Media about Alex (E)

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Media about Alex Kerr (English)

"Mightier than the Sword", J-Select magazine, 2008 June-July
By Benjamin Freeland, photos by Noboru Morikawa
The pen, we are told, is mightier than the sword, and while it is tempting to pooh-pooh this aphorism, there is no denying that a pen in the right hand still packs a powerful punch. Alex Kerr, writer, scholar, traditional arts expert, restoration entrepreneur, and social, cultural and environmental critic-at-large, makes a strong case for the veracity of this old adage….

Thai Asia Today, 2008 Jul 21
By James Vernon
Alex Kerr was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction in Japanese for his book Utsukushiki Nihon no Zanzo, published in English in 1994 as Lost Japan.

Art and Antiques "Life Imitates Collection" 2008 April
By Margie Goldsmith
Photo essay about my Japanese calligraphic screens and Asian antiques collection.

"Kerr's brush colors Kanji and Kyoto", Asahi Weekly, 2007 June 24
By Matthias Ley
Article and photos by Matthias Ley, showing interiors of Kyoto machiya and calligraphy writing at Alex's home in Kameoka

Zeit Gist, Japan Times, 2006 Nov 14
By Tony McNicol
Beneath the surface. Program offers intense experience for Japanese and foreigners alike

The Japan Journal, "Introducing Japan" 2006 Oct 1
By Tony McNicol,
Article about the ORIGIN Art Program, at IORI in Kyoto

Personality Profile, Japan Times, 2006 Sep 09
By Vivienne Kenrick
Alex Kerr, a Writer, Speaker and Researcher in Japan and Asian culture, is on the committee to advise Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his appeared on television with Kyoto Gov. Shintaro Ishihara

Saving the "last moments in history" Bangkok Post, 2006 Aug 29
By Philippa Norman, Photo by YingYong Un-Anongrak
A US Author and passionate conservationist is continuing the mission he started in Japan
- Saving venerable old buildings from the wrecker's ball and organising the workshop and tour to give visitors some insight in to the 'real' Bangkok

Chiiori, From Living in Japan (Taschen, 2006 Aug)
By Alex Kerr & Kathy Sokol, Photos by Reto Guntli
Photo-essay on old Japanese thatched farmhouse "Chiiori" in Iya Valley, Shikoku

In with the old, American Author gets into the business of Machiya Preservation, Daily Yomiuri, 2006 Aug 24
By Hiroyuki Ueba
Kyoto A symbol of traditional kyoto, Machiya town houses have become a victim of the city's modernization, as many have been abandoned or destroyed, in recent years, There has been a movement to preserve the town houses. However, the campaign is not being spearheaded by local Japanese but by and American Author named Alex Kerr

Living in Japan, published by Taschen, to be released 2006 Aug 26
By Alex Kerr and Kathy Arlyn Sokol
With photos by Reto Guntli, and co-authored by myself and Kathy Sokol, Living in Japan, a hardcover book published by Taschen, features numerous examples of Japanese homes, both traditional and modern.Includes photos of my houses: Chiiori (Iya Valley, Shikoku), Tenmangu (Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture), and two IORI machiya townhouses in Kyoto:  Iori Oshikoji, and Iori Nishirokkaku-cho.

In Touch (Journal of the American Chamber of Commerce Japan ACCJ)
2006 Aug 1

Article about Tokyo's development and "Dogs and Demons" issues, related to a talk I gave for Tokyo American Club, 2006 May 16

Japan sees beginning of change, Japan Times, 2005 Dec
By Tony Mcnicol
Writer Alex Kerr first came to Japan in 1964, since when he has worked as a translator, art dealer and in real estate during the "bubble" economy.

Stay at a Kyoto machiya and celebrate the spirit of Japanese culture, 2005 Sep
By Sohbi Iida (Katei Gaho)
The machiya (townhouses) that one made up the picturesque streetscapes unique to Kyoto are sadly disappearing. In the wake of their destruction, dull concrete apartment blocks typically go up in their place

Tenmangu Near Kyoto, Inside Asia, Taschen, 2004 Dec
A writer in a 17th century shrine
By Sunil Sethi, Photos by Reto Guntli
A photo essay about Tenmangu, in Taschen's two-volume collection of Asian interiors.

The House that Roared, Asian Wall Street Journal, 2004 March 12
The simple poetry of a farmhouse in a misty valley in Japan
By Kevin Voight
A little thatched house in the mountains is touching an increasing number of Japanese and having a powerful effect on conservation efforts. …

Calling back the children, Look Japan, 2003 Nov
By Tony Mcnicol 

Alex kerr stumbled on the thatched farmhouse during a hiking tour of shikoku in the early 1970s

Maybe Japan Just Isn't Ready for Change, International Herald Tribune,
2002 Oct 28

By William Pesek lr.
TOKYO; Alex Kerr wasn't looking to make new friends last year when he published a controversial book on Japan's economic problems. In fact, the lifelong Japanophile feared he might lose a few. Such is the life of a man who wrote perhaps the most important work on Japan in years. "Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan" is a rebuke of the Japan lnc. model Tokyo refuses to discard after 12 years of malaise. In it, Kerr laments Japan's slump and Tokyo's inept response. …

Mountain Haiku, Architectual Digest, 2002 Aug
The simple poetry of a farmhouse in a misty valley in Japan
By Jonathan Kandell, Photography by Erhard Pfeiffer
Alex Kerr is venting on the verandah of the often exasperating dream house he purchased three decades ago in the heart of Shikoku island, one of the most remote sites in Japan. …

'Dark Side' proved a lightning rod for readers' ire, 2002 Jun 13
By Stephen Hesse
Being a columnist can be lonely. Apart from doing interviews, researching and writing are pretty solitary activities and feedback is limited. Getting a handful of e-mails, be they cranky, critical or supportive, marks a successful column.
Sometimes, though, a column hits a note that resounds with readers -- and the response can be stunning. A recent interview with Alex Kerr, discussing his book "Dogs and Demons" (Hill and Wang, 2001), struck such a chord.

ALEX KERR'S VIEW Japan: A land gone to the dogs?, Japan times, 2002 Apr 25
By Stephen Hesse
Alex Kerr loves Japan as much as anyone, but he knows much more about it than most. With the publication April 25 of "Inu to Oni" (Kodansha) -- a translation of his book "Dogs and Demons" (Hill and Wang, 2001) -- Japanese, too, will be able to share his insight. As it says on the cover of "Dogs and Demons," the book offers "tales from the dark side of Japan's well-known modern accomplishments." …

Demons, Misinformation, and Kimochi, Kyoto Journal, 2001 Jun
By Catherine Pawarasat
In his new book, Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Modern Japan, Kerr investigates the stark reality behind all those feelings. Though still filled with passion for his erstwhile homeland, Dogs and Demons reveals the heavy layers of rickety structure that support contemporary Japan. …

Lure of the Far East, Art and Antiques, 2000 Oct
By Jonathan Kandell, Photos by Robert McLeod
Leaving the din and fumes of Bangkok's hellish traffic 14 floors below, Alex Kerr' guides visitors past the front doors of the ample apartment where he lives and works as a private art dealer. The first object that comes into view in his startling Asian art collection is a circa-1600 Japanese screen made with six gold-leaf panels covered with shikishi – placques of elegant, spidery calligraphy. …

Cultural Quest, Thailand Tatler, 2000 Jul
By Bella Luma, photos by M. Dej
Calligraphy, and an interview article about traditional arts of Thailand and Japan.

Sa-ngop ning, glaang kwaam kluan whai, Elle Decor Thailand, 1998 Jun
by Sawitri Baripatra na Ayuthaya, photos by Prasit Panyunyong
Illustrated article about calligraphy and art in Bangkok

A Fervent Traditionalist in Japan (an American?), New York Times, 1997 Sep 5
By Nicholas D. Kristof
It seems perfectly natural that a great defender of Japanese traditional arts should live in a gorgeous 400-year-old wooden house here in a small town near Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital.  What does not seem so natural is that he is an American, a genial 44-year-old devotee of kabuki and calligraphy, who has emerged within Japan as a sharp-tongued spokesman for Japan's environment and traditions. …

Concretizing the Japanese Dream, Kyoto Journal, 1997 Jul
By Kathy Arlyn Sokol
Alex Kerr first glimpsed Japan as a child of twelve in 1964. Awed by the culture's aesthetic appreciation of the ephemeral; the harmonious interplay of shadow and light; and the seeming timelessness of tradition, he felt sensually at home. …

 

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