At Home with Venetia in Kyoto

Venetia lives surrounded by her herbs in the mountain community of Ohara in Kyoto Prefecture but comes from an aristocratic family in England. A visit to her homeland in the summer of 2010 was also an opportunity to look back on her life so far.

Venetia lives among her herbs in the Ohara district of Kyoto Prefecture but comes originally from Britain. She visited Ireland, where her mother spent her final years, in the summer of 2010 and met up with her younger siblings for the first time in a long while.

It is the season of fresh shoots in the Ohara district of Kyoto. Venetia looks forward to the coming of spring in her garden and surrounding fields. She gets a camellia bush planted for her in the garden. A cook, Mr. Nakahigashi, takes her to pick wild plants in Ohara. They meet a farming couple on the way and the conversation blossoms. Venetia also visits Nakahigashi's restaurant in Kyoto and he prepares some dishes for her with the plants they picked. Back home, Venetia fries some wild plant tempura herself.