More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

  A little over a kilometer further upstream from the main part of Kawagoe village and bridge is another sizable settlement. Called Watari o...

  Norito Shrine was established about 1,000 years ago when the area it is in was "developed", that is to say turned from semi-wild...

  Early March, 2014, and on day 64 of my walk around Kyushu I walked from Nagasaki, up the coast of Omura Bay, to Nagaura, stopping in, as u...

Usually when I am walking a pilgrimage I have studied the maps and have a pretty good idea of what shrines I will be passing, but Hitsu ...

Take Shrine, another small village shrine on the shore of Nakaumi, gives the appearance of being abandoned. The grounds have not been ke...

Iya Jinja Iya Shrine is a very ancient shrine, said by some sources to be the oldest shrine in Izumo. It is listed in the Izumo Fudoki, me...

This Nogi Shrine has absolutely no link to the more famous Nogi Shrine in Tokyo. That one is a twentieth century creation enshrining the &...

The Kasuga Shrine in Hagi is located on the southern edge of the old samurai district and is one of the approximately 3000  branches o...

Tahara Shrine is a large shrine located at the foot of the hills north of Matsue castle. It is approached up a long flight of steps flanked ...