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The Fish Market

The Fish Market

In central Tokyo, the biggest fish market in the world attracts damn near as many people as the Grand Canyon every year. Its proper name is, “Th...
Art Etching Fish Japan Tokyo
The Fish Man

The Fish Man

I like drawing fish almost as much as birds.  The big cartoony eyes and odd colors and shapes–they are a ton of fun.  As a kid, my friend’s  fat...
Art Fish Japan Superhero Tokyo
Sayaka’s Fish

Sayaka’s Fish

Hey– When I travel , I try to use my ears and eyes more than anything else, and let a smile be my passport. Last year when I went to Tokyo, I we...
Art Carp Japan Tokyo
FireCat of the Tokyo Hotel, Chicago

FireCat of the Tokyo Hotel, Chicago

The Tokyo Hotel on Ohio, in Chicago, is a shithole.  It’s the kind of place I once feared I’d be found dead in.  The customer reviews for this p...
Art Cat Cherry Blossom Tokyo Ueno Park
Ueno Park Red Bird

Ueno Park Red Bird

I was thinking of my friends in New Orleans as I made this piece, the beads and ornamentation, the echo of Lafcadio Hearn who left New Orleans t...
Art New Orleans Tokyo Travel Ueno Park
The Emerald Fish of Toto Jinja

The Emerald Fish of Toto Jinja

In the middle of Harajuku in the center of Tokyo, there is a public park called Togo Jinja and it is a lovely green in the middle of a consume...
Tokyo
Girl of the Falling Planets,

Girl of the Falling Planets,

I’ve written a lot of love poems.  This one is kind of a love poem for Japan or, more specifically, Tokyo.  It is seductive and full of secrets ...
Art Geisha Hiroshige Kuniyoshi Manga Mariko Mori Tokyo Women
The Spider Music

The Spider Music

When my daughter Gaby was small, I used to read her my favorite children’s book, Charlotte’s Web. it was a gorgeous allegory about right and wro...
Art Basho Buson Charlotte's Web Hiroshige Hokusai Issa Spiders Steve Earle Tokyo
The Yellow River

The Yellow River

Do you not see the waters of the Yellow RiverCome flowing from the sky?The swift stream pours into the sea and returns never-more? – Li Po,  An ...
Art Baudelaire Japan Li-Po Piss Alley Tokyo
Koi for Li-Po

Koi for Li-Po

Li Po has been the best known Chinese poet in  Asia for about the last thousand years.  He was a huge influence on the haiku poets — and is cred...
Art Haiku Li-Po Tang Dynasty Tokyo
The Hungry Ghost

The Hungry Ghost

When you look into the ponds found in many Japanese parks and shrines there are always koi and carp.  From time to time you’ll spot an almost tra...
Carp Koi Tokyo Travel
Shinjuku Sparrow

Shinjuku Sparrow

In the Shinjuku district, there is most of the cool shopping in Japan, with bold graphics and bling everywhere.  You can walk by a window of a d...
Art Haiku Hello Kitty Japan Shinjuku Sparrow Tokyo Ueno Park