Scenes from The Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima

Himeji-jo, Hiroshima and Nara, Japan

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November 1st 2006
After spending a week in Kyoto I brought a railpass and did a couple of day trips before heading up to Tokyo. The trains are so fast that you can cover a lot of ground in one day. My first trip was to a nearby town called Nara with Hannah, who I had met on the boat coming over. Nara is Japan's first capital and is the number two tourist attraction in the Kansai region of Japan after Kyoto. N ... 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