Hannah Kirshner is a writer, artist, and food stylist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, T Magazine, Vogue, Saveur, Taste, Food 52, Atlas Obscura, and Food & Wine, among others. Trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, Kirshner grew up on a small farm outside Seattle and divides her time between Brooklyn and rural Japan.
Included in the Institute for Global Prosperity’s 2021 Summer
Reading List
"Part memoir, part cookbook, and part love letter to Yamanaka, the
Japanese mountain town where Kirshner apprenticed with
craftspeople. Kirshner's portrait of the community is vivid and
full of detail—it is as close to traveling anywhere outside the
country that I got in the last year."
—Margaret Eby, Food & Wine
“Intriguing and meticulous. . . . Kirshner is doggedly journalistic
in navigating the ways of the different artisans. . . . Her
descriptions glitter like tinsel. . . . Kirshner knows that nothing
worth learning, especially in Japan, is easily earned, and this
gives us a clue to her talent for fitting into, and understanding,
a culture so intricate and initially intimidating to outsiders:
‘the best etiquette is true thoughtfulness, and for that no
training is better than simply paying attention.’”
—Caroline Eden, Times Literary Supplement
“Something between memoir, travelogue, ethnography and cookbook,
Kirshner weaves together local history and profiles to explore the
intricate connections between craft and the natural environment of
a town that balances traditional culture with modernity. . . .
Experience fuels each turn of the page as, alongside Kirshner,
readers practice the magic of traditional papermaking; hunt wild
boar and duck using time-honored traditions; walk deep into the
mountains to harvest sap for lacquer; or apprentice with Shinichi
Moriguchi, a master wood craftsman, and learn to carve a tray using
a near-extinct technique.”
—The Japan Times
"An enthralling personal journey. . . . Her lyrical style is
soothing and retains the magic of her experiences without being
overly effusive. The book is dotted with beautiful illustrations,
and exquisite recipes finish each chapter. It’s a respectful,
insightful and illuminating work to be savored."
—The Tokyo Weekender (An April Book Club Pick)
"Water, Wood, and Wild Things is memoir, ethnography, cookbook, and
sketchbook rolled into one. It evokes the best of the nature
writing of Rachel Carson and Wendell Berry, as well as the food
writing of M.F.K. Fisher and craft writing of Edmund de Waal. . . .
[Kirshner’s] observations about her teachers’ works render
extraordinary what at first glance might seem ordinary. Her
drawings are charming, and her words, miraculous."
—The Provincetown Independent
"The author moves on to the most dangerous, unlikely, and wildly
specific pursuits—and goes where women are rarely welcome. . .
. Water, Wood, and Wild Things takes us to a charming small town
where the past is always close by."
—International Examiner
"Over a four-year period, artist and journalist Kirshner spent many
months at a time in the little town of Yamanaka . . . apprenticing
to and learning from numerous practitioners of traditional Japanese
arts and domestic skills. The sensitive, perceptive, and
gratifyingly detailed book that resulted allows readers into worlds
few people enter, as the author plants rice by hand, studies the
traditional tea ceremony, assists a group of older men who catch
flying ducks with nets, learns the art of woodturning, and much
more. . . . The volume is amply illustrated with the author's
nimble line drawings, and its varied chapters are interspersed with
intriguing recipes. . . . A vicarious pleasure for those stuck at
home, and a loving tribute to the practitioners of traditional
arts."
—Booklist (starred review)
“[Kirshner’s] many adventures working at the sake bar, taking tea
lessons, luxuriating in hot springs baths, appreciating the
subtleties of the Japanese language, learning to dance, assisting
with wood turning, and going duck and boar hunting are punctuated
with charming sketches and recipes for delicacies such as pickles,
bean gelee, sake ice cream, miso-cured eggs, fried chicken,
dumplings, game stew, pickled wasabi greens, tempura, rice balls,
persimmon leaf sushi, and more. . . . Travel readers who
appreciate off-the-beaten-path locales and local cuisine will enjoy
this dreamy account.”
—Library Journal
"In Kirshner's explorations and excavations, we navigate the pulls
of place and identity—Water, Wood, and Wild Things settles us into
Yamanaka, and alongside the folks who live there. Kirshner is both
participant and observer, humbly and tactfully weaving a portrait
of a history, its mores, and how they've changed. But, above all,
she listens—allowing the community to tell their story, and
allowing us to view the tapestry she's painted alongside them.
Water, Wood, and Wild Things is a trove and a boon—we can't help
but feel grateful that Kirshner brought us along for the
journey."
—Bryan Washington, author of Memorial
"If you have a yearning (as I do) to go to Japan and do exactly
what Hannah did (without the mountain biking), you will be very
grateful for her essays on life among the craftspeople of a small
town. Hannah transports you to a place of serenity and beauty,
where moments of exquisite wonder pervade. With this book, you feel
you can stop time and savor the rituals of life."
—Maira Kalman, author of Cake and Beloved Dog
"Kirshner’s beautifully illustrated and worded depiction of
Japanese craft is artfully grounded in nature’s four seasons
alongside meticulous food preparation rituals. With each turn of
the page, you can almost hear Kirshner sliding open yet another
wooden paneled door to reveal a shokunin who refuses to let
their craft fade. Water, Wood, and Wild Things wonderfully brings a
myriad of haptic, visual, and aromatic taste sensations of Japan
that individually tantalize within a perfect dashi broth of
storytelling."
—John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity
"What does it mean to immerse yourself in a place? What can you
learn from the experience? Hannah Kirshner’s Water, Wood, and Wild
Things chronicles her time in the mountain town of Yamanaka—and
offers a record of what she learned about technique and creation
there, from brewing sake to making charcoal."
—Tobias Carroll, Inside Hook
"Hannah Kirshner depicts Yamanaka, its landscape, its people (and
the things they make) with intimate feeling and lucid focus. Water,
Wood, and Wild Things is exquisitely attentive—a lovely and special
book."
—Rosie Schaap, author of Drinking with Men
"In her engaging narrative, Water, Wood, and Wild Things, Hannah
Kirshner conveys the essence of Japan’s rapport with nature that
continues to shape craft, community and the culinary arts. Her
lyric sketchbook provides a glimpse of a mountain town in
transition, nurtured by the past while accepting (considered)
change."
—Elizabeth Andoh, author Washoku and Kansha
"What a luscious book! Kirshner’s delightful stories are
rooted in deep history and thought. Lovely illustrations and
delicious recipes enhance the multi-layered narrative. Read from
beginning to end or pop around between chapters, following your
appetite."
—Gina Rae LaCerva, author of Feasting Wild
"I love this book! Kirshner opens up a window to a Japan that
virtually no one from the outside gets to see, and as a hunter,
angler, forager and cook myself, it is fascinating to see that
those traditions are not only very much alive there, but also that
they are not so different from our own here in the United
States."
—Hank Shaw, author of Hunt, Gather, Cook
"How does one engage ethically with a culture not their own?
Kirshner offers one possible way. Her humility, curiosity, and
dedication shine through in the accuracy and honesty of her
discussions of historical contexts and the privilege she enjoys as
a white American woman in Japan. Kirshner listened, and allowed me
to hear the voices of Yamanaka’s people, who are recreating
traditions every day."
—Takeshi Watanabe, author of Flowering Tales: Women Exorcising
History in Heian Japan
"Hannah Kirshner’s delicate drawings and uncommon recipes
complement this beautiful tribute to rural Japan. Here, cultural
practices both old and new are inseparably tied to place and place
is incalculably enriched by the human history it contains."
—Winifred Bird, author of Eating Wild Japan
“Water, Wood, and Wild Things brings back my memories of growing up
in Japan. With her authentic narratives, Kirshner reminded me of
countless and valuable teachings from my ancestors and the
culture.”
—Masahiro Urushido, author of The Japanese Art of The Cocktail
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