Japanese Footwear Before Rubber: Straw Sandals in Traditional Japan — For People and Horses
Walking on Straw: Life Before Modern ShoesBefore rubber soles and leather boots became common, everyday life in Japan de...
Japanese Footwear 
Places & Landscapes The Silent Cathedral of Industry
Hiroshima’s Naka Incineration PlantA Gate Framed in SteelAt first glance, it does not look like a waste incineration fac...
Japanese Culture The Well of Authority: Water at the Heart of Edo-period Governance
IntroductionIn many countries, a well is simply a source of water.In Japan, however, water often carries something more ...
Japanese Culture Kanro Soy Sauce: A Traditional Taste from Yanai, Japan
Yanai is a small historic town in western Japan.It is known for its preserved streets and traditional culture.One of its...
Japanese Culture From Wood to Sake
A quiet journey through traditional sake brewing1. Wood Before Steel(Tradition before efficiency)Long before stainless s...
Japanese Culture Before Brewing Sake, We Set a Boundary
A Small Japanese Ritual Called SetsubunBefore brewing sake, there is something we do in Japan that may seem strange at f...
Japanese Culture Title: A Soul in Silk: Discovering the Haunting Beauty of Jusaburo Dolls in Japan
The Gaze That Pierces the SoulYesterday, I had a rare and breathtaking experience at theJusaburo Tsujimura Doll Museumin...
Japanese Culture Where Sake Begins: Rice Polishing
Where Sake Begins: Rice PolishingBefore yeast ferments and before koji transforms starch into sugar, sake is already tak...
Japanese Culture Edo Tenpō I-sui (江戸天保井水)
In Japan, every sake brewery relies on its own unique brewing water (shikomi-mizu).The mineral balance of this water—sof...
Japanese Culture Why Sake Labels Look Like Art (And Sometimes Are)
The First Thing You Notice Is the LabelWhen you pick up a bottle of sake,you probably don’t read the words first.You loo...