I’m working on a large piece about Sasebo and the Japanese homefront in World War II, so tonight I’m putting up a short piece about an artillery battery in neighboring Saikai City. Sasebo and Nagasaki Prefecture are close to the…
The Merchants, the Middleman and the Matsuura
Travelers to Nagasaki Prefecture have a lot to choose from when it comes to visiting historic sites. A short list would include the site of a Mongol invasion in the 1200s, trading posts of the 1500s and 1600s, and naval…
Something Still Lingers…
Visiting Normandy around D-Day is a surreal experience, much more so than I can express in a short post. It’s like the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Veteran’s/Remembrance Day combined and translated into French and for now I’ll leave…
Last Higgins Boat Lands on Utah Beach
This article was originally published in 2015 but I felt it merited being reposted here as I’m not in Normandy this year for the anniversary to cover it. For the original post visit: http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/last-higgins-boat-lands-on-utah-beach/ Their version also has some neat links…
History Layered in Stone: Sassi di Matera
An ancient city built vertically on a mountainside with a grand vista for a backdrop, visiting Matera feels like location scouting for the next Indiana Jones movie or Uncharted game. Matera is a remote town in the mountainous Basilicata region…
Uniquely Kyushu: Shimabara
Japan is a country that loves its castles. Despite decommissioning and dismantling almost all of them in the late 19th century, they have been on the comeback as more than a hundred ‘rebuilt’ castles have joined the surviving dozen originals.…
Nara: Ancient Japan at its Finest
When people think of ancient Japan, many first think of the former capital city, Kyoto. Even many of the Japanese I meet, when I mention that I enjoy visiting historic places, one of the first questions I’m asked…
Jinmu-ji and Mt. Takatori – A hiking paradise
One of the great things about living in Japan, and in Kanagawa in particular, is that there are always new and interesting places just waiting to be discovered. There always seems to be some cluster of old shops, an…
Art and Architecture in Liepaja
Liepaja, Latvia, is the home of extremes in architecture from the beautiful late 19th century downtown to its dead, both artistically and habitably, Soviet blocks (or is it blocs?). During my visit in 2014 I didn’t get a chance to…
Two Warbirds in One Little Museum
The first flying Zero to call Japan home in 70 years has come to Kanoya, in the far south of Kyushu. Flying or not, Japanese warbirds are a rare breed. They were never produced in the same numbers as…