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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...

‘Small’ Castle Towns

The Minor Daimyo

In the , the definition of a daimyo was a lord with an assessed tax income of 10,000 koku (1 koku equals about 5 US bushels) from rice land. Sometimes, the lesser daimyo were called shomyo, changing the character for big (dai) with the character for small (sho). They were, of course, military men who… [Read more]

Annaka Castle Town

In contrast to many larger castle towns such as Hikone or Takasaki relatively little survives in Annaka today to suggest that this place was also the castle town of a daimyo in the Edo period. In part this is due to the small size of Annaka. By the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868… [Read more]

Ronin
Ronin is the term for a masterless samurai and is written with the characters for ‘floating’ and ‘man’, i.e., a warrior adrift with no lord to serve. During the Warring States period and early Edo period, many samurai lost their masters to defeat or demotion. With no master, the ronin had to seek alternative employment. At the beginning of the Edo period, it is estimated that there were 400,000 ronin. The problem was that these men were armed, out of work, and had a reputation for getting into trouble and so they were encouraged to take employment. Ronin became active again at the end of the Edo period. Taking ronin status meant a samurai could act against the shogunate without getting his lord in trouble. Feudal ronin are frequently portrayed in modern dramas as a romantic group of honorable scoundrels. The term was also used in the early 20th century to refer to Japanese adventurers who took advantage of turmoil in China before World War II. Today, the term is restricted to students who have not passed their university entrance examinations and who spend a year or more attending private cram schools to improve their marks.

Landslides

The Ashita Honjin

Pilgrimage

The Shinkansen

Kyoto Development Issues

Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Namiki

Castle Towns

The Minor Daimyo

Annaka Castle Town

Rural Sports

Ontake

Nihonbashi

The Story of the Battle of Sekigahara

The Minor Daimyo

‘Small’ Castle Towns

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