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…
Eight Minutes Over Nagoya: The Nagoya Garrison and the Doolittle Raid
Meiji-mura is an open air architectural park with dozens of architectural and still functional technological wonders from turn-of-the-century Japan. I came ready to see the era and even dressed in a yukata with fedora, like all the old Japanese men…
Ryukoji – Buddhist History in Fujisawa
If you travel to Katase-Enoshima station, near the beaches in southern Fujisawa, you might see the top of a pagoda peaking above the trees on a nearby hillside. Ryukoji is not a large temple, especially compared to the sprawling…
The Satomi Clan and the Battles of Konodai Castle
1564. Satomi Yoshihiro looked out across the Edo River at the Hojo forces arraying against him, just as his father had 26 years prior. The elder Satomi, Yoshitaka, was defeated by Hojo Ujitsuna in the first battle of Konodai and…
Finding History in old Photos
Lately it seems that I’m being pulled more and more into the historical aspects of photography. I don’t mean photographing history, we’ve always done that here. I mean diving into old photos, old methods, and even a Meiji Period…
Forgotten History in Ofuna
I was digging through old photos last week and I stumbled on some shots I snapped back in 2015 of a large, but rather unremarkable temple in nearby Ofuna. I visited with a friend on a dull summer day,…
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…
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…
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…
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…