History

A Quick & Quirky History of the Nakasendo: A Deep Dive into the History of Nakatsugawa

Here at Heartland Japan, we pride ourselves on going that little bit deeper than everyone else. This time we hone our focus on some of the quirkier histories of Nakatsugawa, home to several post towns of the Nakasendo. In particular, we will look into the Naegi Castle Ruins and local kabuki theatre, known as jikabuki. …

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Red-Light Legacy

Ornately-dressed women, discrete well-off businessmen, art, performance and slavery… The stories that surround Japan’s historic red-light districts may seem more like movie plotlines than anything else, but the truth of what occurred in these secretive streets inspired an important cultural legacy that continues even to this day.  Yoshiwara If you’ve ever watched the cult-classic 1927 …

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Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku – Japan’s traditional theatre

Here at Heartland JAPAN, we love including authentic, traditional Japanese performances into the itineraries of all the exciting, off-the-beaten-track package and custom tours we create. For many of our customers, this means experiencing something brand new that they may not even have ever heard about before visiting Japan.  To help shed some light on the …

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The People’s Railway – A Story of Community Spirit From Choshi, Chiba Prefecture

Cutting its way through the beautiful coastal countryside of Tokyo’s neighboring Chiba Prefecture, the Choshi Electric (Dentetsu) Railway serves around 20,000 local residents and is the only service that can be used to access the Kanto Region’s most eastern location, Inubozaki Point.  Dating back over a century to 1913, the railway is far quieter than …

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A Brief History of Japan from the Late 19th Century to the Early 20th Century.

Bakumatsu Bakumatsu is the Japanese phrase used to categorize the pivotal years at the end of the Edo era (1603-1868). The Chinese characters for Bakumatsu signify “the end of the Bakufu”. This was the end of Tokugawa Shogunate, who ruled Japan from 1600 to 1868. What partially resulted in the decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate …

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