One of the things I like the most about living in Sasebo is that its naval history surrounds me and is accessible on a scale I haven’t seen at the other former Imperial Japanese Navy port cities. (Kure comes close…
It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere: Churchill War Rooms
(I apologize for the image quality in this story. These images were taken in 2013, before I got my current camera.) “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” may have been Sir Winston Churchill state of mind 24-7 but in the Churchill War…
In This Corner of the World Movie Review
I knew I was going to like this film just a few minutes into it. There’s a scene in the opening of our protagonist as a young girl looking through a telescope at a beautiful hall with a green dome…
Remains of the past – Fujisawa Airfield
Mr. Krigbaum often writes about WWII ruins and the remains of wartime facilities down where he lives in Kyushu. Today, it is my turn to write about the remains of a wartime facility not far from where I live in…
A Return to Matsushiro
Two years ago, when we first started Wayfarer Daves, the first full article we published was about the unfinished Matsushiro Daihonei, or Imperial General Headquarters in Matsushiro, a small village in Nagano, Japan. You can find Mr. Krigbaum’s original…
Picnic among the Pits: Tajimadake Naval Guard Station and Submarine No. 43 Memorial
Looking up at the sky, I imagined what it was like standing here and watching more than 100 heavy bombers fly overhead. Tajimadake, a high hill with the city of Sasebo spread out before it, housed a battery of anti-aircraft…
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…