Marble. Smooth. White. Sparkling. I’ve never seen so much marble in a cemetery before. Old graves, new graves – all marble. In fact, I think this cemetery must be about 99% marble (I just made that up, but it sure seems like it). I’m used to seeing marble used for Continue reading “Site 156: The First Cemetery of Athens”
Perhaps the most controversial place in Japan is Yasukuni Shrine, located in the heart of Tokyo. It certainly didn’t start out that way – after the end of the Boshin War, a civil war between forces loyal to the shogunate and the emperor in 1868-69, the emperor Continue reading “Site 154: Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine”
Zojoji Temple is located in the heart of Tokyo, not far from Tokyo Tower, one of the more iconic symbols of Tokyo. I have been meaning to go here for some time as I knew this had a mausoleum in which six Shoguns were buried. However, I almost didn’t make it Continue reading “Site 155: Tokyo’s Zōjō-ji Temple”
Every generation it seems, lives through some life- or world-changing events in their lifetime, whether it be wars, assassinations, shootings, trials and resignations, hijackings, or terrorist attacks. For me, so far they’ve been the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Continue reading “Site 153: Fukushima Exclusion Zone”
3/11. It may not be as famous as 9/11, but at least here in Japan, it’s a day that will never be forgotten. The triple disaster of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the tsunami that followed, and the explosion at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are all events that Continue reading “Site 152: Ishinomaki”
stone and dust 