Ikedaya Incident The Ikedaya Incident, in which members of the Shinsengumi attacked and killed anti-Tokugawa activists thwarting their supposed plans to torch Kyoto, took place 155 years ago on July 8, 1864. The attack is known as the Ikedaya Incident, as the rebel Choshu (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Tosa (now Kochi Prefecture) clan samurai had… Read More Shinsengumi Attack Rebels- Ikedaya Incident, 1864
RevSpeed magazine had it’s first track day at Autopolis for this year. Autopolis is a great circuit in the mountains of western Oita Prefecture, Kyushu. It was a nice day and there were some quick cars. Unfortunately I don’t have a timesheet. Would be nice to see who was the quickest in each class. Photos… Read More RevSpeed trackday at Autopolis. 2nd June 2019
Despite Fukuoka castle being one of the all time great castles of Japan (I’m a bit biased as I live in Fukuoka) there is not a whole lot of research material in English about it. Wikipedia has quite a nice write-up, but as we don’t know who the author is, it is not usually used… Read More History of Fukuoka Castle
If you’re a fan of Japanese history as I am I strongly suggest you visit the National Museum in Sakura City, Chiba. You should also allow yourself the whole day to explore this great museum. There is a restaurant for you to re-fill and gift shop with many nice souvenirs. There are 6 different galleries. … Read More National Museum of Japanese History.
Thankyou to the new people who have followed me. I hope you can enjoy Japan as much as I do. Every spring the little town of Arita is host to one of the biggest ceramics festivals in Japan. But Arita is not about pottery, the surrounding town and environment is stunning, so let’s dive in.… Read More Arita/Imari Pottery, Saga, Kyushu
Yoshinogari is a a large moated town from the Yayoi Period (300BC-300AD). The Yoshinogari Yayoi ruins were found in 1986 while surveying for a new industrial site. Luckily this was put on hold and a 3 year excavation began. The site uncovered the largest Yayoi village ever found in Japan. The village is thought to… Read More Yoshinogari – Historical Yayoi Park, Saga, Kyushu
For about a year I have wanted to visit Hara Castle ruins. I first heard of Hara castle when I visited Amakusa, a short distance across the Ariake Sea. Both regions made famous during the Amakusa Rebellion in 1589-1590 and the larger Amakusa-Shimabara Rebellion in 1637/38. I covered the rebellion in Amakusa a little in… Read More Hara Castle Ruins and the Amakusa/Shimabara Rebellion, Minami Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture.
