As Renee Ting recently pointed out at Shen’s List blog, Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu’s blog Here and There Japan, while not a book, is an wonderfully multicultural literary experience for kids. Her charming posts, with photographs and simply-worded information about various aspects of Japanese culture, are much visited by kids and adults of all ages. A former teacher now raising a multicultural family, Annie, who calls herself “just a mom with a camera,” captures in her blog a quality of presence and gentleness that clearly still imbues Japanese culture.
As an old Japan hand myself, I love her tidbits of new news, like those parking lot devices, which weren’t around when I was there, and old favorites, like the carrots cut into the shape of maple leaves, now available even in instant soup.
Annie was our very first commenter when our blog went live! Papertigers is honored to be on her list of links.