AM. For more details, please see the Kyotophonie website.
This event is part of the Kyotophonie music festival which will be held at various locations across the city from Saturday, April 12th to Sunday, May 11th alongside its sister event, KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival.
“Each year KYOTOPHONIE brings together an eclectic mix of local and international artists to perform in Kyoto. Held annually in the Spring and Autumn, the festival was established in 2023 by Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, co-founders of the KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival. Both festivals connect Kyoto with the world, transcending traditional genres, venues, and boundaries.”
Other artists scheduled to perform are Filipe Catto and KOM_I — both at Hulic Hall Kyoto on April 19th.
The KYOTOGRAPHIE / KYOTOPHONIE / KG＋ Kick-Off Party will be held at Japan’s oldest nightclub, CLUB METRO, on Saturday, April 12th. For more details, please see the Kyotophonie website.
The post Patti Smith to Perform with Soundwalk Collective in Kyoto appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Kyoto University Developing Human Habitats for the Moon 26 Dec 2024 7:53 PM (3 months ago)
Kyoto University and the construction company Kajima Corporation are working together on research to develop habitats for humans on the moon.
Called “Lunar Glass Neo,” each habitat would be 200 meters wide, 400 meters high and big enough for 10,000 people. The habitats would create their own gravity by rotation and have a closed ecosystem that would include an artificial ocean.
Designs and a concept video released by Kyoto University, show trees growing on the inside of the habitat’s walls with boats sailing on its artificial ocean.
The low gravity on the Moon could create a variety of health problems for humans who live there in the future, such as weakening bones and muscles. But a habitat that creates its own artificial gravity would remove this problem.
To research the structure and construction of such a habitat, the researchers’ plan is to create the world’s first artificial gravity facility in Japan some time in the 2030s.
In a press release, the research team points out that the development of artificial gravity could also have medical benefits on Earth, such as preventing osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones.
The research team also wants to look at the possibility of using artificial gravity to create a transport system, called “HEXATRACK,” that would connect habitats on the Moon and Mars.
To create a closed ecosystem for a Lunar Glass Neo habitat, the researchers will need to look at the Earth’s ecosystem and decide what are the minimum elements needed to support life on the Moon.
And they point out that artificial gravity could have medical benefits on Earth, such as preventing osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones.
The researchers hope that the knowledge gained from studying the elements needed for a closed ecosystem, will not only help with the development of Lunar Glass Neo habitats, but also help with solving environmental problems on the Earth.
And because building artificial gravity facilities on the Moon would require the countries of the world to work together, the research team says this project could also help promote peace and human unity.
Text by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Kyoto University Developing Human Habitats for the Moon appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Saganoyu Cafe 28 Aug 2023 12:04 AM (last year)
If you’re in the Saga area, the cafe Saganoyu is a pleasant spot for lunch or a cup of coffee. Originally built as a public bathhouse in 1923, the building has been thoroughly renovated and was reopened as a cafe in 2006. You can still see the original tiling on the floors and the faucets along the walls.
Here’s what we had. Miu chose a cheese curry…
…which she washed down with an iced “Island milk tea” – so-named because it contains coconut milk.
And I had a peperoncino with anchovy and nanohana (rapeseed flowers) …
…with a refreshing framboise squash.
Everything was tasty and the service was good too. Saganoyu is not so cheap, but the Saga/Arashiyama area is rather touristy so cheap places are hard to find…
Saganoyu is located a short walk south of the JR Saga/Arashiyama Station. Here is a most convenient map. Check out the Saganoyu website more details and for their online shop: http://www.sagano-yu.com/
Open: 11.00 – 18.00 (Last orders: 17.30)
Telephone: 075-882-8985
This article first posted in March, 2014. Updated and reposted in August, 2023.
All text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Saganoyu Cafe appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Dog Cafe 25 Aug 2023 2:29 AM (last year)
日本語はこちら
Dog Cafe is one of Kyoto’s “wan-chan” cafes catering to all good dogs and their walkers. A spacious establishment, on the ground floor you can browse among a huge array of dog-related products for your favorite pooch, or dog-themed goods for dog-loving humans.
The cafe has a menu that caters for both bipedal customers and their four-legged friends. For dogs the scooby-snacks include: cake, cookies and milk, and for peeps: a full drinks menu (coffees, smoothies, teas, beers etc.) and delicious home-made cakes at ￥500 a pop. Check out the pictures below.
Dog Cafe is on Instagram and has an official website here: https://dogcafe.co.jp/
Open: 11:00~19:00 (Last orders: 18:00)
Closed: Monday and Tuesday.
Tel: 075-257-3865.
This article first posted in June, 2008. Updated and reposted in August, 2023.
All text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Dog Cafe appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Cafe Kocsi 5 Aug 2023 5:06 AM (last year)
This is a really lovely cafe on Aneyakoji Dori. If you’re in the mood for a sandwich and you are in the Kawaramachi area, I definitely recommend it. There’s plenty of space, lots of comfy chairs, a peaceful bookish atmosphere and a nice view from the windows over the tiled roofs of Kyoto. Check out the pictures below:
They have a full bar, and refreshments menu alongside a food menu of soups, sandwiches, cakes etc. We had the sandwiches and they were super tasty. The bread lined up in the showcase is home-baked fresh each day. And the dressing they put on their salads is something else.
To find it go north, one block from Sanjo Dori on Tominokoji Dori and you’ll find a nice white clean looking building on the corner with Aneyakoji. カフェ・コチ is on the second floor. Here is a map.
Opening Hours: 12:00 ~ 18:00
Closed: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Tel: 075-212-7411
This article first posted in September, 2008. Updated and reposted in August, 2023.
All text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Cafe Kocsi appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Ran Hotei Cafe – Vintage Taishō Romance & Excellent Cake 25 Jul 2023 6:38 AM (last year)
One day I took a walk over to the Sanjo-kai Shōtengai shopping arcade and popped into Randy Channell’s machiya cafe Ran Hotei.
Randy is well known as a master of Japanese tea ceremony, and he does teach a few tea ceremony classes at Ran Hotei. But if you are not interested in tea ceremony, that’s ok, Ran Hotei is essentially a cafe, a place to relax, with coffee, tea and other standard beverages plus some damn fine cake.
On my visit I had a coffee and cake set. It was a maple chiffon cake, not too heavy and not too light and tasted excellent.
Randy opened the cafe in 2007, after having the building, a traditional wooden townhouse, or machiya, thoroughly renovated. He explained that he was looking for an art-deco, “Taishō Roman” kind of style when decorating the interior. Taishō refers to the Taishō Era (1912-1926), a short period of liberalism in Japanese politics and culture, which in popular memory stands in sharp contrast to the chaotic drive towards modernism of the Meiji Era that preceded it and the more militaristic early Shōwa Era that followed. “Roman” is short for romantic, so essentially Taishō Roman stands for a kind of vintage romance.
The stained glass doorway above was found for him by our old friend Rob Mangold.
Take a pew – the seating above was originally from a church!
Or if you prefer you can kick off your shoes and relax on a tatami floor.
Randy has decorated the machiya very nicely with some lovely items. Check out that beautiful chandelier.
The Ran of Ran Hotei is from Randy’s name and the Hotei comes from the popular figure above. Randy has an extensive collection of Hotei statues and images, over 3000, but the one above he tells me, is his “treasure”. Hotei is a folkloric figure representing contentment and generosity.
Plus points: Ran Hotei is non-smoking and it is also officially a “Dog Cafe” meaning you can pop in here after taking Rover out for walkies. If you are lucky, you may get to meet Snow, above, so named because she is black (?), but perhaps also because she is すなお, a very calm, gentle natured dog.
Randy is a very welcoming and friendly chap and he has been in Kyoto long enough to have a few stories under his obi. Before he was a tea master, he was a practitioner of various martial arts. I was very glad to meet him and am looking forward to getting to know him better. Mostly though I just want to go back and have another piece of that cake.
Ran Hotei is situated on the south side of the Sanjo Arcade which lies between Horikawa and Senbon Streets. Here is a MAP.
TEL: 075-801-0790
Opening hours: 11:30 〜 20:00 (until 23:00 on Fridays)
Closed Thursdays
No Smoking
Check out Randy’s online tea shop here: https://ranhotei.thebase.in/
Original article posted October, 2014. Updated and reposted July, 2023.
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Ran Hotei Cafe – Vintage Taishō Romance & Excellent Cake appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Ain Soph Journey Kyoto (Formerly Matsuontoko) – Vegan Burger Cafe 19 Jul 2023 9:48 PM (last year)
Update 2023: Matsuontoko is now known as Ain. Soph Journey Kyoto (catchy!) — but it is still a vegan restaurant serving delicious burgers, curries and kara-age!
Though there are quite a large number of vegetarian establishments in Kyoto, most of them are located in the north of the city, and the few there are in the city center tend to sell nothing that isn’t healthy and nutritious. Good vegan junk food is pretty hard to come by. There used to be a branch of Speakeasy on Shijo that did a passable veggie burger, but that closed down back in 2010. Since then our vegan brethren have been denied the delights of fast and convenient processed treats at a convenient location and forced to endure a steady diet of tofu and wholegrain rice. No more! Vegan cafe Matsuontoko Ain Soph. Journey Kyoto is here to save the day, slap bang in the center of town, with a fine array of vegan fake-meats!
So convincing are these fake-meats that one of Mewby’s friends was half-way through her “kara-age” before she realised it wasn’t chicken at all. And that was only because Mewby told her.
“Really,” Mewby told me. “You’ll be amazed.”
“Well, alright then.” I said. So I went. And here’s my order.
How good was it? Very good. The bread was actually really nice too. I was entirely satisfied. But I decided to pig out on onion rings anyway. They were nice sweet onions and non too greasy.
And they also had this lovely little cup of tofu ice-cream, cream and vegan brownies.
In short, whether you are vegan or no, if have a hankering for fast food at a reasonable price, Matsuontoko Ain Soph. Journey Kyoto is the place to go.
Ain Soph Journey Kyoto is just east of Shinkyogoku, three streets up from Shijo. Here is a map. Check the website for other items on the menu. There are a lot of choices.
Ain Soph Journey Kyoto has some slightly complicated business hours.
Normal business hours are as follows:
Open: 11:30～17:00 (Last Orders: 16:00), 18:00 ~ 20.00 (Last Entry: 18.45, Last Orders: 19.00)
But sometimes they are only open for lunch and then business hours are as follows:
Open: 10.00 ~ 16.00 (Last Orders: 15.00)
Holidays are irregular.
Tel: 075-251-1876
Original article posted February, 2013. Updated July 2023.
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Ain Soph Journey Kyoto (Formerly Matsuontoko) – Vegan Burger Cafe appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Lush Life 19 Jul 2023 1:54 AM (last year)
日本語はこちら
This is a real find to be treasured. An unassuming little café near Demachiyanagi station, I must have walked past Lush Life a thousand times before finally noticing it one day, stepping inside, and bursting out laughing.
Outside, it just looks like your average run-of-the-mill café. But inside – it’s so nice! Like a little wooden jazz-lover’s den, with one wall decorated floor to ceiling with record covers and a nice cozy counter to sit at.
Everyday, there’s a simple but tasty “dish of the day” if you want something to eat. Or you can enjoy some of the luscious looking homemade cake. On the day I visited lunch was chicken curry (the owner was kind enough to make me a vegetarian bean curry instead) which I thoroughly enjoyed while listening to Nina Simone singing her Backlash Blues. And the coffee? That made me laugh too, because it was so good! Better than how I like it!
Here are some more pictures, to put you in the mood.
Lush Life (named after the jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn) has been open here since 1988, but its history dates back to earlier jazz cafés with different names and in different locations – all the way back to the first cafe “SugarHill” in 1966. Judging by the number of regular customers who have their “keep” coffee tickets tacked to the walls, I’d guess Lush Life will be around for a long time to come. Although, it’s a small shop, they have sponsored a number performances at Kyoto’s Kamigamo Shrine by the major jazz pianists Abdullah Ibrahim and the late great Randy Weston. I was fortunate enough to attend two of Randy Weston’s performances at Kamigamo and on both occasions I was blown away by his vitality, profound talent and deep, deep, joyful tunes.
This happy little place is open from 12:00 ~ 22:00 everyday except Tuesdays. Tel: 090-1909-0199.
You can find it to the side of the taxi rank just opposite the Eizan exit of Demachiyanagi Station. Here is a map.
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Lush Life appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Cafe Bibliotic Hello! 16 Jul 2023 11:42 AM (last year)
Situated on Nijo/Yanagiyabamba, “Cafe Bibliotic Hello” is a converted old machiya, one of the traditional old wooden townhouses of Kyoto. Bring a book with you or just grab one of the many off the walls. Here you can enjoy coffees, teas, cakes, pastries or grab some dinner if you are really hungry. They do some pretty awesome sandwiches but one night I treated myself to the day’s special. It was pleasing both to the eye and tongue.
I also recommend the “Old Fashioned” a kind of fruit crumble with ice-cream.
The atmosphere here is super relaxed, and unlike Starbucks you aren’t expected to leave or order more as soon as your coffee is finished. Here are some pictures.
Sitting here, surrounded by lights and books and old wood is a balm to the soul.
To find it just head west on Nijo from Teramachi and look out for the ridiculously oversized palm leaves. Here’s a MAP
Cafe Bibliotic Hello! on Instagram.
Open every day: 11:30 ~ 23:00
Tel: 075-231-8625
This article was first posted in July 2007, then updated and reposted in July 2023. Some items on the menu may well have changed in the interim!
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Cafe Bibliotic Hello! appeared first on Deep Kyoto.
Les Freres Moutaux 14 Jul 2023 2:29 AM (last year)
Les Freres Moutaux is a popular bakery in Iwakura, a quiet residential area of Kyoto.
Previously, they also had a very nice branch with a cafe on Aburakoji Dori that sold all kinds of tasty meals – but that branch has now GONE.
From white bread and baguettes to sweet buns, croissants and scones, there are many types of bread on sale. And all of them are top knotch when it comes to flavor, texture, and the heady, bready aroma of baked dough, so you might have some trouble choosing between them.
You should also watch out for the showcase of temptation which is filled with all kinds of colorful cakes and pastries. And answering the call of sweet-toothed fans from afar, baked sweets and cakes can also be ordered online.
Les Freres Moutaux is a two-minute walk from Kino Station on the Eizan Kurama Line. Here is a map showing it’s location.
Check out the official website and online shop here: Les Freres Moutaux
Phone: 075-724-3299
Business hours: 9:00-19:00
Closed: Thursdays
Text and images by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.
The post Les Freres Moutaux appeared first on Deep Kyoto.