"A fancy took me to go to Noto. ...[I]t was a case of love at first sight." These are the first words in Percival Lowell's 1891 travelogue "Noto: An Unexplained Corner of Japan". Like Lowell, I've always been intrigued by Noto, on the map a little crooking finger jutting north off the coast of Honshu … Continue reading Noto Peninsula: More armchair travel and memories
“Aso is a good-natured, even-tempered volcano, and it is not often that the steady cloud of smoke and steam which it emits varies in volume...” These words are from In Lotus-land Japan, a 1910 travelogue by Herbert G. Ponting. In these days when actual travel is not possible, I am enjoying reading (and in some … Continue reading Mount Aso: Armchair Travel, Art, and Memories
I'm fortunate that in my travels I often get to meet local people who are doing interesting and creative things. I was able to write a profile of a couple of groups of women in Kyushu and Shikoku who have become successful small business entrepreneurs, producing condiments featuring local produce and local flavors. (Archived article … Continue reading Entrepreneurs on the Rise: Second Career Women in Regional Japan
In these days of working from home and social distancing, when everyone is being discouraged from visiting crowded, poorly ventilated venues, it seems Tokyo's parks are getting even more of a work-out than usual. That's saying a lot, given the overall popularity of parks in Tokyo. Personally, I think a lot about where I can … Continue reading Todoroki Gorge: Tokyo’s deep, green respite
Since everyone is thinking quarantine, isolation and hiding away these days, I thought it might be appropriate for this month's travel article to be about a place in where such things happened in the past. Enjoy this as "armchair travel" now, and perhaps get there yourself sometime in the future. (Archived article originally published by … Continue reading A Goto Island of Quarantine: the perfect place to hide
Many of Japan's origin legends are set in Kyushu and can be explored at Shinto shrines and other sites across the island commemorating the events of the legend. They are often tales of interactions among a pantheon of gods that are every bit as intriguing as the Roman or Greek mythology doubtless more familiar to … Continue reading Amano Iwato: hideaway cave of a goddess
Takamatsu Castle, on the northern coast of Shikoku, overlooks the Inland Sea, Japan's the most important historical waterway. The castle was built at the end of the 16th century, a great time of castle construction in Japan. In its heyday, Takamatsu Castle served as an administrative center and a checkpoint for ship traffic. It was, … Continue reading Takamatsu Castle: a seaside guardian
On the west coast of Shimoshima, the largest of the Amakusa Islands of Kyushu, is a large bay known as Yokaku Bay. Because of its location on the East China Sea, the bay, and particularly the town of Sakitsu in a small, but deep, harbor on the north shore, has a centuries-long history as a … Continue reading Sakitsu: a remote Amakusa port where Christians once concealed themselves
Standing atop a hill, gazing southwest across the Chikugo River valley toward the Ariake Sea, stands the 62 meter tall Jobo Kannon (the motherly goddess of mercy), cradling a baby in her arms. Completed in early 1983, she is the tallest Kannon statue on the island of Kyushu. Jobo Kannon stands on the grounds of … Continue reading Kannon keeping watch in Kurume
This article describes how Sakamoto Ryoma defied the law to leave his domain for the purpose of advocating political change in Japan in the mid 19th century and visits sites associated with his "escape", which took place 158 years ago this month. (Archived article originally published by Japan Today.)
On the outskirts of Kumamoto City sits an isolated Zen temple that guards over an historic cave and a hillside of rakan (arhat) statues. Rakan are devout Buddhists who have attained enlightenment and live in a state of Nirvana. In Japan, collections of statues of 500 rakan, the number of disciples of Buddha believed to … Continue reading Unganzenji: a legacy of swordsmanship and piety
The Kirishima volcano system in Kagoshima Prefecture is fascinating for the variety of landscapes visitors can experience. The flanks of some of the volcanoes are covered with grassland conducive to raising cattle. Takachiho Farm is a kind of "show farm" within sight of Mt. Kirishima where visitors can see a working dairy and experience several … Continue reading Takachiho Farm: fun hands-on experience of life on a farm
