More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

The grounds of Usa Hachimangu are like a large open park, but it wasnt always that way. Until 1868 the grounds were packed with dozens...

The path to the second tempel on Onomichis' temple walk is easy to follow and narrow Like the temples and houses of Onomichi,...

While searching for the first temple of the Iwami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Oda City I thought I had found it when I came across a small...

I am neither a twitcher nor an ornithologist, so some of these may be Grey Herons rather than Great Blues. Though, like all wild anima...

The entrance to the Hachiman Shrine in Kushibuchi, part of Komatsushima City in Tokushima, is flanked by a pair of huge, venerable old...

At dawn on Christmas Day, 2012,  I set out on my latest long distance walk, a 2,000 kikometer walk around Kyushu. The Kyushu 88 temple ...

The urbanization of Japan can be said to have begun in the Tokugawa period. An edict of 1615 restricted the daimyo to just one castl...

Honyabakei is a small town south of Nakatsu in Oita Prefecture. in 2005 the town was merged with Nakatsu. The draincover depicts Yab...

The Ehime Prefectural Science Museum is situated on the hillside overlooking Niihama and the Inland sea. It opened in 1994 and ...

Tatsueji is known as a "sekisho", a barrier gate or spiritual checkpoint. There are stories of pilgrims who could not enter ...