Book Review: The Forty-Seven Rōnin: The Vendetta in History

John A. Tucker presents the first comprehensive historical study of one of the most famous events in Japanese history.

Published in February 2018 this seminal work about the Forty-Seven Rōnin, one of the most famous historical tales in Japan, is probably one of the most accessible academic studies in the English language. It is very well laid out, the structure eminently logical, the referencing structure precise and the bibliography pleasantly well-stocked. Unsurprisingly, whilst Tucker does mention less reliable sources, he does not dwell on the conjectural discrepancies that arise from these, his suppositions being based on his analysis of empirical texts. There are a few black and white illustrations ranging from location and portrait photographs through to reproductions of illustrations both

October 2018 Tea Tasting Event

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 27th October 2018

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

September 2018 Tea Tasting Event

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 22nd September 2018

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Book Review: This Great Stage of Fools – An anthology of uncollected writings

Written by Alan Booth. Edited by Timothy Harris with an afterword by Karel van Wolferen.

It is a testament to Alan Booth’s skill as a writer that he is regarded by Japanophiles as one of the pre-eminent commentators on Japan and Japanese culture (though a culture far removed from Japan’s city environs). This even though only two of his books about Japan became mainstream publications, ‘The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan’ (1985) and, posthumously (Booth passed away in 1993), ‘Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan’ (1995). *

‘This Great Stage of Fools’ is a comprehensive collection of his journalistic articles. Initial impressions were good and as this review progressed it became increasingly apparent that the

April 2018 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 28th April 2018

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

March 2018 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 31st March 2018

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Book Review: Ghosts Of The Tsunami: Death And Life In Japan’s Disaster Zone

A deeply moving book by Richard Lloyd Parry!

At 2.46pm Japan time on the 11th March 2011 a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Tohoku. The earthquake moved Japan’s main island of Honshu 2.4 meters further east, moved the earth on its axis by between 10 – 25 cm, and at the time dropped Honshu’s Pacific coast by around one meter. It triggered massive tsunamis, some of which were up to 40.5 meters (133 feet) in height, some of which travelled up to 10km (6 miles) inland.

As is pointed out in the book it wasn’t the earthquake which caused most of the damage; most of Japan’s physical infrastructure is built to

December 2017 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 16th December 2017

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Book Review: ‘The Meaning of Rice: And Other Tales from the Belly of Japan’ by Michael Booth

Michael Booth and his family embark on an epic journey the length of Japan to explore its dazzling food culture.

If this book were food it would have deep umami undertones. Michael Booth has written yet another intriguing account of food, cooking and Japanese cuisine in Japan as an accompaniment to his earlier and just as his readable companion piece ‘Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know about Cooking’; a main course to his earlier amuse-bouche.

We re-join him ten years after his first book on a return trip to Japan with his family to explore some of the elements of Japanese cuisine left unexplored a decade earlier. Though at first not as liberally sprinkled with the tongue in cheek humour as ‘Sushi and Beyond’ Booth warms to his

Oshima Sakura – Rare High Quality Japanese Cherry Blossom Tea – Competition Now Closed And The Winners Are…

10 winners have been randomly selected from a hat!

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition to win a packet of Oshima Sakura Tea – A Rare High Quality Japanese Cherry Blossom Tea.

10 winners have been selected.

And the winners are…

Now Closed! WIN A Pack Of Oshima Sakura – Rare High Quality Japanese Cherry Blossom Tea

Hooray! It’s competition time again! (UK Residents only)

10 packs of premier Oshima Sakura herbal tea to giveaway!

Competition ends Monday 12th June 2017 at midnight, UK time!

Thanks to ES Food Trading, Diverse Japan is thrilled to be giving away 10 packets (one per winner) of Oshima Sakura, a high quality hand-picked Japanese herbal tea, farmed in Kyoto, Japan, imported and exclusively sold in the UK to the wagashi (Japanese confectionery) outlet, Minamoto Kitchoan in London with a retail price of £14.00 per pack (40g).

February 2017 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 25th February 2017

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Mini Tea Event and Free Tea Tasting Promotions at Minamoto Strand Store London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan Japanese Confectionery shop, 448 Strand, London, WC2R 0QU (Just opposite Charing Cross BR Station)

Date: Friday, 10^th February 2017

Time: 14:00 hrs. -19:00 hrs. (Please just pop in anytime during the event hours)

January 2017 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 28th January 2017

Time: 14.00– 19.00

Admission: FREE

December 2016 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 17th December 2016

Time: 14.00– 19.00

Admission: FREE

Book Review: Where The Dead Pause And The Japanese Say Goodbye – A Journey By Marie Mutsuki Mockett

Its pages are often full of a light that illuminates a fundamental human experience!

On Friday 11^th March 2011 at 2.46pm local time the 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku Earthquake, the most powerful on record to have ever hit Japan, struck off the Pacific Coast of Tōhoku triggering Tsunami’s some of which reached up to 133 feet (40.5 metres) and travelled up to 6 miles (10 km) inland. Nearly 16,000 people were killed, over 6,000 injured and just over 2,500 people are still missing. It is against this back drop that Mutsuki Mockett weaves her way through a landscape of grief; that of her own personal, complicated, grief at the loss of her beloved father, and that of the people of the region from where some of her ancestors came.

November 2016 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 20th November 2016

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Interview: Hibiki Ichikawa Talks Shami-sensational

Master tsugaru shamisen player Hibiki Ichikawa returns with his latest CD release Shami-sensational!

The blend of traditional and contemporary music across 8 tracks never sounds misplaced, both remarkably intertwine giving the listener a whole new shamisen experience.

Diverse Japan is honoured and delighted that the UK-based Japanese maestro, officially recognized as a world-leading talent of tsugaru shamisen, has taken time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about the ins and outs of

Closed! WIN A Pack Of Gyokuro – High Quality Loose Japanese White Tea

Hooray! It’s competition time again! (UK Residents only)

12 packs of premier Japanese tea to giveaway!

Thanks to ES Food Trading, Diverse Japan is thrilled to be giving away 12 packets (one per winner) of Gyokuro, a high quality delicately sweet Japanese white tea, often referred to as the connoisseur’s Japanese tea, farmed in Kyoto, Japan, imported and exclusively sold in the UK to selective London stores including the wagashi (Japanese confectionery) outlet, Minamoto Kitchoan, and the prestigious food store Partridges .

Each pack (worth £24.00) contains 100 gms of loose leaf tea.

To enter, see competition rules at bottom of page.