LETTERS FROM A FLOATING WORLD

GREEK text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis I am not original. Thirty five million Japanese and countless foreigners, both tourists and residents share my opinion that any and all discussion about Japan...

GREEK text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis I have two loves, my country and Paris sang Edith Piaf in my grandmother’s old 78 rpm records. And although it is very difficult not to...

GREEK text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis There is something deeply satisfying in training in a classical martial art, the ones called “koryu budo” or “kobudo”. Even though (or precisely because) these...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis Japan keeps promoting them as one of its trademark images, together with Mount Fuji, the fast shinkansen trains and the cherry trees. And for some reason,...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis Many people are surprised to hear that Tokyo has more three-star restaurants in the Michelin guides than Paris. But it isn’t that strange; although it...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis Anyone who happens to come to Japan after “that day”, March 11, 2011 won’t fail to notice the slogan “Ganbaro Nippon!” (がんばろう日本!) which can be loosely...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis In Europe, when we say “low country” we mean Holland, the Netherlands. And of course, geographically speaking we are correct but if we come to the...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis I fell in love with the Japanese folk festivals/fairs (matsuri) as soon as I saw my first one. First of all it’s the colors of...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis The legend goes that about 1300 years ago, while fishing in the Sumida river (one of the rivers that flow through Tokyo) two fishermen found...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis Many Japanese –among them my wife- can’t quite understand why in my mind “Tokyo” means first and foremost “Asakusa”. Among the comments I often hear,...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis I have tens of thousands of pictures from Japan but when I searched for one to accompany this text I realized I have very few with...

text and photo by Grigoris A. Miliaresis I’m certain that I’m not the only one puzzled by this: how is it possible for a country as developed as Japan, a country whose...