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.
I have a new article on Taiken Japan. https://taiken.co/single/hakata-ori-experiencing-the-traditional-weaving-of-fukuoka/ This is about the famous silk weaving traditionally from Hakata. Enjoy.
Scanning photos today I found another early map of Fukuoka. I think I took this in the archaeology center in Fukuoka. I labelled some of the main points we know today. I think it was made after 1603 as Fukuoka castle is clearly visible. According to my earlier post, the population of Fukuoka at that… Read More Early map of Fukuoka city c.1600
