Japan's Shortest Festival Lasts Only 20 Seconds
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 16, 2026
Among the countless local celebrations held across Japan each year, one of the most unusual is the Enrei Onodachi Memorial Festival, often d...
Showing posts with the label Japan
Japan's Forbidden Colours
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 9, 2026
Before the modern period, in Japan, certain colours were strictly regulated by law and custom, and wearing them without permission could be ...
Taro And Jiro's Polar Survival
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 3, 2026
Antarctica has always been a proving ground for survival. Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition saw twenty‑eight men endure shipwreck, d...
Yaoya Oshichi: The Girl Who Tried to Burn Down Tokyo For Love
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 23, 2025
In the winter of 1682, a massive fire swept through Edo, present-day Tokyo. Known as the “Great Tenna Fire” it raged through the city’s crow...
Fukushima’s ‘Umbilical Cord’ Border
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 10, 2025
This is a very simplified political map of Japan showing various prefectures in the northern end of Honshu, the largest of Japan's fou...
Yoshie Shiratori’s Remarkable Prison Escapes
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 7, 2025
At the foot of Mount Tento in Hokkaido stands the Abashiri Prison Museum, a place where Japan’s harsh penal past is preserved in timber and ...
The 100 Soundscapes of Japan
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 22, 2025
Most travellers to Japan come prepared to see. They expect to be dazzled by cherry blossoms, the neon swirl of Tokyo’s Shinjuku, or the tran...
Hua Tuo And The Mysterious Mafeisan
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 30, 2025
During the late Eastern Han dynasty, a brilliant Chinese physician named Hua Tuo —renowned for his pioneering medical techniques, surgical s...
Toyohiro Akiyama: Japan’s First Man in Space Was a Journalist
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 18, 2024
Toyohiro Akiyama pressed his face against the glass of the small, round window on his space module and gazed down at Earth from 350 kilomete...
5 Times Weather Played Foul For An Invading Army
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 1, 2024
Throughout history, weather has played a significant role in military campaigns, sometimes altering its course and reshaping the destiny of ...
