Namiki

The idea of planting trees along the roadside to provide shade for travelers had occurred to the Chinese when they developed their highway system more than 2000 years ago. Almost... Read more...
The Ashita Honjin

Although only a small town, Ashita boasts the oldest surviving honjin on the Nakasendo. It has also been owned by the same family since its' original construction in the late... Read more...
The Shinkansen

The Shinkansen is commonly known outside Japan as the 'bullet train' but the word actually means 'new trunk line'. It is a high-speed passenger train system which now stretches from... Read more...
Kyoto Development Issues

Kyoto holds a unique position in Japan as the ancient, imperial capital and the cultural center of the nation. It was because of these reasons that the Japan specialists who... Read more...
Pilgrimage

The idea of making a pilgrimage to visit religious places is present in nearly every culture and religion. In Japan, it is typical of both major religions, Buddhism and Shinto... Read more...
Landslides

The mountains in Japan are very steep and the rocks unstable due to weathering. Landslides are common whenever there are heavy rains. Many rural villages have established themselves along the... Read more...
Castle Towns

At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, some 250 castle towns (jokamachi) formed the core of a well developed urban network in Japan. Although constructed primarily as defended... Read more...
Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Omote (the public face) and ura (the private face) are twin concepts that are applied to almost any aspect of Japan or life in Japan. Omote refers to the image... Read more...

Protest and Revolt

Modern Protests

Despite the impression widely held outside Japan that the country has a society based firmly on consensus and harmony, modern protest has a rich history. Some of the reason for this may lie with the Allied Occupation which sought to instill individualism and individual right among the population while strengthening organizations which could resist authoritarian… [Read more]

Peasant Revolts

Princess Kazunomiya's trip from Kyoto to Edo

There is a long tradition of rebellion by peasants in premodern times. Revolts sometimes occurred because of starvation as a result of crop failure. At other times, peasants revolted as a limited protest against the government of the time. Their intention was not to overthrow the government, but to gain something specific, like relief from… [Read more]