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

Climatic Disasters

Japan is known as a land of earthquakes and volcanoes but, except for rare catastrophic events such as the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the greatest danger from nature is normally associated with Japan’s climate. Heavy rain is the most persistent cause of death through natural disaster, regularly accounting for the lives of between 30 and… [Read more]

Floods

It seems ironic that while successful rice cultivation depends on the controlled flooding of rice fields in early summer, the fear of floods brought about by natural causes is one of the greatest that rice farmers have to face. Inundation of the fields at the wrong time of year, particularly just before harvest, can be… [Read more]

Pilgrimage

Castle Towns

The Shinkansen

The Ashita Honjin

Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Namiki

Kyoto Development Issues

Landslides