Amidst moans and groans about rainy spring weather, talk about budding flowers is increasing day by day. This can only mean one thing: cherry blossom season is almost here! As many of you probably know, one of the biggest seasonal activities of the year is hanami: a chance to have a picnic outside after a long winter, surrounded by fragrant pink and white flowers. Sure, you have to fight stif..

姫路城Himeji Castle, a World Heritage Site located in the town of Himeji west of Kobe and Osaka in western Japan, is Japan's best-known and most-visited castle.It is known as the Shirasagijo, or White Heron Castle, because of its bright white exterior.The complex of more than 80 buildings was built between 1333-1346, and then from 1601-1608 major expansion work took place.It has a complicated..

In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of the province of Owari Kiyosu about seven kilometers to a more strategic in the current Nagoya.A new large castle, Nagoya Castle was built in part from materials from Kiyosu Castle. Along with the construction, the city of about 60,000 people, whose temples and shrines, moved from Kiyosu the planned new town around Nagoya Castle. At the same time, ne..