Biblit
A very useful source of information, support, and occasionally "piazza" of punctilious debates, for the ones who work as translators in the Italian publishing milieu.
Provenance: unknown
Reflections and ruminations of Matt Pfeffer, copywriter. Minimal, elegant and dry writing, A lesson in style, at least for me. Shame it's not been updated in recent years.
Bousingot - books & cafè'
Should you visit Tokyo and its traditional Shitamachi part, I definitely suggest a visit to Yanaka, a little area of quietness, miraculously survived to building speculation. Not far, on Shinobazu street, this cozy café-bookshop, with good non-intrusive music (usually jazz or Latin America), a touch of French atmosphere, affordable prices, great selection of second-hand books, mostly in Japanese, but also some French stuff. The owner is a kind gentleman who loves to talk about literature and always has good reading and/or drinking suggestions. What else to desire?
Masahiro Usami Photography
A friend photographer, with very good taste and strong sense of the composition. I don't know enough about the technicalities of picture-taking to give a proper opinion on his style. I just like his pictures, and I'm touched by his projects: in one of them many blind people are pictured with their favourite clothes on. In another one homeless subjects get portraited with brand new juvenile fashion clothes. And in another one Masahiro took pictures of people in their most loved places, building up complex compositions in which none of the many objects and persons filling every part of the portrait is there out of casuality. But enough with words: just look with your eyes.
Cha-Ginza
If you like green tea, especially matcha, this place might offer you new sensations and delights. The austerity and elegance linked to traditional Japanese tea ceremony are here updated to present-day age, thanks to beautifully-designed modern rooms in which iron and wood are combined with great refinement and sobriety. Bold experiments in tea-making guarantee the visitor an intense drinking experience.