A new exhibition has brought a culture even more ancient than Japan’s to Fukuoka. The Brooklyn Museum’s “Unraveling the Secrets of Ancient Egypt” is going on now at the Fukuoka Art Museum. The exhibit explores the land of…
Last Samurai Standing in Meiji-mura
In 1878, Japan was becoming a modern nation freeing itself of its feudal past. But what should be done with the men who fought and died to make that modern nation a reality, the samurai? In Last Samurai Standing, hundreds…
Waltz on the Western Edge: New exhibition opens at Sasebo’s Shimanose Art Museum
Sasebo’s Shimanose Art Center opened its latest exhibition, “Waltz on the Western Edge,” on Oct. 31, 2025. As a coastal city, the ocean has always been vital to Sasebo’s livelihood and its place on Kyushu’s western edge has put it…
Stories Told in Stone: History and Remembrance at Sasebo’s Navy Cemetery
I like to visit Sasebo’s former naval cemetery at Highasi Park from time to time, looking at ship memorials and enjoying the changing seasons there. It’s Japan’s largest naval cemetery and since the first burials in 1892, it’s kept alive…
Monday Museum Blues: Ebina Romancecar Museum
I hate Mondays. Not because it’s the beginning of the work week or a fat cat told me to, but because almost all the museums are closed. So with nowhere to go indoors and rain making the outdoors unpleasant, it…
Meiji Maru and Monjayaki: Tokyo’s Free Museum Ship and Eating Tsukishima-Style
Meiji Maru is a ship with unique bragging rights- it’s the reason for a Japanese holiday. After the shogunate was deposed in 1868 and a new government took power, Japan began its rapid transition from feudalism to a modern industrial…
The Godzilla Fighter: J7W1 Shinden
(For an embarrassment of detail photos, jump to the end after addresses and references. You’re welcome, modelers.) In a war-scarred and still healing 1947 Japan, Godzilla brings his unique brand of urban renewal to Tokyo once again. Disarmed and occupied,…
National Museum of the Pacific War: My Favorite 5 Artifacts (Which Don’t Belong to Me)
Deep within the Germanic heart of Texas is the National Museum of the Pacific War, an all encompassing campus for sharing the story of those who served in the Pacific during World War II. It’s the kind of museum you…
Coloring Naval Aviation Flight Test Orange: Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
One a stretch of tarmac hidden in the Maryland woods is collection of naval aircraft embellished with orange details. They once pushed the limits of naval aviation and made it that much safer for those out in the proverbial danger…
The Last Samurai and the Satsuma Rebellion: Battle of Wadagoe and Fall Back to Tawarano (Nobeoka)
Saigo Takamori was a samurai who helped bring about the modern Japanese state in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration. He led its government for a time but retired after falling out over what he perceived as corrupt politics. A few…