We’re not backpackers, but we’ve been on the move constantly during our six weeks in Japan. We’ve experienced a range of accommodations, but none for longer than five nights–at the … Read more
The most famous temple in Japan, the gilded Temple of the Golden Pavilion of Kyoto, was intentionally burned to the ground in 1950 by a deranged monk.
Food? No problem. Small spaces? Check, I can handle that. But still there are a few matters, after a month in Japan, that continue to surprise me. 1. Public … Read more
Seeing the stark record of the atomic bomb destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki makes us reflect yet again on the horror of war.
Is it that the people of Japan are so helpful, or that I’m in such need of help? Probably both. Today I had a third encounter, not with the pavement*, … Read more
We took sort of an unplanned side trip to Kagoshima, at the very end of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, just to see one of the most active volcanoes … Read more
The Itsukushima shrine, a torii arch set into the sea near Hiroshima, and its attendant Noh theater stage, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Zenkoji Temple in Nagano offers a variety of religious images best taken in context.
We toured the castle at Matsumoto, which is entirely made out of wood, btw, while we waited for the light to swing around and hit the “good” side of the … Read more
The temples of Nikko, Japan are some of the most ornate in Japan. The Nikko shrines were built by the Tokugawa Shoguns in the17th to 19th Centuries.