Kyoto: Japan’s Imperial City- Echoes of History Podcast
Hugely enjoyed delving deep into Kyoto life in the glittering Momoyama period … Hideyoshi’s tea parties and cherry blossom parties and much else. Please have a listen! […]
HUGE NEWS! THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF JAPAN – out in Australia on June 4th and the US on July 31st
The exciting, engrossing and thrilling story of the whole of Japanese history – 16,500 years in a few pages, from 14,500 BC (world’s first pottery) to yesterday, to make you think, ‘Wow, Japanese history is really exciting!’ […]
History of Geishas – Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
Hugely enjoyed talking about all things geisha with Kate Lister on the Betwixt the Sheets podcast … find out all about my life among the geisha and what geisha really do! […]
In the 80s Japan WAS the future!
Happy to be included in Johny Pitts’ series The Failure of the Future on BBC Radio 4 – including my memories of the Tsutsumi Seibu empire, which I wrote about in my book The Brothers. […]
Octopus dreams: Japan, Stonehenge, Knossos
Cultural echoes spring up tentacle-like in the most unexpected of places. Japan and Stonehenge, Japan and Knossos – who would have thought it? … Read more
The Shortest History of Japan: coming SOON!
Out June 2024 in Australia and July 31st 2024 in the US and Canada.
The story of a small Asian country with an extraordinary aesthetic tradition that avoided colonization and overcame the devastation of World War II to become a highly prosperous modern force, while preserving its unique spirit and culture.
Exquisite Patterns: Japanese Textile Design Books Private View – Q&A
Watch Lesley Downer in conversation with Hamish Todd (Head of East Asian Collections) at the British Library.
Issey Miyake, a great loss
For me, for the fashion industry, for everyone, this is huge news and a great loss of a warm and wonderfulman who created glorious fabrics and clothes. In the 90s I went to the 21st anniversary celebrations of theIssey Miyake brand where Larry Adler (remember him?) unforgettably played Rhapsody in Blue accompanied by Gershwin himself … Read more
