Scenes from Maruyama-Koen Park

Kyoto, Japan

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October 26th 2006
The 48 hours crossing from Shanghai was very comfortable but we had one day of rough weather. There were only 30 passengers on the large boat so we had loads of space and spent our time watching dvds and relaxing. I met an english girl, also called Hannah and we got chatting to a very friendly and helpful guy from Japan, appropriately named 'Hero', short for 'Heroshi'. He introduced us to a fam ... read more

Asia » Japan

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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