Taketa city was once a thriving samurai town supporting nearby Oka Castle. When the fortunes of the castle faded at the end of the Edo era, so went the town. But the current residents of Taketa take great pride in their history and have maintained and restored dozens of historic buildings, repurposing them for modern…
Tag: historic
If You Have One Day in Kawagoe, It Should Be the 28th
While there are many interesting things to do and see in Kawagoe, Japan, there is a special event on one day every month that you do not want to miss.
Golden Gai
Literally crammed into a tiny area of Shinjuku, Golden Gai sits in limbo between the days after WW2 and modern Tokyo. A hub for prostitution after WW2, now Golden Gai is a cluster of 200 tiny bars and restaurants lining six alleys, some too narrow for two people to pass side-by-side. While many of these…
Kyu Asakura House
Uppity Daikanyama is known more to be the home of the modern rich and famous, but 100 years ago, it was also home to Asakura Torajiro, a politician and businessman of Tokyo. The large two-story house sits in the middle of a beautiful Japanese garden, all of which is hidden behind a very modern shopping…
Nakagin Capsule Tower
The Nakagin Capsule Tower is probably what many people envision when they think of modern Tokyo: a sort of space-age but utilitarian building stacked high into the sky. In truth, this building is the one and only of its kind in Tokyo or anywhere else, and unless you consider 1972 the peak of modern Japan,…
Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
The value of land in Tokyo has created some difficult decisions when it comes to preserving historic buildings. One way Tokyo has dealt with this issue is the construction of the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei Park. Historic buildings on valuable plots of land were relocated and rebuilt in this museum, which contains…
Yamato Antique Fair
On the third Saturday of each month, hundreds of sellers gather around the Yamato JR station in Kanagawa at a street fair focused on Japanese antiques. Sellers range from professional dealers to market hoppers with boxes of unsorted items they hope to rid themselves of quickly. For the visitor to Japan, the antique fair environment…
Tohoku Week – Shiogama Jinja
Topping a small hill overlooking Shiogama town in Miyagi Prefecture, this fairly large shrine complex has a history of over 1,000 years, surviving earthquakes, fires and tsunamis. It can be included as part of an itinerary containing the Shiogama and Matsushima towns and is well worth a long stroll around the picturesque buildings, pine forests…
Tohoku Week – Kanrantei
When you sit down in Kanrantei and served a frothy matcha and sweet wagashi, you may not realize the building you are in may be better traveled in Japan than you. Kanrantei teahouse was a gift to Data Musumine, the daimyo who founded the city of Sendai, from the legendary Japanese leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kanrantei was built…
Engaku-ji
Though not exactly a hidden gem in the popular tourist destination of Kamakura, this major Zen Buddhist temple is not as crowded as Kōtoku-in, home of the Giant Buddha. This is partly due to the fact that Engaku-ji is located just outside Kita-Kamakura station, one stop from the more popular Kamakura station. Still, Engaku-ji is…
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