Background: In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
October 25th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya Sunday, which means harajuku again to see the goth/lolita doll girls. Tomo was still with us so he decided to come along too. He took us directly to the main exit where they all hang out. Theyre so gr ... [full story]
October 16th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya Hello Tokyo. This is our very first stop and im fucking (sorry out that) excited as you don hear that people have gone to Japan on their travels around the world. Lucky for us we have been giving t ... [full story]
September 6th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya Read Day 1 activities here.Read Day 2 activities here.Day 3.
The “chugging a tall boy of Chu-Hi in front of 7/11” scene in front of me abruptly slams into a raging J-party at a bar.
... 2 photos[full story]
August 20th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya Right, so here I sit at my desk, at the school where I'm going to be teaching for the next year. And available to me is a bunch of free time and not too much to fill it up with, since I can't leave sa ... [full story]
July 11th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya In the evening, Masuo hosted a party at his apartment. The guests were mostly university friends, International Relations grad students I think. They were kind enough to attempt conversation with me, ... [full story]
July 11th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya Living with a boy had all but killed my shopping instinct. Usually shopping trips with George involve the following:
Him: "You know you should let me pick your clothes. I think I know what suits yo ... [full story]
July 23rd 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya I wrote this group of blogs on myspace after I got back from Japan in the summer of 2007. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Tokyo 1
Hi all,
So, I was debating if I was going to write any ... [full story]
July 14th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya After a suprisingly late night (read my last entry), we all ended waking up at 12:00PM, much to my annoyance. We left the Tobu at 1:00PM, heading to Shibuya: the fashion/music capital of Japan. Arri ... [full story]
July 2nd 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shibuya I believe I have some catching up to do. Breaking this up to limit the pictures per entry... mind is a bit hazy still from Jet Lag, consider yourself warned!
Wednesday we spent out checking the tw ... 17 photos[full story]