a journal of the conquest, war, famine, and death [definitely new] year

Read some graphical novels over the Yule break, incl. the new volume in the endless Thorgal series, Adieu Aricia, created by a master of heroic fantasy comics, Recht Robin,  L’Art de la guerre, a refreshing if light pastiche of Blake & Mortimer drawn by Floc’h, far from the E.P. Jacob ligne claire (following another one by another master of Belgian comics, Schuiten, Le Dernier Pharaon), and Le Monde sans fin, by Blain & Jancovici, a best seller retracing the central importance of energy in evolution and the urgent need to change the entire societal software (if a bit heavy handed).

Cooked little while being away, except for a Flemish red cabbage stew and a batch of mini buckwheat galettes, and fortunately escaped the huge meals that usually plague this time of year. Avoided as well some viral issues with French oysters, despite enjoying several servings of Norman origin. While in Aubrac, has a taste of the local beef, the well-named… Aubrac breed, whose herds are raised on this immense and treeless plateau during the warmer months. Most crucially, we enjoyed very much the few days we spent there in a remote farm with no Internet, great company, long trail runs, and simple home-made dinners. (Foodwise, the difference of food prices on the local markets like Saint-Chély d’Apcher when compared with Paris and its suburb was noticeable, if not a major surprise, meaning we brought back home a month worth of local cheese.)

Watched Chicken Run #2 with my kids, which I found heavy handed and predictable, even on a 25 December afternoon, if admirable stop motion animation by the Bristol based Aardman studios, Rebel Moon by myself, just a terrible mix of existing space operas, with frankly embarrassing moments (like the disguised horses, the Warhammer-ish fights, and the final scene when the band is carelessly crushing through a wheat field)  and Blue Eye Samurai with the whole family. The latter is a French-American anime set in Japan, around the Great Furisode Fire of 1657 in Edo and the expulsion of foreigners from Japan by the Tokugawa shogunate. Graphically beautiful, Great except for the dialogues being in English, the cubist way horses are drawn and for some historical inaccuracy.

ISB’agoya [28 June – 3 July 2026]

Kimono exhibition

Taking advantage of the 01 May break and a relatively low density of people in Paris, we went to the Musée du Quai Branly to see a soon to close exhibit on kimonos, with many pieces loaned from Japanese collections, through an exhibit designed by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The collection is amazing, especially the most historical part, and illustrates the complex social codes behind this seemingly simple garnment, from a huge variety of materials and techniques, to the Edo era restrictions on whom could wear which type and which printing. And the subtle subversions from the merchant class (and actors, as for this 19th “I do not care” kimono that reminded me of a much more recent outcry!). Highly enjoyable (if slightly crowded!).

the secret history of the Lord of Musashi [book review]

This 1931 book, The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (武州公秘話) by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, is a hilarious pastiche of Japanese historical novels. I saw it in a Paris bookstore near my son’s and bought it without realising how much of a gem it is! I actually thought it was connected with the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, whose life is novelised by Eiji Yoshikawa at about the same time, but the connection is most tenuous, if any. This novel is about the fascination of a brilliant young samurai for noseless severed heads (!), so-called “woman-heads”, and their cleansing by young women, which turns into an erotic fetishism. And pushes him to first acquire such a head, although he only manages to bring the nose (!!),  and then seduce the spouse of his former lord by cutting his nose, spouse whom he contacts through the most unromantic route to her apartment! While (according to Bing!) collecting noses of fallen enemies was common at the time of the Sengoku period and while (according to ChatGPT!) Sasaki Kojirō, the defeated protagonist of the last duel of Miyamoto Musashi, is rumored to have cut his own nose after his duel (in the versions where he does not die), I see the book (which I quickly read) as a great satire of more austere historical novels of the time. I will most certainly seek other tales of Tanizaki in a near future!!!

fresh teas! [for teaholics]

Here are some new teas I sampled this summer, when visiting a few tea shops here (Paris) and there (Montréal):

• Yakushima black tea, a subtle Japanese tea from a producer of sencha on this far-south subtropical island off Kyushu
• Dong Ding oolong, named after the mountain in Taiwan where these tea bushes grow, also most subtle
• Jejudo green tea, from Jeju island, Korea
• Wakocha Zarai tea, again from Kuyshu, wakocha meaning black tea in Japanese, although the colour is almost red, surprisingly sweet
• Dattan sobacha,  a grilled buckwheat (soba!) tea from Hokkaido, with the added perk of eating the buckwheat afterwards!
• Sannenbancha, a dark light Japanese tea roasted over cedar wood, tasting (obviously) woody and vaguely licorice, sannen meaning three years in Japanese, as the bush is left to grow for three years before leave and [mostly] stems are collected. (Actually the full name of this tea is kuki sannen bancha, with kuki meaning twig).