Sukeroku is another classic kabuki play – something that is always on the repertoire in Tokyo. For the lead performer it is an Otokodate role…
In my previous article, on the play Okige no kumo harau Asagochi, I covered one of the most successful of the modern Meiji plays staged…
“Okige no kumo harau Asagochi” (“The Morning East Wind Clearing the Clouds of the Southwest“, 西南雲晴朝東風) is one of my favourite plays in yakusha-e prints,…
The first image is a really unusual ōkubi-e (big-headed print) and I was very lucky to be able to purchase it because this sub-genre is…
This unassuming print features another nice conflict between the traditional kimonos worn on either side and the western hat and metal-spoked umbrella held by the…
This was a pre-Christmas delivery of interesting yakusha-e prints from the Japanese auctions. This print is a classic scene from a famous play called “Kiwametsuki…
This 1887 print features Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as the central figure, a lion dancer – accompanied in the dance by his butterfly attendants. It is…
This striking 1883 series is called “The Popularity of the Upstairs Dressing Room”) 楽屋 二階 影 評判, featuring famous actors of the time being dressed.…
Animal Crossing: New Horizons probably needs no explanation if you’ve been paying attention in the console games world. Since its release in March 2020 it…
I saw this little game a while ago but wasn’t convinced enough by the reviews to buy when it was £24.99 but yesterday it came…
There are many different types of computer game and I’ve played most over the years but the games that intrigue me most are the ones…
I know I probably left it a few decades late to join the games console generation but with Coronavirus ravaging the land and the prospect…
In the last year the impact on personal health and the environment of continued large-scale meat eating has been in the news headlines quite a…
Recently I have been helping with a project called Orchid Observers, at the Natural History Museum. The aim is to get members of the public…
My first batches of sloe gin are ready to drink and are tasting pretty good so I think I can rough out my recipe now.…
This winter I have been making liqueurs with hedgerow fruits – things like sloe & damson gins and vodkas but also variations with hawthorne berries,…
I made this photo a little while ago, from my own specimens of the British Sarcophaga carnaria group (carnaria, variegata & subvicina). I posted it…
A little while ago I posted about a strange fly that had been shown to me at the Natural History Museum. It looked clearly like…
This autumn my friend Alexandru Pintilioaie in Romania sent me a batch of flies, including one metallic rhinophorid. We both agreed that it looked very…
I received a really interesting parcel today from a friend who holidayed in La Palma earlier this year. He had spotted some Tachina that looked…