Ota Dokan
The Father of Edo CastleŌta Sukenaga (太田資長, 1432-1486), better known under his Buddhist name Ōta Dōkan (太田道灌), was a daimyō in Musashi Province and the eldest son of Ōta Sukekiyo (太田資清, 1411-1493) who...
View ArticleSake Glossary
A Akiagari (秋あがり): sake brewed in early spring and stored during summer; around September, when the outside temperature and the temperature of the sake are about the same, the sake is released without...
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Kawahara Keiga
Kawahara Keiga (川原慶賀, 1786-1860) was an Edo-era painter of Western-style pictures who sometimes signed his works in Roman letters "Tojosky," a Westernisation of his given name Toyosuke. Most of his...
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Tanesato Castle
Tanesato Castle (種里城 Tanesato-jō) was a mountain castle (山城 yamajiro) built in the western part of Ajigasawa, Aomori, upstream of the Akaishi River (赤石川). The site was designated a National Historic...
View ArticleHyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork
Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork (兵庫県立コウノトリの郷公園 Hyōgo kenritsu kōnotorinosatokōen) is a research facility of Hyōgo Prefecture, located in Shōunji Aza Nigaya, Toyooka City. The park, which opened...
View ArticleItinerary and Recommendations for a 2-3 week Trip from Osaka to Tokyo
I met a young American traveling through Asia and his next destination was Japan, flying in to Osaka and out of Haneda airport. He said he was getting a JR pass and wanted to make the most of it, and...
View ArticleKanazawa Castle Park
Kanazawa Castle Park is next to Kenroku-en. Kenroku-en was an outlying garden of the castle before it was opened to the public in 1871. Kanazawa Castle (金沢城 Kanazawa-jō) was the seat of the powerful...
View ArticleKanazawa Travel Guide
Kanazawa (金沢) is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture and the political, economic, and cultural centre of the Hokuriku Region. Kanazawa developed in the 15th century as a de facto autonomous temple town...
View ArticleZaibatsu
Zaibatsu (財閥, literally "wealthy clique") refers to industrial and financial combines of a conglomerate type that dominated the Japanese economy between the Meiji Period (1868-1912) and World War II....
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Hirosaki Castle
Hirosaki Castle (弘前城) is one of the most famous castles in the Tōhoku region. It is built on the Tsugaru Plain. At the end of the Warring States period, Tsugaru Tamenobu (津軽為信) achieved independence...
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Oura Castle
Ōura Castle (大浦城 Ōurajō) was a flatland castle (平城 hirajiro) located in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. It is 3 kilometres west of Hirosaki Castle, at the foot of Mount Iwaki. Aerial photographs taken...
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Nomura Samurai House
The former residence of the Nomura family (野村家) is located in Nagamachi, the bukeyashiki or samurai quarter of Kanazawa. This quiet district is characterised by its long, straight mud-daub walls topped...
View ArticleMuromachi Period
The Ashikaga ShogunateThe Muromachi shogunate (1338-1573) was the second of Japan's three military regimes (幕府 bakufu), between the Kamakura shogunate (1192-1333) and the Tokugawa shogunate...
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Iwakura Tomomi
Iwakura Tomomi (岩倉具視, 1825-1883) was a courtier and statesman who played a vital role in the Meiji Restoration. The only court noble in the early Meiji government, he was described as shrewd and...
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The Fujiwara Clan
Fujiwara family crestThe Fujiwara family (藤原氏 Fujiwara-shi) was an influential family of Japanese courtiers that exercised significant political power during much of the Heian Period (794-1185). It...
View ArticleUkiyo-e: Japanese woodblock prints and paintings
Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, lit. pictures of the floating world) are woodblock prints and paintings of a school of artists that emerged in the early part of the Edo period (1603-1868). With the increasing wealth of...
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Horikoshi Castle
Horikoshi Castle (堀越城 Horikoshi-jō) was a flatland castle (平城 hirajiro) located in Horikoshi-chō, Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, in the southern part of the Tsugaru Plain. It was designated as a national...
View ArticleTokyo Skytree - History and Facts
Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリ) is located in Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. Originally conceived as "New Tokyo Tower" (新東京タワ), it is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower with a maximum height of 634...
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Kameido Tenjinsha
. Kameido Shrine (亀戸天神社 Kameido Tenjinsha) is a Shintō shrine in the Kōtō Ward of Tōkyō. It was founded in 1662 and enshrines the deified spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, the patron of scholars and...
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Biwako Terrace
Biwako Terrace is located in Biwako Valley, a mountain resort in Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture. The terrace café lies in the Hira Mountains (比良山地), on Mount Uchimi, at an altitude of 1,103 metres and...
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