I live only 15 minutes by car away from Onojo. The mountain , Mt Shioji is easily seen from where I live as it dominates the eastern side of Fukuoka city. I have visited Onojo ruins twice now. The first time was an unscheduled visit for just a short time and the second time a… Read More Ono castle (Onojo) ruins, Fukuoka.
This is one of my favourite temple regions and it is a World Heritage Site to boot. You will need a least a whole day to explore the three temple complexes properly. You will also need to have a basic level of fitness as the site is on top of Mt Hiei and there are… Read More Enryakuji temple – Kyoto (Pictorial)
Mysterious Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita Prefecture, Kyushu The Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita is one of those rare regions in Japan that is untouched. It is a place of misty mountains and valleys, old forests, rivers and, excuse my French, a crap load of temples. For a visitor to the region, its remoteness is a blessing but… Read More Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita, Kyushu
I finally got around to editing the photos from my trip to Oita earlier this year. Here is Nakatsu castle. It’s not a bad castle to visit. Lots of history here too. It’s small enough to walk around in about an hour and the museum inside is alright. Not enough English unfortunately. For me, the… Read More Nakatsu Castle, Oita, Kyushu
Now for the final photos of the cars on track. Took a little while to process them but I’m excited to finally show them to you. Rain about lap number 40 really made its mark in the race. I was up at the hairpin at that time and got some nice photos of the car… Read More Autobacs 2019 Super GT, Autopolis, Oita, Kyushu – On track pictorial
Pictorial of my pit walk from the Super GT race in Autopolis 2019. Captions added. Photos by Stuart
I went to Autopolis last weekend to watch the Autobacs SuperGT race. It was a great day despite being really hot and humid. I took a lot of photos and I’m going to start off with the grid girls. Enjoy
A little while ago when I lived in Mihara in Hiroshima I had the opportunity to see a beautiful sunset. Living in Mihara wasn’t the best of times for me but luckily I had some friends who showed me around the area and cheered me up. One day we went to Onomichi and walked around… Read More Seto Inland Sea Sunset, Onomichi, Hiroshima – Pictorial
Last May a friend of mine (Audrey) from Australia came to Fukuoka and we had a chance to meet up for dinner. It was great to speak to another Aussie again. She has her own blog which I’d like to introduce here. During her time in Fukuoka she did some research into ‘shotengai’ and ‘yatai’. … Read More Shotengai in Japan: Nostalgic, Atmospheric Streets Crammed with Cheap, Delicious Eats
Originally posted on Yamato Magazine:
In every culture around the world, you’ll find stories of women who stood out for their bravery and courage. They are the women who went against tradition and did what they believed to be right. Women Warriors is a series that investigates the lives of Japanese women who forged their…
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.
Spring is here and it’s car show season in Japan. I haven’t done this before but I’m going to showcase some great classic Japanese cars on my blog. Many of you know I love cars and have taken part in car racing for a while. So I want to also include this into my blog… Read More Fukuoka Classic Car Show. April 2019
I have been to the Sapporo Beer factory a few times but the mission was always to eat as much ‘Jingiskan’ and drink as much Sapporo beer as I could. This time I allowed some time to explore the museum and outside gardens as well. Sapporo Beer was the first brewery in Japan. The beautiful… Read More The home of Japanese beer. Sapporo Beer Factory, Hokkaido
I visited Akizuki castle ruins last Thursday. It was a nice drive from Fukuoka. The region of Asakura city quite historic and is famous for fruit picking and onsens. I haven’t done a lot of research of the area as yet. The castle is more like an estate, similar to Nijo-jo but not as big.… Read More Akizuki Castle Town, Asakura, Fukuoka.
