A 3-4 Day Kyoto Itinerary

I was asked to put together an itinerary for an American couple visiting Kyoto for the first - and likely - last time. Middle aged and very happy to see the tried and trusted sites. (So nothing whacky! Nor are they into wearing kimono or geisha-chasing.) As they followed it to the letter and were…

Colourful Singapore

It's the type of headline once seen in what we would now term vintage magazines. Or the title of an ancient travelogue film of the type made by the British company Pathe. I spent three years in Singapore in the 1990s: working, adopting a kitten from an animal sanctuary and not taking these photos. Because…

The Cyclist’s Homily – 1899

Introduction Oxford. This is the first of a number of short travel essays taken from my collection of writings from the late 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. I gathered many of these from, of all places, a library of school magazines - not that I am disparaging of their source…

Higashiyama Kaii Setouchi Art Museum 香川県立東山魁夷せとうち美術館

東山 魁夷, Higashiyama Kaii, July 8, 1908 – May 6, 1999. The Seto Ohashi Bridge 瀬戸大橋 as it crosses Shamijima and joins the first section of the bridge called the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge. Rising ever higher on massive concrete pillars, the southern end of the Seto Ohashi Bridge soars into the sky as it leaves…

Hirai Museum, Marugame. (Museo Marugame Hirai – 丸亀平井美術館)

"Alternating concepts of architecture as a setting for artworks as well being an expressive symbol in it own right." Alfredo Arribus The Hirai Museum from the road junction. The large windows on the north side of the building are shielded by an aluminuim screen set in a steel fame that projects out from the main…

Kagawa Prefecture Office Close-Up

Takamatsu can boast of having several magnificent examples of modernist architecture including the bureaucratically named Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building, a gem by Kenzo Tange.Built in 1958, not only is it a masterpiece of design, a tour de force in reinforced concrete, it still utilises traditional Japanese design and structural practices particularly those seen…

Waterperry Church

Exterior St Mary the Virgin, Waterperry. The wooden bell tower is unusual in this part of the UK. Pevsner describes the church as 'a small rustic church of great charm,' and who would wish to argue with that. He goes on to note that it retains the chancel arch of a Saxon predecessor, a smaller…

Nether Winchindon

The Mill has become a farm, and the race is tangled with weeds. Footpath signs point in a whirlwind of confusing directions but we take the single track that leads from the Mill to the village, walking alongside a small river. This gently flowing water is the River Thame, which eventually will feed into the…

Rokko Island 六甲アイランド – a picture essay.

From visits made in 2016, 1996, and 1993. 2016 Northern side of the island closest to the Kobe coastline. Looking north from the Sheraton Hotel with Mount Rokko in the far distant. The Rokko Liner is the monorail train track running into the centre. Rokko Liner. 神戸新交通六甲アイランド線 Exterior of an office building. Once P&G's Japan…

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

The entrance to the hotel. 1929 watercolour. The American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright was enamored if not besotted with Japan and its aesthetics. In 1912 he published a booklet The Japanese Print, An Interpretation and the theory of creating something as simple as possible by eliminating the insignificant.  He first came to Tokyo in 1905…