The true story of the 47 Ronin (masterless samurai) is one of the most famous in Japan. It is a tale adapted into countless kabuki plays, bunraku puppet shows, woodblock prints, and later films and television shows. Fictionalized versions of the story are known as Chushingura, and continue to be very popular to this day. […]
While visiting Kyoto, you wouldn’t want to miss out on at least one of those cultural experiences now widely available here – activities such as taking first steps in any of Tea-ceremony, flower-arrangement, calligraphy, classical dance and Japanese cookery. Each traditional Japanese art has come down to us imbued with the pre-modern philosophy and values […]
Late March/early April is the time that the famed cherry blossoms open in Tokyo. As Japan is such a long thin archipelago, equivalent to the distance from Morocco to Norway, the cherries begin to bloom in February in Okinawa, have reached Tokyo in late March, and finally bloom in Hokkaido in early May. There […]