A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson (Princeton Architectural Press) ~Ernie Hoyt

Kate Williamson is a writer and illustrator who studied film at Harvard University. She is also fond of traveling. She was awarded the George Peady Gardner Travel Fellowship which grants post-graduate students an opportunity to further their education by immersing them in a foreign culture. Thanks to the grant, Williamson was able to spend a year in Kyoto, Japan. 

Her book, A Year in Japan, is full of illustrations and her musings about what she saw and thought while wandering the streets of Kyoto. It is a humorous travelogue with beautiful drawings. It is not a guide about where’s the best place to eat or where’s the best place to stay. The drawings are of the things that she saw and experienced. 

When Williamson got off the train at Kyoto station and was walking along the ground floor department store to the street,  the first thing that caught her eye was a display of colors and patterns next to some purses and scarves - “plaid, polka dots, orange and turquoise, , red and magenta, lime and navy”. When she took a closer look, she discovered it to be a display of washcloths or hand towels. She writes, “the washcloths were my first exposure to the attention to detail that characterizes much of Japan - both socially and visually”. 

She noticed that the wagashi shops, traditional Japanese confectionery shops, the colors of the shapes of the sweets would change with the seasons. The sweets are often sold in boxes and seem almost as if it would be a crime to eat since they are so beautifully displayed. 

Williamson immersed herself in Japanese culture. Not only did she eat wagashi, but she made a request to visit a Saihoji Temple, also known as Kokedera or the Moss Temple. At the temple, Williamson, along with a few other people, were taken to a large room set with small tables. Next to each table was a brush and ink set and a Buddhist sutra written in Japanese. It is the task of the visitors to copy the sutras with the materials at hand. 

Another thing, most visitors, Williamson included, like to do, is to travel on the Shinkansen. Many people still refer to the shinkansen as the “bullet train” due to its shape. Whenever Williamson took a trip on the shinkansen, she would treat herself to an ekiben, special bento boxed measl that are sold on trains and at train stations. 

In the spring, Japanese people have hanami or “flower viewing” parties. They gather with friends and family or co-workers and drink and eat while enjoying the cherry blossoms in full bloom. 

In the fall, when there is a full moon, Japanese also enjoy tsukimi or “moon-viewing” parties. It is a festival to celebrate the autumn moon. It is a tradition that dates back to the Heian era (794 - 1185). 

As a long time resident of Japan (over thirty years), I still enjoy reading the perspectives from newcomers to the nation.  Their wonderment at all they see and experience reminds me of my first days in the country as a resident. It really is one thing to visit a country but quite another when you decide to live there, be it three months, one year or even thirty years or more. There’s always something new to discover.