Okinawa abounds with legends and myths, surprises where least expected and rare animals that can’t be seen anywhere else. The island is dense with sacred places and scattered tombs that can be found by wandering off an unmarked side trail…
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…
Monday Museum Blues: Ebina Romancecar Museum
I hate Mondays. Not because it’s the beginning of the work week or a fat cat told me to, but because almost all the museums are closed. So with nowhere to go indoors and rain making the outdoors unpleasant, it…
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…
Experiencing Japanese History Through Travel: Sasebo Chinjufu Kaiheidan (Sasebo & Nimitz Park)
Today we look at the shared past of Nimitz Park and Sasebo Park as the Sasebo Chinjufu’s Kaiheidan. All history postcards are in my personal collection and all uncredited photography is by me. Photos/Videos of individuals taken with permission. Sakai…
Experiencing Japanese History Through Travel: Kawatana Shinyo Memorial
I’m starting to make videos about points of interest in Japan to encourage others to travel and learn about the country. The Shinyo memorial has been a topic I’ve written about before, in The Japanese Home Front V: Kawatana, Home…
Seize the Day! Visiting Fukuoka’s Lycoris Recoil Exhibition and the Gundam Base Fukuoka
Sorry for the delay, I was feeling a unwell this week. As some of you may have picked up, I watch anime. One of my favorites is Lycoris Recoil, which combined likeable and well-voiced characters in a unique world with…
The Godzilla Fighter: J7W1 Shinden
(For an embarrassment of detail photos, jump to the end after addresses and references. You’re welcome, modelers.) In a war-scarred and still healing 1947 Japan, Godzilla brings his unique brand of urban renewal to Tokyo once again. Disarmed and occupied,…
National Museum of the Pacific War: My Favorite 5 Artifacts (Which Don’t Belong to Me)
Deep within the Germanic heart of Texas is the National Museum of the Pacific War, an all encompassing campus for sharing the story of those who served in the Pacific during World War II. It’s the kind of museum you…
Coloring Naval Aviation Flight Test Orange: Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
One a stretch of tarmac hidden in the Maryland woods is collection of naval aircraft embellished with orange details. They once pushed the limits of naval aviation and made it that much safer for those out in the proverbial danger…