Tag: history

The Port of Kobe was opened on 1 January 1868, ten years after Japan’s borders opened to the rest of the world. It didn’t take long for foreigners to begin settling here between the mountains and the sea, buying and renting homes...

In Tokyo's peaceful Komaba district, the Japanese and European former homes of Marquis Maeda quietly await visitors.

If taxidermy, skeletons, minerals, and turn-of-the-century gadgets float your boat, Intermediatheque is for you. This free natural history museum beside Tokyo Station showcases thousands of artefacts from the University of Tokyo vaults, displayed alongside pre-war cabinets, furniture, and even flooring repurposed from...

The Ancient Egyptian Museum is a small corner space on the eighth floor of a nondescript building near Tower Records in Shibuya. This compact museum houses an impressive collection of ancient Egyptian relics and is themed after an early 20th century archaeological...

Aizuwakamatsu, a picturesque town in the northern prefecture of Fukushima, played a pivotal role during the Boshin War of 1868 as one of the last samurai strongholds in Japan. Pay your respects and visit a unique Buddhist pagoda at Iimoriyama, a hill...

There's no shortage of beautiful parks and green spaces in Tokyo. So, to ensure you make the most of your time in the capital, we’d recommend you start by visiting one of the Metropolitan Cultural Heritage Gardens. These nine locations each have...

Japan is a land of many castles—some 300 to be precise. Admittedly, they can begin to look quite similar after a time, so it’s worth knowing which ones hold particular importance. Of the 300, only twelve castles...

While the historic aspects of Tokyo aren’t as immediately obvious as in some other Japanese cities, there’s plenty to see if you do a bit of digging. From old town areas (also known as Shitamachi) such as the Yanesen District to historic...

Bernard Thaddée Petitjean - one of the founders of Oura Church Depending on where you’re from, it’s probably not a big deal to come across a Catholic church in your travels. In Japan, though, where just 1% of the...

Chief Factor's residence It's normal to feel a kind of curious magic as you step into Dejima, the open-air museum on the site of Nagasaki’s historic Dutch Trading Post. In the blink of an eye, the modern city...