This gallery contains 17 photos.
The Imperial Hotel is THE grande dame of the hospitality scene in Tokyo. It was built in the Meiji Era – the first Western-style hotel in Japan, built to cater to European visitors. It opened in 1890 but unfortunately, burnt down in … Continue reading
This gallery contains 15 photos.
The Imperial Palace in Tokyo stands on the foundations of the former Edo Castle, which has existed on the same site since 1457. In 1868, the Meiji Emperor moved from his Imperial Palace in Kyoto to the Edo Castle, renaming it … Continue reading
This gallery contains 33 photos.
To really view specimens of Meiji-era architecture up-close, one has to travel Southeast to Inuyama 犬山, a small town on the outskirts of Nagoya, for the one-of-a-kind Meiji Mura Museum. Literally meaning “Meiji Village,” Meiji Mura 明治村 is a sprawling … Continue reading
This gallery contains 47 photos.
In 1868, the Meiji Emperor, upon ascending to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the Imperial Capital, Kyoto 京都, subdued the Tokugawa Shogunate and abolished shogunates altogether, declaring that from henceforth, political power would once again be restored to the Monarchy. The last time … Continue reading
This gallery contains 25 photos.
Underneath the contemporary glass and steel of Tokyo likes the older city of Edo, the seat of power of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The city became the de facto capital of Japan in 1603, when the Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated power and … Continue reading
This gallery contains 15 photos.
So finally, 15 months and 14 cities later, we arrive here at the final destination of our Grand Tour of the Far East: Tokyo, also known as the Eastern Capital 東京. Tokyo is most often known as a hyper-modern metropolis – … Continue reading
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So it’s hard to believe that I’ve only been back home in Singapore 2 years and 9 months. I moved home officially from New York City in October 2012, and in three months time, I commemorate three years of homecoming. It doesn’t … Continue reading
This gallery contains 20 photos.
Hotel New Grand is the grande dame of Yokohama’s hospitality scene, and the only European-style grand hotel in Japan that still exists in pretty much condition as in the 1920s. The hotel was opened in 1927, four years after the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 10 photos.
If Nagasaki’s Chinatown is Japan’s oldest and most historic, Yokohama’s Chinatown, also known as Chukagai 中華街, is the nation’s largest and most bustling. Located within the former foreign settlement of Kannai, alongside its European sibling, Bashamichi, the Chinese settlement was … Continue reading
This gallery contains 29 photos.
During the Treaty Port Era, foreign residents in Yokohama settled high up in the Yokohama Hills, which they called The Bluff. Here also was to be found the major foreign consulates of the various Great Powers with trading interest in the city. … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 