Zenbu Blog
OHARA and Sanzen-in
I like to visit Ohara as regularly as I can. It’s just north of Kyoto city – about an hour in the bus from Kyoto station but feels so much further away. I love the local farming atmosphere and the greenery but the main reason I […]
Bizen Pottery
Disclaimer – this post was stolen from our other blog (eatspeakjl.blogspot.com) and was written in 2015 – but we just stumbled across it and thought we’d share! Recently (please see above!) we took a short visit to Kurashiki and Okayama city from Kyoto. From Okayama city we rode […]
Reine Des Pres
Reine Des Pres, a pocket sized French Restaurant in Kyoto, is particularly popular with ladies who lunch and couples who give each other perfect red roses on Valentine’s Day. It’s situated a little north of the main city hub in a street that runs south from […]
Korakuen Garden Okayama
Okayama is famous for its castle (peeking over the shoulder of the tree on the right in the image below), sweet, sweet summer peaches, the story of Momotaro – the Peach Boy), Bizen ceramic ware, various citrus fruit and this spectacular garden –Korakuen – ranked as one of […]
Japan Blue
Every so often we get swept away with the colour in Japan. We cannot tell a lie. In fact it’s an every day occurrence whether we are in situ or looking at 30 something years worth of Japan travel photos. Or merely dreaming. Last week it […]
Sandor Does Kyoto
Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of introducing Fermentation Guru Sandor Katz to just a small snippet of some of Kyoto’s wonders. He was on a mission to try some Funazushi (fermented sushi) so we tracked some down at a shop specialising in foods […]
Nijo Castle in Winter
Naturally I’m rather fond of Japanese architecture but for some reason traditional buildings of the castle variety have never really grabbed me… Nijo Castle is different. For one… it’s not your A-typical castle. It isn’t a wedding cake perched high on a hill overlooking the town, […]
ZENBU HOME
Dear Friends, We’ve finally opened our little dream store – an online shop selling beautiful Japanese things we’ve collected during our travels through Japan. ZENBUHOME.COM It’s rather small (yet sweet!) at the moment.. Stunning vintage, 100% silk Kimono – all handmade and absolutely divine to wear […]
Naoshima
It had reached the point of embarrassment. The business of ‘not yet’ having visited the ‘art island’ of Naoshima. Many of my clients had made the trip and raved, or were seeking my advice on a regular basis… ‘what’s it like?’ ‘when’s the best time to go?’ ‘where should […]
Catching up with myself…
Well it seems like light years since I published my last blog post here. Things became just a little bit crazy leading up to the 2017 winter tours…. In the latter part of 2016 I’d sold my flat, finished building a new home, slipped in a secret wedding, […]
