The atmosphere of good old days in Japan is, in my opinion, best reflected in alleys. Even today, if you go into the narrow streets, you can find something inherited from good old days. Wondering around the alleys is one of the fun things to do for example in Yanesen ...
Tag: architecture
International Arts in Japan – What’s New?International Arts in Japan – What’s New?
In Tokyo, museums and galleries often hold exhibitions of international arts. For example, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno now exhibits paintings of Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita. He was a Japanese-French painter of École de Paris. The poster of this exhibition used one of his famous paintings, “Cafe” which now belongs ...
West Meets East – Tsunamachi Mitsui ClubWest Meets East – Tsunamachi Mitsui Club
West meets east. It was a century-old story of Japanese history. The western-style architecture started flowing into Japan in late 19th century. That was the time when the Japanese government system changed dramatically. During the course of the cultural change, the new government encouraged to adopt western style and western ...
Finding Unique Facade in TokyoFinding Unique Facade in Tokyo
Sometimes, Japanese shops have unique facade. I would like to show them to you whenever I found one. Today, let me present you the examples I saw recently. Facade 1: A Carpenter on the Roof The first one is the roof of the office of a construction company Takachiho Construction ...
Being Soaked in the Mythical World of Suwa Taisha ShrineBeing Soaked in the Mythical World of Suwa Taisha Shrine
There are many shrines all over Japan but which is the oldest shrine? Many English-written websites talk about Izumo Taisha Shrine in Shimane but it seems there are other ten shrines which seem to be older than Izumo Taisha. I visited one of those oldest shrine, Suwa Taisha Shrine in Suwa City, ...
Toyo Bunko Library – One-Million Oriental Books and Ukiyo-e PaintingsToyo Bunko Library – One-Million Oriental Books and Ukiyo-e Paintings
If you visit Rikugien Garden or Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, walk a little bit more and you will find a unique museum of Toyo Bunko Library. It was built in 1924 by Mitsubishi clan as a library for the oriental studies. Today, they have about one million books of Asian countries and ...
Walking in the Remains of Maizuru Castle in KofuWalking in the Remains of Maizuru Castle in Kofu
Oversea visitors may want to visit castles in Japan. There are many throughout Japan, sometimes the original shapes still remain, sometimes only the ruins remain. Whatever the situation is, visiting castle can take you back to old days. And if you want to visit castles, Yamanashi may be quite good ...
Finding Modern Architecture in YamanashiFinding Modern Architecture in Yamanashi
Yamanashi Prefecture is famous for the feudal lord Shingen Takeda and there are many temples and shrines from the medieval era. But in late 19th and early 20th century, the Governor of that time, Shiro Fujimura introduced modern architecture. ...