Hollywood has a samurai fetish. Whether it’s “Kill Bill,” “Westworld” or the acclaimed new FX remake of the “Shogun” miniseries, samurai often prove to be...
The tendency toward cultural chauvinism and exceptionalism is hardly confined to Japan. I recall when living in rural France the dismal failure of an English...
At the back of Kondaya Genbei, a 280-year-old obi wholesaler in Kyoto, slippered art-goers ascend a winding stairwell just wide enough for one. At the...