More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

On the 25th day of my first walk around Kyushu I started out by taking a train and backtracking a ways as I wanted to visit the castle a...

Izumo no Okuni was the legendary creator of Kabuki. Originally from Izumo, no-one knows for sure when or where she died. A temple in Kyo...

Ahiratsu Hime was the first wife of the mythical first emperor Jimmu. This statue is in the small port town of Aburatsu in Nichinan, sou...

Isshiki Kazari is a unique form of folk art that origjnated in Hirata up in Izumo. The essence of the art is that sculptures are made ou...

Some architecture I find intriguing, some not. It is not always clear to me why. This building I found intriguing. It may be becaus...

Saidaiji Kannon-in is a large historic temple to the East of Okayama City. It is the first temple on the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, t...

In the mountains of Nichinan, Miyazaki, about 25 kilometers southwest of Udo Jingu , is the rather grand and elaborate shrine of Yowara...

The bulk of my posts from more than a couple of years ago no longer have photos as the site where I stored them has gone. Some of the ol...

At several places around the Okinawan Islands you can ride in a cart drawn by Water Buffalo, but the most well known is I think the isla...

About a 15 minute walk along a path through the woods from Udo Jingu is a small cave with Nakiri Shrine within it. It is not as imp...