Katsushika Hokusai, Plum Blossoms and Moon, from the album Fuji in Spring (Haru no Fuji), 1803

Fushimi Inari

Have you watched "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor"? Episode 12 is a horror episode, thought you might want to check it out.

Thanks for the recommendation! I hadn’t seen the show before, but definitely enjoyed that episode! There are some really fantastic backgrounds episode that remind me of The Real GhostBusters.

Interesting note; the episode takes a fair amount of influence with Village of  Eight Gravestones, including the costuming of the possessed Luitenant. The Village of the Eight Gravestones features a flashback heavily based on the real-life spree killing known of the Tsumaya Massacre, where the perpetrator armed with shotgun and katana cut all power to the village and prowled with two torches strapped to a headband.

The event was adapted minus supernatural elements in the 1980s in a film called Village of Doom. The costuming you see in this episode is often used in Japanese fiction as a kind of shorthand for serial killer, akin to how in the West fictional serial killers often allude to the famous getup of the Zodiac Killer. So, the implication when it shows up is fairly grim if you’re aware of the context.

I won’t go into the events themselves as I tend not to include real crime with the blog, but it’s inclusion here was pretty interesting.

Light-up ceremony at Fukuroda Falls (袋田の滝) in the town of Daigo in Ibaraki Prefecture. The light-up season begins in Nov and lasts until Jan 31st. Visitors can cut through a tunnel through the falls which is also decorated with numerous illuminations.

Green and blue forever (Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture) [OC]

The twin dragon painting (双龍図; souryuu-zu) on the ceiling of the Kennin Temple (建仁寺) in Kyoto.

Oshougatsu, which means New Years in Japanese, is the oldest known holiday celebrated in Japan, recognized from as early as the 6th century. Because of this long history, the exact origins are not known, however it is believed to have been introduced along with Buddhism, beginning with originally Buddhist traditions, and has evolved to also include Shinto rites and rituals.

Shiraito (White Thread) Falls (白糸の滝) in Shizuoka Prefecture.

People like to say there's no such thing as the perfect crime. But the unknown individual or group who stole three hundred million yen in Tokyo on December 10th, 1968 would likely disagree. 50 years later, the case remains unsolved, and the mystery of what happened that day continues to captivate peoples' imaginations.

Though Christianity was first introduced in Japan in the 16th century, its celebration had been strictly forbidden by the then-in-power Tokugawa Shogunate, as it was a holiday celebrated by the foreigners that they were so desperate to keep out. However, as the few foreigners (and even fewer Japanese converts at the time) celebrated in private, the holiday did spread little by little, albeit slowly.

It wasn’t until the Meiji period that Christmas started to become more recognized, and was reported as a rare and unusual year-end tradition of the foreigners. And it wasn’t until the end of the Russo-Japanese war that the festivities begun to be celebrated by some Japanese nationals, though more on the basis of fun and entertainment than religion.

To understand why this is controversial, and why Akishinonomiya would make this suggestion in the first place, it's necessary to understand some of the history behind the relationship between the native Shinto religion and the Japanese imperial household, how this relationship changed after World War II, and why some Japanese remain very wary of an overly religious royal family.

Regarded as a master of the short story, Akutagawa's influence extends far beyond his short, tragic life span - a life lived in turmoil during tumultuous times.

And it was just at this time that Japan - which less than a century earlier had urged the poorer segments of its over swollen rural population to leave their homes for the foreign shores of labor-starved Brazil - suddenly cast its eyes on South America for the first time in decades, and remembered its millions of prodigal sons and daughters living there.

It’s no secret that the Japanese have been said to have the some of the longest lifespans in the world. Many believe it is due to the high volume of vegetables in their diet, and the fact that their foods are not as processed as those consumed in our Western world. And while that's a part of it, there is another factor worth considering. 

The torii gates at Inari Grand Shrine in Fushimi, Kyoto.

Yae was more than a warrior. Trained in both traditional and modern weaponry, she helped defend Aizuwakamatsu Castle against rebel forces. But she also co-founded a university and a girl's school, and pushed for modern reforms in nursing much like England's famous Florence Nightingale. Yamamoto Yae wasn't your average samurai woman, but one who fought many battles, both physical and spiritual, during her lifetime.

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While Japan boasts one of the highest adoption rates in the world, the majority of those adoptions don't involve children at all, but rather adult men. In fact, as of 2017, a whopping 98% of all adoptions in Japan were of adult men. Japan makes it scarily easy to adopt men, and not always for morally correct reasons. Want to cover up an affair? Don't want to pay inheritance taxes? Don't want your slacker son to inherit the company you've worked hard to build? Adult adoption, or 養子縁組 (ようしえんぐみ; youshi engumi) is the way to go. But how did this practice come to be? Who exactly is adopting these adult men, and why?

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