Hiroshima Before 1945: The Castle Town Behind the Modern City 広島 – Hiroshima Hiroshima was a prosperous castle town shaped by samurai, merchants, temples, waterways, and trade before it gained international recognition for the events of 1945. There are still remnants of this earlier Hiroshima scattered throughout the present city, even though a large portion
Hiroshima Castle Town Read More »
Hakone Highway: Cobblestones, Cedars, and Ancient Teahouses 箱根八里 – Hakone Hachiri Long before Japan’s modern highways and railways, the Tokaido Road was one of the country’s most important travel routes. During the Edo Period (1603–1868), it connected Edo, present-day Tokyo, with Kyoto, carrying merchants, pilgrims, samurai, officials and daimyo across Japan. The mountainous Hakone Hachiri,
The Tokaido Road: Walking in the Footsteps of Japan’s Samurai 東海道 – The Eastern Sea Route Imagine following the same mountain paths once travelled by samurai, feudal lords, merchants and pilgrims over 400 years ago. The Tokaido Road, established by the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 1600s, was Japan’s most important highway, linking the military
