In a city with over a million people, where do you put them all? Tokyo’s upper class had their estates and mansions, and the merchants had their townhouse businesses that lined the busy streets. As for commoners, many lived in…
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…
The Forgotten Story of Oba Castle
A samurai lord sits on a hillside, still dressed in his armor, looking across the swamp that stretches before him. Ise Sozui, known to history as the great Hojo Soun and founder of the mighty Late Hojo Clan, looks…
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…
Green Jungle and Grey Stone: Chinen and Tamagusuku’s Gusuku (Castle) Road
Because I didn’t know what my options were until I arrived, I set aside the afternoon of my anime sightseeing day trip to Nanjo City for whatever locally spoke to me. Since the Sefa-Utaki, the most sacred place in Okinawa’s…
Touring Old Japan
This article was originally published in Stripes Japan; ideally I’ll do full blown pieces on each of these locations. Plus Meiji-mura, again. Nagoya is an easy access point into Japan’s cultural heartland. It is also one which samurai armies fought…
Okinoerabujima: One of Japan’s Hidden Tropical Getaways
(This is a version of the story originally published in Stripes Japan’s Destination Paradise) As the interisland ferry approached Okinoerabujima, I still wasn’t sure if I’d made a mistake coming here. Before us was an island of high sea cliffs…
Riding in Meiji-style: The Imperial Carriages of Emperor Meiji
When the first train line opened between Tokyo and Yokohama on Oct. 14, 1872, one of the first passengers on the inaugural ride was Emperor Meiji (1852-1912). While it may have been one of his first train rides*, it was…
Hoichi the Earless and Lafcadio Hearn
Centuries ago in Akamagaseki on Honshu’s southern shore, lived a blind biwa (lute) player named Hoichi at Amidaji Temple. A skilled musician, it was said his musical rendition of the tragic tale of the Battle of Dan-no-ura could move even…
Mojiko II: The National and International Port
This is the second and final part of a series on Mojiko, Kitakyushu. Mojiko’s waterside is a quiet place with a park like atmosphere most notable for its unobstructed view of Shimonoseki across the Kanmon Strait and being a place…