Matsue Castle: The Black Crow of Lake Shinji
In 1875, a local Matsue man named Takagi Gonpachi walked into a Meiji government property auction and paid 180 yen […]
Maruoka Castle: Japan’s Smallest Original Keep
At thirteen minutes past four on the afternoon of 28 June 1948, a Monday, the Fukui plain buckled. The epicentre
Hikone Castle: Built from Three Other Castles
The man who actually built Hikone Castle was dead before the first stone was laid. Ii Naomasa — the Red
Hirosaki Castle: The Keep That Moved Sideways
On 24 October 2015, the three-storey tenshu of Hirosaki Castle finished a 70-metre journey it had taken eight weeks to
Bitchū Matsuyama: The Castle Above the Clouds
Between late September and early April, in the hour before dawn, if the cold air has pooled thickly enough in
Anegawa: Honda Tadakatsus Single-Horse Charge
At around eleven in the morning on the 30th of July 1570 — the 28th day of the sixth lunar
Sakura: The 1,300-Year-Old Hanami Tradition
Eighty per cent of the cherry trees you see flowering in Japan in April are the same tree. Not the
The 5 Kyoto Districts Where Geisha Still Work
Why a geisha is a licensed traditional-arts performer rather than anything else Western writing has called her, and where to find the 250 who still work in Kyoto.
The Castle That Became the Tokyo Imperial Palace
On the third day of the third lunar month of 1868 — 3 April by the Gregorian calendar, not the
Saigō: The Meiji Hero Who Became Meiji’s Enemy
At three o’clock on the morning of 24 September 1877, at the base of a wooded hill called Shiroyama overlooking