Nijo-jo, the site of Shogun Tokugawa leyasu’s castle, is a short bus or taxi ride up Horikawa-dori. The bus stop is called Nijo-jo mae, “in front of Nijo Castle.” It is impossible to miss, the moat, the white wall blocks along, the massive gate will tip you off. And yet, there’s no castle here. The [...]
Two thousand years ago in India, the legend goes, a Jain priest who could fly, and a disciple who could create gold founded a glorious sacred city on the crest of a mountain. They called it Shatrunjaya (place of victory). Now it is the Jains holiest pilgrimage site, and every year believers come for a [...]
Lady Liberty is something almost every visitor wants to see. The statue is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It is a mile and a half southwest of Manhattan. It is just off the New Jersey coast. Castle Clinton serves as the boat dock for boarding the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. [...]
Osaka is the wellspring of Kansai’s energy, energy that keeps the city moving forward at the pace of a bullet train, bringing the whole of Kansai along with it. Osaka’s tremendous human energy made it Japan’s merchant capital for centuries and the country’s number two industrial center in this century, that same energy is helping [...]
This tale is one of passion, intrigue and even of ghosts. It spans a period of 800 years and goes back to the time of the Crusaders and to the time of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. In the year 1187 the Seljukian Turks, the Saracens, captured Jerusalem once again in the name of Islam. [...]