I’m delighted to let you know that I am now writing articles for http://www.taiken.co. This is a link for my first article with them featuring the great Fujisaki Hachimangu horse festival held in Kumamoto, Kyushu in mid September. Enjoy https://taiken.co/single/fujisaki-hachimangu-horse-festival-in-kumamoto/ Stu Advertisements
Miyamoto Musashi Died On June 13, 1645. Considered one of the greatest samurai of all time, Miyamoto Musashi’s reputation has grown to mythic proportions over the years, despite much of his life remaining a mystery. The undefeated swordsman, master of strategy, calligrapher, painter, writer and martial arts icon, Miyamoto Musashi was born towards the end… Read More Reigando Cave and the life of Miyamoto Musashi
My friend William Baerg is a contributor for the Kumamoto International Facebook page and has nicely agreed for me to post an article on my blog. Tani Tateki (谷干城) was a military leader during the Meiji Restoration who was for a crucial period in charge of the defense of Kumamoto. Even under mustache standards of… Read More Tani Tateki – Kumamoto Castle defender during the Seinan War.
I had a day off today and it wasn’t raining so I decided to visit Lafcadio Hearn’s residence just down the road from where I live. The address is 2-6 Anseimachi, Kumamoto. It is right behind Tsuruya shopping center. I had come across Hearn’s name before while researching some other Japanese history but never knew… Read More The life of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (aka Koizumi Yakumo).
Kumamoto Castle is still one of the most impressive castles in Japan. It is one of the big three which also includes Osaka castle and Nagoya castle. Feudal lord Kato Kiyomasa (we will learn more about Kato later), renowned for his castle building skills in Japan and in Korea supervised the construction of both Kumamoto… Read More Kumamoto Castle, Kyushu.
