Kate Williamson's A Year in Japan recollects exactly that, a year during which the author lived in Kyoto, Japan while studying, of all things, sock design. The book is a visual journal, no more no less, in which Williamson draws the reader into Japanese culture via vibrant watercolors and the accompanying sparse text.
Japanese culture is naturally a broad concept , encompassing all that jumps readily into the collective Western mind - sushi, Hello Kitty, Mt. Fuji, Toyoto - and far more. While touching on a number of the usual suspects, Ms. Williamson maintains a personal stance with all of her subjects. Her sumo wrestlers, for instance, are not sumo wrestling, but playfully captured in their everyday lives, with the accompanying comment:
Japanese culture is naturally a broad concept , encompassing all that jumps readily into the collective Western mind - sushi, Hello Kitty, Mt. Fuji, Toyoto - and far more. While touching on a number of the usual suspects, Ms. Williamson maintains a personal stance with all of her subjects. Her sumo wrestlers, for instance, are not sumo wrestling, but playfully captured in their everyday lives, with the accompanying comment:
There was something startling about seeing sumo wrestlers in the traditional yukata (cotton kimono) and geta (wooden clogs)
wearing headphones,
making withdrawals at ATMs,
riding the subway, and once,
drinking strawberry milk after a match.
wearing headphones,
making withdrawals at ATMs,
riding the subway, and once,
drinking strawberry milk after a match.
The artist's subjects range from washcloth patterns to maple leaves, bowls, and backpacks. Williamson's brush captures ordinary people, like the tofu vendor and the Kyoto Rockabilly Club, the members of which are temple carpenters who congregate on Sundays in a Kyoto plaza to dance to rock and roll.
Her watercolors are simple, playful. Though sparse in detail, these images are infused with the artist's keen attention to light and color, with a certain Japaneseness conveyed even in the color choices she makes.
Many of the images are of a culinary nature, and if the book has one overarching success it is in leaving the reader hungry for Japanese food. So if you're drawn at all to Japanese culture, or even more generically to the art of the visual journal, order up a few sushi rolls and feast your eyes on A Year in Japan.
Her watercolors are simple, playful. Though sparse in detail, these images are infused with the artist's keen attention to light and color, with a certain Japaneseness conveyed even in the color choices she makes.
Many of the images are of a culinary nature, and if the book has one overarching success it is in leaving the reader hungry for Japanese food. So if you're drawn at all to Japanese culture, or even more generically to the art of the visual journal, order up a few sushi rolls and feast your eyes on A Year in Japan.
