Tag: Japanese history
Kitano Ijinkan: Kobe’s Historic Foreign Settlement
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...
Marquis Maeda’s Tokyo Legacy: A Tale of Two Homes
In Tokyo's peaceful Komaba district, the Japanese and European former homes of Marquis Maeda quietly await visitors.
Intermediatheque Museum Tokyo: Curious and Curiouser
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...
Suizenji Garden: Where the Art of War and Culture Resonate with One Another
One of Japan’s most renowned landscapes, Kumamoto’s Suizenji Garden is a stunning representation of engineering wisdom gained from wars and the artistic culture of the Edo era.
Suizen-ji Jōjuen (Suizenji Garden) in Kumamoto City...
Dogo Onsen: Wrapped in History and Charm
Just a short tram ride from Matsuyama city center in Ehime is Dogo Onsen, Japan’s oldest hot spring. Its main bath house has been the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (2001). But despite a famous pedigree, the...
Rare Treasures and Chinese Architecture at Nagasaki Confucius Shrine
On my first day in Nagasaki, I wanted to explore the cluster of historical attractions in the city’s south-east, to learn more about the interesting mix of cultures that make up modern-day Nagasaki. First on my route was the Confucius Shrine (or...
Doza and Shianbashi: Secret Shrines and Nagasaki Nightlife
I first stepped into Shianbashi, Nagasaki’s best nightlife area, around lunchtime. It was predictably quiet, with most places shuttered up after a long night’s trade. I would witness the infamous evening atmosphere a bit later on, but...
Gunkanjima Digital Museum: Preserving Hashima’s Human Experience
Life on Hashima is of great fascination to me. In the 1950s, this tiny coal mining island, just 160m wide and 480m long, was the most densely populated place on earth. Over 5,000 people lived, worked and...
Dejima: Nagasaki’s Historic Dutch Trading Post
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...
Glover Garden, Nagasaki’s Foreign Settlement
Perched atop a hill in the Minami-Yamate district, Glover Garden is one of Nagasaki’s most popular attractions. Part garden, part open-air museum, this charming spot offers great insight into the early western settlers who made Japan their...
