Elevator Ride to the Base of the Dam It’s not often you get the chance to take a 121-metre (397 ft) elevator ride deep within the recesses of a working dam especially one perched high up in the mountains. But during a recent trip to the Takizawa Dam...
Greetings from the Chichibukozan Post Office It came to a grand total of 2 yen to send a postcard to myself – a prepaid one with an extra two-yen stamp to make up the shortfall. Why, you may ask? This is not something I generally do and almost...
Old Postcards Reveal Hakone 55 Years Ago Blessed with natural hot springs, Hakone has been attracting travellers since the Edo period. In those early years, visitors travelled there via the Tokaido Road which acted as a thoroughfare between Edo, as...
A case of being stuck next to the wrong neighbour Japanese Buddhist temples are generally places associated with worship and a space to enjoy a moment of quiet contemplation. It therefore seems odd that a temple would have ammunition on display in...
Beautiful Postcards Recall Lake Okutama’s Early Years During the second half of the Showa Period from the 1950s onwards Japan experienced remarkable economic growth with significant investment in large-scale infrastructure. In the Kanto...
Former Shibuya Municipal Water Towers Nestled in a quiet, upscale corner of Setagaya in Tokyo finds the Komazawa Water Towers which hail from the late Taisho period. The towers were completed in the March and November of 1923 the same year as the...
Japan Rescue Organization Hiking Accident Statistics One of the hazards of outdoor recreation such as hiking, camping, mountain biking or skiing is that it entails an element of risk. For solo adventurers such as myself, the level of risk is even...
Hossawa Falls on a Wintry Morning During a previous visit to the Hossawa Falls in early spring a few years back, splendid greenery complemented Tokyo’s most renowned waterfall. This time was a little less joyful, arising at the crack of dawn on a...
Final Roll Call for these Rural Saitama Schools Abandoned buildings are commonplace in rural villages across Japan but a certain sadness must come when a school bell rings a final time. School closures serve as a veritable canary in the coal mine as...
What’s in a Name: Daisen vs. Oyama Reading the correct kanji for a particular mountain or any uncommon place name for that matter would arguably be the most challenging aspect of the Japanese language. Most kanji have at least two readings:...