• Kumamoto Castle, Under Construction

    “Please visit Kumamoto Castle,” my colleague urged when I told her we’d be driving through Kumamoto City on the way back from Nagasaki during the Golden Week holidays. The popular…

  • Nagasaki Peace Park and the 26 Martyrs

    Of all the things we had planned to do in Nagasaki, I was most curious to see the Peace Park. Established in 1955 to commemorate the atomic bombing on August…

  • Tomogashima: Japan’s Real Castle in the Sky

    “Do you see the jellyfish?” Mark pointed excitedly into the water. I mumbled an acknowledgement, afraid that if I opened my mouth, something other than words would come out. We had…

  • Exploring Wartime Remains on Japan’s Rabbit Island

    If any island served as inspiration for ABC’s LOST (a.k.a the best television series of all time) it was surely Ōkunoshima. Featuring a golf course, pylons, old test laboratories and its very…

  • Hiroshima’s Peace Park in Black and White

    I spent most of my visit to Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park sitting on a bench. This was partly due to the fact that I was supercalifragilisticexpialidociously hungover from the previous night’s festivities; after gatecrashing…

  • Kagoshima’s Kamikaze Town

    “Why are you taking pictures of yourself?” Mark asked with one eyebrow raised as he turned around and saw my lens pointing into the window. “I’m getting bored, there’s nothing else here…