One of the joys of living overseas is being able to see the world differently, sometimes in ways I would never expect. One day when I was in Kyoto, in the Kyoto National Museum, I stumbled upon some clay bowls. Everything about the exhibit screamed, “These things are important!” They were individually encased behind panes of glass. They sat beautifully displayed on felt-covered small boxes. They each had their own special lighting, but the odd thing to me was that they were broken. …
Author Archives: Roger W. Lowther
04. Simmering in the Gospel
One of the joys of living overseas is being able to experience different parts of the world. There are times when I think, “Wow, that’s exotic.” Sometimes it’s a smell in the air. Sometimes it’s a sound that I hear. Sometimes it’s the feel of the atmosphere. When we first moved to Tokyo, I had such an experience. …
03. The Hospital
A concert in a hospital near the broken nuclear power plants of Fukushima shortly after the 2011 earthquake in Japan brought us together. In that terrible time, music brought healing and helped us to mourn and cry for what was lost.
02. The Scarf
My friend, Shannon Johnston, started The Scarf back in 2011 as a direct response to the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster here in Japan. It was a way for people to knit their hopes, thoughts, and prayers together for the people of Japan. Scarves are something you wear around your neck like a hug. The Scarf was a way people could give hugs without actually being physically present in Japan. …
A Strand of Hope
What do you think about the three R’s of reading, writing, and arithmetic? Are they something you do in your spare time? Are they the first thing you want to do in the morning? Or the last thing you want to do at night? …
”The Scarf”
People are scared. They are scared of the future. They are scared of going outside. They are scared of wearing a mask and scared of not wearing a mask. They are scared of one another. In a crisis like this, what can an artist do? …
01. Love Your Neighbor
Mayu is a visual artist in Tokyo. With the spread of COVID-19, like everyone else, she was stuck at home, with no way to share her art and no way to make a living. What bothered her most, though, was that people were hurting all around her. She wanted to do something, but didn’t know […]
Love Your Neighbor
Mayuko Shono, or Mayu for short, is a visual artist here in Tokyo. With the spread of COVID-19, like everyone else, she was stuck at home, with no way to share her art and no way to make a living. What bothered her most, though, was that people were hurting all around her. She wanted to do something, but wasn’t really sure what she could do …
Be Still and Know
Heavy creaking in the ceiling above my head jolted my sleep-numbed mind into consciousness. My eyes flew open to darkness. What is that noise? Where am I?“Everybody out! This is a big one!” someone behind me yelled. That was all it took. I blindly fumbled for my flashlight, always near my head for emergencies like […]
やめよ。知れ。
天井がミシミシいう音がして目を開けると、辺りはまだ真っ暗だった。
「何の音？ここはどこだ？」
寝ぼけた耳に誰かの叫び声が響いた。「逃げろ！大きいぞ！」
ぱっと目が覚めた。いつも枕元においてある懐中電灯を手探りでつかみ、ジャケットを拾った。床がグラグラ揺れていてまっすぐ立っていられなかった。なんとかドア枠にたどり着き、つかんで外に押し出した。