When I was young, about an hour from my home was a folk museum and living history site called Norskedalen. This old site, nestled in the back of a valley in the middle of nowhere, but it…
Last Warship Standing: USCGC Taney
When I first laid eyes on the old cutter berthed at Pier Five in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, I didn’t think much of her. Part of a maritime collection that boasts a sloop that fought in the U.S. Civil War and…
Byodoin: The Power of the Fujiwara Clan
On the way from Kyoto to Nara, about half way between the two cities, lies Uji. Uji is a modern city, founded in the 1950s, however the area has been a popular site for noble estates since one of…
Visit A Russo-Japanese War Coastal Defense Battery: Ishiharadake Park
I’m working on a large piece about Sasebo and the Japanese homefront in World War II, so tonight I’m putting up a short piece about an artillery battery in neighboring Saikai City. Sasebo and Nagasaki Prefecture are close to the…
The Merchants, the Middleman and the Matsuura
Travelers to Nagasaki Prefecture have a lot to choose from when it comes to visiting historic sites. A short list would include the site of a Mongol invasion in the 1200s, trading posts of the 1500s and 1600s, and naval…
Horyuji Temple – Stepping Back in Time
When Dave and I traveled around Japan for New Year, it was a trip full of superlatives. Almost everywhere we went was the most beautiful, oldest, biggest, or best in Japan. Todaiji, which I wrote about in my last article,…
Something Still Lingers…
Visiting Normandy around D-Day is a surreal experience, much more so than I can express in a short post. It’s like the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Veteran’s/Remembrance Day combined and translated into French and for now I’ll leave…
Last Higgins Boat Lands on Utah Beach
This article was originally published in 2015 but I felt it merited being reposted here as I’m not in Normandy this year for the anniversary to cover it. For the original post visit: http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/last-higgins-boat-lands-on-utah-beach/ Their version also has some neat links…
Todaiji: Buddhism in Japan
The early and mid-700s was a hard time for early Japan, especially for the Imperial family. There were rebellions, famines, and outbreaks of disease. The Emperor Shomu, who reigned at the time, was forced to change the capital four…
History Layered in Stone: Sassi di Matera
An ancient city built vertically on a mountainside with a grand vista for a backdrop, visiting Matera feels like location scouting for the next Indiana Jones movie or Uncharted game. Matera is a remote town in the mountainous Basilicata region…