It was a period of rapid change. Men and women walked in kimono and haikara (high-collar) Western fashions on noisy streets of horses and rail-riding street cars hemmed in by wooden Japanese merchant shops and the latest in English architecture.…
Louisiana in Shizuoka: Reenacting Summer Camp 2018
We may have been in the Japanese Highlands, but it was humid enough to be Louisiana. I was with B Company, 100th Infantry Battalion / 442nd Regimental Combat Team Reenactment Group for the annual summer training and this year’s camp…
Hidden War Brought to Light: Defunct Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Laboratory Museum for Education in Peace
In a corner of Meiji University’s Ikuta campus sits a small drab building. Well-maintained and completely non-descript it could be another classroom tucked away from the campus’ other towering facility. The only unusual thing about it is a large sign…
Golden Kamuy: Half Japanese Western and Half Ainu Cooking Show
Golden Kamuy is the turn of the century story of a war veteran that teams up with a native girl out to avenge her father’s murder as they hunt for a missing treasure of raw gold in an untamed, rugged…
Five Japanese Culture Summer Travel Destinations
We’re coming upon August, when Japanese people move as one to enjoy the sights of the country in the five minutes of vacation time they have each year. This means crowded roads leading to even more tourist-infested destinations full of…
Riding the Rails on SL Hitoyoshi
Japan loves trains and steam locomotives can be found pulling sightseeing tours around the country, providing a unique way to enjoy some of the nation’s most beautiful and diverse scenery. Hokkaido has its iconic black C11 steam engine plowing through…
Hiroshima Survivors IV: Hiroshima Museum of History and Traditional Crafts
There’s something about turn of the century red brick buildings that excite me. I’m not sure if it’s the color, styling or the history, maybe it’s all of them but when I see one I have to check it out…
Hiroshima Survivors III: Old Bank of Japan Hiroshima Branch
Old banks are urban fortresses. Solidly built and intended to protect valuables, their designs make them the next best thing to an actual bunker for surviving a bomb- even atomic ones at close range. Uheiji Nagano didn’t have bombs…
Hiroshima Survivors II: Fukuro-machi Elementary School
Cell phones make life easy. In an emergency I can call my family and tell them if I’m okay and where I’m at. If I need to find someone I can call them. But what if I didn’t have that?…
The Other Sasebo: Kids on the Slope Film Locations in Showa no Machi
Back in March my wife and I saw Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope), a movie about a trio of high school kids who bond over jazz in 1966 Sasebo. It was kind of a big deal in Sasebo…