The town of Uji, south-east of Kyoto, was once a place of aristocratic villas set along the Ujigawa river. A bridge was built across it in 646, making it one of the oldest known bridges in Japan. Battles were … Read the rest
Category: World Heritage (Page 7 of 10)
My first shrine visit of the year was to Kamigamo Shrine in north Kyoto, a World Heritage Shrine and set amidst pleasant open grassland and woods. It dates back before Kyoto was founded in 794, but such is its … Read the rest
It’s said that if you dream of Fuji on the first night of the New Year, you’re in for an auspicious year ahead. Such is the symbolic import of the sacred mountain. Yet in modern times, rather than being treated … Read the rest
Fuji is going to feature big in 2013. In June a Unesco committee will decide if the Japanese iconic mountain should be registered as a World Heritage site, and the decision is sure to hit the world news. Below is … Read the rest
There can’t be many blog entries about Shinto in Ogasawara (aka the Bonin Islands)!
One reason would be their remoteness (25 hours by ship from Tokyo). Another would be their size (2 inhabited islands with a population of 2500). … Read the rest
These are anxious months for Mt Fuji…. While some reports have played up the likelihood of the volcano exploding in the near future, some of the neighbouring settlements and organisations are more concerned about the announcement next June of … Read the rest
Seifa Utaki is the Ise of Okinawa. It’s a sacred site associated with royal patronage that lay at the apex of the Ryukyu kingdom’s religious structure. I think of all the spiritual places I’ve visited in Japan, this is … Read the rest