The latest volume in the HIDDEN PATHS - Walking Historical Kyoto series is now available in both paperback and digital formats from all...

In Kohata, Uji is the Kohata Shrine. The shrine is popular for a number of reasons and draws visitors both young and old. Anime fans...

In 1582 the then most powerful daimyo and de facto Shogun of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, died at Honno-ji in Kyoto at the hands of Akechi...

Located in the Fushimi Ward of Kyoto is the Gokonomiya-Jinja Shinto Shrine. The shrine is dedicated to Empress Jingu, the goddess of easy...

Ichijo Modori Bridge is a small crossing over the narrow Horikawa River that is said to be a connection point between the world of the...

On a cold October night in 1969, a taxi driver was hailed on Kawabata Street close to Kojinguchi by a young woman. Without giving it a...

In this posting we stay in Kansai but step over the borders of Kyoto into neighbouring Osaka for a tragic tale of paranormality that also...

Until the time of the Meiji Restoration of 1868 Uji Jinja (shrine) was part of the Ujigami Jinja (lower and upper shrines). The main...

On the north east side of the Uji Bridge is a building that dates back to 1673 of a company that traces its foundation to 1160. The Tsuen...

Sitting at the base of Ko-yama, in an area of Kyoto said for centuries to be a gateway for malign and evil spirits and demons to enter...

Junenji Temple is of a modern design from 1993 of the Jodo-sect (one of the most widely practiced sects of Buddhism in Japan which dates...

The summer of 1862 was a time of blood letting on the streets of Kyoto due to assasinations orchestrated by an Imperial Loyalist from...

Hiromu Nakai was born Yokoyama Kyunoshin in Kagoshima, (Satsuma Domain), in 1838. Although born into a Samurai class family, Nakai had a...

Not far from the Sennyu-ji Temple in Kyoto is an Imperial graveyard called the Kuni-no-Miya, Kaya-no-Miya Cemetery. The Kuni-no-Miya and...

In 1864 the Choushu rebels had planned to set fire to the Imperial Palace and kidnap the Emperor. Their eventual plan was to have the...

HIDDEN PATHS - Walking Historical Kyoto has been busy recently! There haven't been any new blog posts for a couple of weeks but that...

Think of Kyoto and what comes to mind? Buddhist Temples, Shinto Shrines, kimono's, tea, bamboo forests and mountains, the list goes on....

Everyone in Japan knows Sakamoto Ryoma, and most people know the role he is said to have played in Japanese history. The story of a young...

The north entrance to the famous Chion-in Temple is through the Kuromon, the Black Gate. The history of Chion-in goes back to the 12th...

The Maruyama kofun tomb marks the burial place of 4th century Crown Prince Uji no Wakiiratsuko. So why is there a tombstone for the man...