Book Review: Samurai Assassins: “Dark Murder” And The Meiji Restoration 1853-1868 By Romulus Hillsborough

This first-ever account in English of the assassins who drove the revolution details one of the most volatile periods in Japanese history!

Hillsborough refers to this, his latest book, as ‘a study of the ideology and psychology behind the “samurai revolution”’ and that it certainly is. Thankfully for once, it is not a book that focuses on or sensationalises the assassinations of ‘foreign barbarians’ in a period in Japan when political assassinations flourished, not least of which were those of the foreigners residing in Japan. This a fact attested to by the British Legation’s interpreter Thomas McClatchie, himself a student of Kenjutsu under Sakikabara Kenkichi, in his 1879 letter to Morita Kan’ya’s invitation to visit the Kabuki theatre – ‘In Japan people like the so called rōnin with their katana swords have long been in

A Guide For Finding Pretty Places Anywhere In Japan

Finding Japan’s inner elegance can be an exhilarating adventure!

Japan’s multifaceted landscape is cloaked in a mysterious ambiance that has engaged the hearts of travellers for centuries. Its isolation as an island nation kept its traditions, many of which date back thousands of years, preserved from outside influence until the war brought in a major influx of foreign pressure in the mid part of the 20th century. Since then, the country has developed to

Travel & Tourism: Activity Holidays In Japan

Japan has a comprehensive and diverse range of attractions to offer!

Japan is often thought of as one of the world’s technology hubs. With activity tours, however, you can see its little-known side filled with natural, historical and cultural wonders. There is more to Japan than what you can find in its hustling and