In late November, Jarman International organized a livestream with JI Core 50 member and YouTuber John Daub of ONLY in JAPAN * GO, world-renowned American author Alex Kerr, and washi paper master Rogier Uitenboogaart from the mountain town of Yusuhara in Kochi Prefecture.
The livestream featured a live book reading by Alex of his very own “Lost Japan” best-seller book, which offers a fascinating insight into the Japanese landscape, culture, history and future, based on his several decades of living in the country.
Alex discusses his thoughts on how Japan has changed over the past years, and continues to evolve. As more young people move to cities, there are multitudes of traditional Japanese crafts, architecture, thought, and knowledge that are soon to disappear. Joining in the conversation is the owner of Kamikoya Washi Studio in Yusuhara who moved to Japan from the Netherlands 40 years ago to learn the art of washi-making, which is a traditional Japanese paper. He offers his reasons for moving to Japan to help preserve the traditional craft, while John also shares his view on how he has seen the country shift based on his extensive travel across all 47 prefectures.
This is a precious, once-in-a-lifetime conversation among some of the brightest internationals in Japan, which is sure to offer you a deeper look into Japan’s past, present and future.
Check out the livestream HERE.
The livestream was briefly featured in the Sustainable Japan by the Japan Times (December Edition) HERE.
