This anthology collects writings by established and new writers
associated with Kyoto. The contents range widely from fiction to
non-fiction: an extract from a novel, a short story, and a fantasy;
articles on child-rearing, ceramics, the tokonoma, and the spirit of
rocks; contemporary free verse, poetry with a Taoist flavor, and new
translations of Basho. Also included are three winning entries from the
Writers in Kyoto Competition, and two longer pieces about that giant of
Japanology, Lafcadio Hearn, who continues to cast a shadow more than a
hundred years after his death. Rounding out the anthology is an essay by
Alex Kerr, leading commentator on present-day Japan, together with
illustrations by award-winning designer, John Einarsen.