Koi in the sky

Samurai's jacks

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October 30th 2007
Though we love Tokyo, we were happy to be leaving its mad energy for a few days to head northwards to the small city of Morioka. We had talked about going as far north as Sapporo, on the mysterious and sparsely populated island of Hokkaido, but time was against us, so we decided instead to head for Kakunodate, a town a few hours north of Tokyo that still had its old Samurai quarter in a well pres ... read more

Asia » Japan » Iwate » Morioka

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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. Fol... ... read more