Big mystery from today in Takayama, Japan: At 1:30 in the afternoon, we heard music played on — it seemed — a loudspeaker mounted on every other lamp post in the city’s wide valley. Then … a voice began saying something. Echoes from that voice bounced from loudspeaker...

Years ago before a seventh grade math class, a newly sharpened pencil started rolling down my pitched desk. I moved quickly to catch it before it landed in my lap. I missed … the pencil landed eraser end down … and the lead tip dug deeply in to my left palm. A mark has been inside...

According to legend, the floors of Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Japan were crafted to squeak like the song of a nightengale — to warn the Shogun and his bodyguards of prowling ninja. Here’s a brief clip of the that sound (presented here on the website). H, W and I visited Nijo Castle...

This morning was lazy, unplanned — and glorious. I went for a long stroll along Kyoto’s central river walk. It was unhindered time. Whole groups of falcons soared in circles above. I passed families eating picnic lunches. A cormorant came in for a landing next to me in the river,...