Though I published a story on the Katashima Torpedo Testing Facility last summer, I actually visited the site nearly a year before but due to work and other factors concerning interviews and research for the Homefront series its completion and…
A Holiday in Shikoku (Part II)
KOCHI Kochi Castle is one of the 12 original castles, like Matsuyama, but Kochi alone is the real life Swamp Castle! The castle was built where two rivers are close enough to make for a natural moat. The joining…
A Holiday in Shikoku (Part I)
There are many fine places in Japan to spend a long holiday weekend but the one I think doesn’t get enough consideration is Shikoku. Maybe it’s because Navy MWR doesn’t plan tours there, but for those willing to drive the…
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…
Climbing Big Mountain
It was a fine, fall Saturday – partly sunny skies, pleasant temperatures, and lingering fall colors. It was a great day for a hike, so I decided to head back to Oyama – literally Big Mountain in Japanese- a holy…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…