This gallery contains 19 photos.
Yokohama is the original treaty port in Japan; it was here, in 1854 that the Treaty of Amity was signed between Commodore Perry (of the United States) and Japan, which forced open Japanese ports to European trade. In fact, the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 17 photos.
The Oriental Hotel is the grande dame of the Kobe hospitality scene, and it has had a long and complicated history. The first generation of the hotel was established by a Dutchman in 1870 at Lot 6 of the Foreign … Continue reading
This gallery contains 29 photos.
Kitano-cho (or Kitano District) 北野町 was an extension of the Kobe Foreign Settlement, in that it was the location of the latter’s residential and consular district. Like the Oura district in Nagasaki, Kitano is nestled at the foot of the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 21 photos.
The Former Foreign Settlement, or Kyu-Kyoryuchi 旧居留地 lies at the very heart of Kobe City, and is also where the city began its history as a major port in Japan. The Foreign Settlement was established post-1868, when Japan was forced … Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
Now that the book is launched, its time to get back to the Grand Tour of China, Korea and Japan. Our next stop is one of the original 7 treaty ports forced open to trade in the aftermath of US Commodore … Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
The grande dame of the Nagasaki hospitality scene was the former Belle Vue Hotel, situated just off the Bund, at the edge of Glover Hill, in the Oura Foreign Settlement. It was the second oldest Western-style hotel in the city, established … Continue reading
This gallery contains 36 photos.
Quite unbeknownst to most visitors, Nagasaki is a historic centre of pilgrimage for Japanese Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. The city centre is quite literally bursting with temples of all kinds, particularly around the foot of the various hills in the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 22 photos.
Nagasaki has the oldest existing Chinese settlement and community in Japan, consisting of Chinese migrants (from primarily the Fujian province) who crossed over in the early 1600s, during the final years of the Ming Dynasty. They have assimilated so well … Continue reading
This gallery contains 32 photos.
In 1858, Japan signed the Harris Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States of America. The Treaty Port Era had begun for the Land of the Rising Sun. Five ports were forced open … Continue reading
This gallery contains 23 photos.
Dejima 出島, which literally means “out -” or “exit-island” in Japanese, was an artificial, fan-shaped island reclaimed from Nagasaki bay by order of the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu 徳川 家光 in 1634, to house those errant Portuguese, whom, ostensibly in the … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 