Namiki

The idea of planting trees along the roadside to provide shade for travelers had occurred to the Chinese when they developed their highway system more than 2000 years ago. Almost... Read more...
Kyoto Development Issues

Kyoto holds a unique position in Japan as the ancient, imperial capital and the cultural center of the nation. It was because of these reasons that the Japan specialists who... Read more...
The Shinkansen

The Shinkansen is commonly known outside Japan as the 'bullet train' but the word actually means 'new trunk line'. It is a high-speed passenger train system which now stretches from... Read more...
The Ashita Honjin

Although only a small town, Ashita boasts the oldest surviving honjin on the Nakasendo. It has also been owned by the same family since its' original construction in the late... Read more...
Pilgrimage

The idea of making a pilgrimage to visit religious places is present in nearly every culture and religion. In Japan, it is typical of both major religions, Buddhism and Shinto... Read more...
Landslides

The mountains in Japan are very steep and the rocks unstable due to weathering. Landslides are common whenever there are heavy rains. Many rural villages have established themselves along the... Read more...
Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Omote (the public face) and ura (the private face) are twin concepts that are applied to almost any aspect of Japan or life in Japan. Omote refers to the image... Read more...
Castle Towns

At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, some 250 castle towns (jokamachi) formed the core of a well developed urban network in Japan. Although constructed primarily as defended... Read more...

Basho and Poetry

Basho’s Life and Work

Scattered along the Nakasendo, at Shinchaya, Shimo-suwa, and Karuizawa, are rocks on which are inscribed poems. Composed by Basho, the poems evoke the local landscape at a particular time of year and are much appreciated by local residents who have erected the stone memorials to the poet. Basho was a master poet who developed poetry,… [Read more]

Haiku Haikai Poems

Haikai poems developed out of a tradition of renga or linked verse. Haikai was typically a short verse of three lines made up of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. A second verse would have two lines of 7 and 7 syllables. The third verse would repeat the form of the first and the fourth would… [Read more]

Peasants
The Confucian class system in the Edo period had four classes: samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in descending order. While the samurai were esteemed because of their learning and their ability to govern society, peasants were valued because Japan was primarily a farming economy and peasant farmers were the one class that produced things of value with little more than their labor. In reality, peasants were not as well treated as the Confucian class system suggested they should be. They were usually despised and often ill-treated.

Namiki

Kyoto Development Issues

The Shinkansen

The Ashita Honjin

Pilgrimage

Landslides

Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Castle Towns

Basho’s Life and Work

Haiku Haikai Poems

Administrative Boundaries

Floods

Nightlife in the Post-towns

Tea Houses

The 1923 Earthquake

Basho and Poetry

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