Tag Archives: edo

Travels in Japan: [Part 10: Souma horse riding festival and dressing up like a Samurai]

On our recent trip to Japan we stayed a few days in Souma (相馬市) which resides in Fukushima prefecture (福島県) in northeast Japan, a few hours from Tokyo by speed train. Souma (sometimes written as Soma) is a relatively small city with a population of roughly 35,000 people, considered as a castle town (城下町) in the Edo period.… Read More »

Manga review: 大奥 (Ooku – The Inner Chambers) by Fumi Yoshinaga, Book 1

I’ve been keeping an eye on this manga in Japanese book stores for a few years now, whose mysterious cover and title piqued my interest. During a recent business trip to New York, I finally decided on picking up the first issue at Book Off. (I have a review of this Japanese bookstore here.) From… Read More »