In the decades leading up to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, sonno joi (revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians) activists and shogunate adherents, such as...
On a recent visit to the city of Changsha in China’s Hunan province, I took a side trip to Shaoshan, the picturesque little village...
It is a somewhat curious experience walking through the streets of the Bikan old merchant district in Kurashiki, the second largest city in Okayama Prefecture....
Near my apartment in Kyoto is a Shinto shrine of ancient origins which is known for a sacred well and its healing waters. I often...