A few weeks ago, I wrote an article (read it here, I’ll wait) about my experience shooting film for the first time in nearly 30 years. Today, I thought I would talk a bit about the challenges I’ve found…
From JOAK to NHK: NHK Museum of Broadcasting
After the stagnant Edo Period ended in 1868, Japan was quick to make up for lost time to stay competitive with the world they’d re-entered. From a feudal society that had little changed socially or technologically since 1600, Japan bypassed…
Battleship Mikasa – Hero of Tsushima
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…
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…
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…
Osaka Castle: Home of Toyotomi
It is 1583. Oda Nobunaga has been assassinated, and Nobunga’s right hand man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, has avenged his death and is in the process of consolidating his own power. Of course, the aspiring ruler needed a palace worthy of…