This story begins not with a prison but a road. Hokkaido is Japan’s Alaska and Old West combined. In the 1800s this massive, harsh land was sparsely populated and rich in resources waiting to be exploited. Japan needed pioneers to…
Okunoshima: Poison Gas & Bunnies Island
After dragging her through multiple atomic bomb ruined schools and two days of visiting bomb-centric Hiroshima museums I took my lightly traumatized wife to an island full of bunnies to recover. The island had beautiful, natural scenery and uncountable therapeutic…
Japan’s Unchanging Schools
Think back to when you were young. Did you ever go, perhaps with family or as a school trip, to visit a school from a previous era? I can think of a few times when I was a kid that…
Meiji-mura: A Victorian Village in Japan
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.…
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…
Inuyama Castle – A Soggy Edo Adventure
If you’ve been following our Facebook, you’ve seen that Mr. Krigbaum and I met up in Inuyama, a small city on the border with Aichi and Gifu Prefectures for several days of museum goodness. David wanted to hit Meiji-Mura, the…
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?…
Hiroshima Survivors I: Honkawa Elementary School
The A-Bomb Dome is an iconic ruin and solemn reminder of Aug. 6, 1945. Seemingly a lone holdout from another time, it’s surrounded by tall, modern buildings and across from it is a serene park dedicated to peace. It feels…