Tag: Japanese history

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

After visiting the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, I made my way outside into the grey and drizzly Autumn day to explore ground zero. At 11:02 am on August 9th, 1945, the ‘Fat Man’ atomic bomb detonated 500...