Kanazawa trip, Episode 3: Secret Temples and Tea Houses
We arrived at the entrance of the famous secret temple during the early afternoon hours. Our tour was booked (as required) for 13:30. Kanazawa, laying in between the surrounding mountains and the central sea, lived up to its reputation: tons of rain and coldness. My sneakers were already soaking wet. While Y. had been weighting between her options between wearing shoes and boots for our trip, I made the amateurish mistake of choosing a pair of old sports shoes. I had taken them for a walk in Tokyo and they seemed comfortable enough. But what worked out well for a Tokyo breeze, was not up for the challenge in Kanazawa’s weather. As we were entering the temple, I realized that my feet were very wet. Seeing the person walking in front of me, leaving a water...
Read MoreThe last love letter…
In 2020, the Japanese movie director, Shuji Iwate made a return with a beautiful movie, titled Last Letter. The story lines are simple, yet they give rise to a network of ideas and feelings, that make you want to look back, to view how your own life plot has converged towards the present. In a way, the movie itself is a look back into a different work of art by the same director, Love Letter (1995), that came to the theaters more than a quarter of a century ago. This is a review of both these movies, Love Letter (1995) and Last Letter (2020). Grab your coffee and follow me. Love Letter (1995) marks the filmmaking career, paving the way for later masterpieces, such as “Swallowtail Butterfly” (1996) and “All About Lily Chou-Chou” (2001). It is set up in two distant...
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