These extracts are part of an ongoing series from a forthcoming book about travelling from the most northerly station in Japan to the most southerly.
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Kunchi refers to … Read the rest
Category: Japanese culture (Page 2 of 19)
For those interested in Shinto, Iki is a very special island. Palm trees and a Shinto torii greet visitors, and a welcome poster announces that this is ‘the island of kami’. A brochure promoting the island even claims that here … Read the rest
For lovers of Japanese literature, the Kanmon Straits mean above all the tragic climax of Tale of the Heike. The fourteenth-century epic is Japan’s great equivalent of The Iliad and charts the rise and fall of the … Read the rest
This series of extracts are spiritually related material culled from a longer account of travelling the length of Japan, from Wakkanai in the far north to Ibusuki in south Kyushu. The journey took three months in all, and one of … Read the rest
The small community of Tsuwano (pop.. 7,500) is a castle town that has lost its castle, a ‘little Kyoto’ with the emphasis on little. Squeezed in-between steep mountains, it is compact yet intriguing. I was lucky enough to be shown … Read the rest
First stop for the loop bus in Tsuruga is Kehi Jingu, the town’s main shrine. As I got off, I noticed something odd, and turning round found myself face-to-face with a large brown owl perched on a coffee sign. For … Read the rest
The street leading to the Tojinbo cliffs is lined with the kind of souvenir shops you often see at famous shrines and temples. At the end is a terrace offering a fine panorama over … Read the rest