More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

  Shigaku Kojin Shrine in Sajiro, a small rural settlement in the mountains of Okuizumo is curious indeed, having a modern 8-storey concrete...

  Sokoji was a delightful surprise for me. From the main road I spotted a splash of autumn colour among a stand of huge trees behind a tradi...

  Oni no Shitaburui Gorge is a narrow gorge in the remote Chugoku mountains in the Okuizumo region of Shimane. The Omaki River has cut the b...

  The garden at the Sakurai samurai mansion in Okuizumo, Shimane, has one of the biggest waterfalls of any Edo Period garden in Japan. Locat...

  The Sakurai were a samurai family who controlled iron production in an area of Okuizumo in the Chugoku Mountains of Shimane. Originally fr...

Tameshigiri Tameshigiri is the art of testing a new sword. In the good old days this would often be done using the body of an executed crimi...