Rude Kings

He looked on fabulous monsters, the twin beards and huge beast-bodies of Assyrian Kings, the walls of Babylon.

 -Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward Angel

 

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Storefront, Philadelphia

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Storefront, Philadelphia

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Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

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Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

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Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

All photos by Benn Bell

Rainstorm

From the Hagakure

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“There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.”
Tsunetomo Yamamoto, The Hagakure: A code to the way of samurai