Forthcoming Events in Sheffield, Liverpool and London

My thanks to one and all at FAMES, Cambridge (and particularly Dr. Barak Kushner, Professor Richard Bowring and Dr. Matthew Shores) for a great event on Monday. Always wonderful to be back to Cambridge...

We will be holding another Yukio Mishima: Time and Destiny event at SEAS, University of Sheffield on Thursday 19 February and at the World Museum, Liverpool on Saturday 28 February. Please join us.

Meanwhile if you would like to hear a talk on a completely different subject...

Serene notes soar into the air of a 18th century Leipzig church; a solitary pianist heads off into the wilds of Nova Scotia; and a Japanese scholar, on the brink of nervous breakdown, escapes to the Highlands of Scotland. Let me take you on a journey across time and space, as we travel together into the mountains of Kyushu led by an artist determined to view the world as it has never been seen before.

The journey starts on March 12 with my talk, 'Glenn Gould and Natsume Soseki'. For more details, follow this link: http://www.dajf.org.uk/event/glenn-gould-and-natsume-soseki

Remembering the Great Hanshin Earthquake

On January 17 it was the 20th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, a day never to be forgotten. The earthquake left 6434 dead, 43,000 injured, 250,000 homes ruined and 320,000 people homeless.

You can read my in-depth memoirs and reflections on the quake by clicking this link to the Asahi Shinbun AJW website:

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/forum/politics_and_economy/east_asia/AJ201501200019