Through the clouds the peak of Mt Fuiji appears naked.  The white-silver crown pouring down rivulets toward the sea — pausing in rice paddies on the way.  There is a level of denial about gambling Read More …

Often conversations between friends can be considered confidential — sometimes labeled as “under the dome” with the implicit understanding that the topic won’t be discussed elsewhere.  There was a moment when we took the tram Read More …

In the mall-way en-route to the Dogo Onsen Hot Springs a colourful mural plays hide and go seek with all those imposed in photos.  Those who wave between hats and ceramics, between celadon and melamine. Read More …

The frowned wisdom emerges from a wood block in a type-setters’ shop.  The technology is old but the face is new.  The pressures are those of an emerging industrial powerhouse. The clouds could be both Read More …

Just before crossing the swing bridge that leads onto the sandbar at Amanohashidate we ventured into an old Buddhist temple.  There prayer wishes were inscribed on miniature fans as they symbolized the spreading out of Read More …

A famous facial profile in the tide-worn rock formation served as introduction to threads woven by archeology, loom, press and imagination. There a mulberry bush, there a thatch roof, there a silkworm, there the strands Read More …

The rollicking “Toki” bird mascot speaks of the extreme efforts on Sado Island to ressurect a virtually extinct bird. The current population of in excess of 500 birds (the crested Ibis or Nipponia Nippon) speaks Read More …

For the longest time I thought that the American Pentagon was unique.  I woke up this morning clearly awakened by a new truth.  The Goryokaku five star fort was built in 1864 in Hakodate Japan Read More …

Sometime (between 4000 and 2000 BCE) in the history of Aomori there is evidence that sedentism set in.  The people started living in clusters of houses, built common meeting places, survived on a balance of Read More …