I’ve been back in South Korea for a few months now on this my forth visit to the country since my first back in late 2003-early 2004. Already this place feels like a second home. I haven’t had much time thus far on this visit to the Land of The Morning...
Hiroshima, my last stop on this my first visit to Japan, needs little introduction. It is known throughout the world as the first city in history subjected to nuclear warfare with the atomic bombing of the city by the Americans during World War II. Since that fateful...
Hiroshima is a port city on the southwestern coast of Honshu in Japan which will forever be remembered as the city that, on August 6, 1945, was almost completely destroyed by the first atomic bomb to be dropped on a populated area. Today Hiroshima, with a population...
The city of Himeji in the Kansai region of Japan is some 55 kilometres west of Kobe, conveniently located on the bullet train line enabling me to stop off en route to Hiroshima, my final stop on this my first visit to Japan. Although it has a few temples of note,...
Kobe in the Kansai region of Japan is an historic port and distinct city in its own right even though at times it feels like a fashionable western suburb of sprawling Osaka, some 33 kilometres to the east around Osaka Bay. Kobe’s history is dominated by two...
Todai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall, which houses the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, is also the largest wooden building in the world. The temple, home to the the Japanese...
Before Kyoto became the capital of Japan in 794 AD the honour was held by Nara, a town some 35 kilometres south of Kyoto in the Kansai region of the country. This is an area which prides itself on being the birthplace of Japanese culture. The city’s temples and...
Kyoto, Japan The Old Imperial Capital Of Japan & One Of The Oldest & Most Historic Metropolises In Asia Maiko on the streets of Gion, Kyoto, Japan. July 18, 2005 ; As the capital of Japan for more than a thousand years, Kyoto conjures up the classic images of...
The Tosho-gu Temple is a Shinto shrine, one of three complexes containing over 100 buildings and structures – two Shinto shrines & one Buddhist temple – that make up the Shrines and Temples of Nikko, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site set in wooded...
A fter a dizzying few days in Tokyo it was time to catch the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) north to Nikko, a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture some 140 kilometres from the capital. A popular tourist destination, Nikko is home to the UNESCO World Heritage listed...
