Japan Navigator

In “The Joy of Less” in the NYTimes Pico Iyer writes about having found simplicity in Japan after the economic crisis. He is living in a small apartment near Kyoto with the partner he found in The Lady and the Monk and feels contented: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

[...] today, more than 21 years later, I still live in the vicinity of Kyoto, in a two-room apartment that makes my old monastic cell look almost luxurious by comparison. I have no bicycle, no car, no television I can understand, no media — and the days seem to stretch into eternities, and I can’t think of a single thing I lack.

Two remarks about this beautiful piece: I also don’t need a bicycle, car or television, but couldn’t live without a good internet connection and – what’s more – I wouldn’t want to live in Japan without having mastered the language. Come on, Mr Iyer, you have been here long enough to become serious about studying Japanese!

Also see this lecture by Pico Iyer in Santa Barbara: “Searching for Home/Self in a fast-Moving World.”