Japan and Russia are at war. Russian incursions into Manchuria and Korea in search of natural resources and warm-water ports in the Pacific angered the Japanese Empire, who saw the attempts as Russia encroaching on their sphere of influence…
Heppenheim: A Stop on the Mountain Road
Gaily colored half-timber buildings, a dominant hilltop castle and a picturesque location the road to Darmstadt, Heppenheim an der Bergstrasse is quintessential German and just off the beaten path for international travelers. Many of these beautiful restored or preserved city…
Mutsu: Japan’s Most Visitable World War II Battleship?
After World War II most of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s battleships were at the bottom of the sea or scrapped, leaving the pre-dreadnought-turned-memorial ship Mikasa, victor of the 1905 Battle of Tsushima, as Japan’s sole survivor. Yamato is Japan’s most…
Kure: Homeport of Japanese Naval History
A 40-minute train ride away from Hiroshima is the seaside town of Kure, once home to Japan’s premier naval arsenal and home of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s most powerful warship, battleship Yamato. In case new visitors weren’t sure this was…
Unexpected Life Lessons
This update of Wayfarer Daves will be a bit different. I had planned on finishing off an article about the museum ship Hikawa Maru for this week’s update, but I found something else occupying my thoughts today. I hope…
Reenacting America’s Nisei Soldiers in Japan
(Note: There may be another story with the same title in Stripes, that one is a greatly condensed version of this.) Awhile back I was offered the chance to join a group of Japanese World War II reenactors on a…
A Series of Adventures at Summers End
As many of our regular readers know, Wayfarer Daves is two photographers named Dave who enjoy writing and travel. Regulars, or those who have read past articles, will also know that we each live on different Japanese islands with…
The Japanese Home Front VI: Safe at School (Mukyudo)
This series is about the Japanese home front in and around Sasebo, Japan during World War II. It is not a condemnation or critique of actions taken by either side during the war but rather a look at the civilian…
An Exercise in Heat Exhaustion and Dehydration in Odawara
Recently I found myself with a Saturday afternoon free, so I decided to head off to do some hiking around Yamakita, in western Kanagawa Prefecture. On the way, however, while changing trains in Kozu, I found a map of…
The Japanese Home Front V: Kawatana, Home of Shinyo and the Fish-Shaped Water Bomb (Katashima Torpedo Testing Facility and Shinyo Memorial)
This series is about the Japanese home front in and around Sasebo, Japan during World War II. It is not a condemnation or critique of actions taken by either side during the war but rather a look at the civilian…