Medieval Japanese history might have taken an entirely different course, but for one big decision by one small bird.
Read moreHow a Sparrow Saved the Shogun

Medieval Japanese history might have taken an entirely different course, but for one big decision by one small bird.
Read moreI took these pictures of the first cherry blossoms of 2022 on the grounds of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, a Shintō shrine in Kamakura, last weekend.
Read moreThis week, I’m blogging at Murder is Everywhere – and sharing a modern twist on an ancient Japanese rite of spring.
Read moreWhile walking in my neighborhood a few years ago, I came up a little temple with a lovely grove of ume trees inside the outer gate. As it happens, this temple–called En’yū-ji–is 1,200 years old, and home to the oldest wooden building in Tokyo.
Read moreLast weekend (February 26), I headed south to the town of Yugawara, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to climb a mountain and attend an ume matsuri–a festival dedicated to the blooming plum tree blossoms (known as ume in Japanese).
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