If you have ever spent any time reading about Japan, or even just looked at a tourism guide about the country, you have likely seen the beautiful bright white Japanese castle that often adorns Japan’s promotional literature. That…
Hikone Castle – One of Japan’s Finest Castles
If you’ve ever traveled around Japan you know that they love their castles. Almost every old castle town has either rebuilt their castles, preserved the grounds as a park, or, in rare cases, preserved their castle through the centuries. …
The Zen Retreat of Saijoji Temple.
As I was going through my pictures deciding on this week’s article, I stumbled across some older pictures from shortly after I had gotten my first DSLR camera. As I got more into photography, I started taking my camera…
Kawasaki’s Premier Folk Museum – Nihon Minkaen
A couple months ago I wrote about the number of folk museums in Japan and old buildings that the Japanese have preserved from their history. The best of these folk museums that I have found so far is a…
The Great Stone Buddhas of Mount Nokogiri
In Chiba prefecture, far from the traditional cultural centers of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara, there is a temple complex called Nihonji. The temple is located on the side of a sacred mountain amidst an old rock quarry and has…
Odawara Castle: The Rise and Fall of the Hojo
By: Dave Hansche I’ve written about several castles on this blog thus far, but it has occurred to me that I have overlooked a large rebuilt castle in a pleasant city about an hour away. I’ve visited Odawara…
Matsumoto Castle: The Pride of a Castle Town
Japan loves its castles. We’ve written about Japanese castles several times on this site, and it is unlikely that we will run out anytime soon. Every old feudal domain (called Han in old Japanese) capital city seems to have…
Sorry, but your article is in a different castle
Sorry for the delay, but there will be an update this week, maybe tomorrow, definitely before the end of Wednesday. A heavy work load and a nasty cold have left me unable to complete this weeks article on time. To…
Samukawa Jinja: Ancient History in a Sleepy Town
Samukawa is a town of less than 50,000 people located on the shores of the Sagami River in central Kanagawa Prefecture. The town comprises of mostly mixed residential and farmland, with some industry along the river. For most, the town…
Two Days on the Nakasendo (Video)
This photo video contains images from a walking trip through the best preserved and most beautiful section of the old Nakasendo, or Central Mountain Road, that passes through the Kiso Valley. Dave and I started in Nagiso-machi (former Midono-juku),…