How master sculptors Unkei and Kaikei propelled the Kei school to new heights with a great project at Todai-ji Temple
kyoto
Octopus Buddhas and Aliens: The Story of Tako Yakushi
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One of my favorite films about aliens is Arrival (2016), based on Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life (1998). It portrays otherworldly visitors as enlightened extraterrestrials with a literally timeless grasp of language and causality. Aside from being spacefaring travellers and inhabiting spacecraft that leave no residue, traces, or pollution, the advanced creatures of Arrival perceive time […]
Kyoto’s Incredible Treasures: Roaming from Buddhist Temples to Shinto Shrines
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On 25 and 26 March, I made a short visit to Kyoto, a city home to many atmospheric gardens, traditional teahouses, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines of wondrous ambience and architectural beauty. Behind the seemingly similar designs of the temples and shrines are a diverse constellation of Buddhist and Shinto religious practices.