I had a chance to visit Hokkaido this summer, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. A trip to Hokkaido used to involve flying, or a very slow journey by boat, but a new extension of the shinkansen network to Shin-Hakodate station opened in March 2016. We were now able to go there by train thanks to the Seikan Tunnel — a 53km long underground section, 23km of which sinks 100 metres below...
I’ve been running this website since March 2009, and this is my 300th blog. I guess that’s an anniversary of sorts, and it got me thinking about my early years as a writer. I made several false starts during my twenties, mostly because I just didn’t have any life experience, and so I had nothing to say. I only really found my topic with travel. That was a way in, an exotic frame for me to explore...
That mysterious ruined island in Skyfall is real. If you saw the 2012 James Bond film, you were likely as mesmerized as I was by the scene. Bond and Séverine are prisoners on a yacht, and as they sail towards the villain’s lair to meet their doom, a mysterious island emerges from sea mist. As the ship draws closer, we see that the island is crowded with abandoned concrete structures: an entire...
We arrived in Nagasaki just as the late afternoon light began to slide down the mountain sides, reflecting off the long narrow harbour and casting the first shadows into the crevices of the steep hillsides clustered with dwellings. This would be our final stop of a week-long exploration of western Japan. And in many ways, we saved the most unique city for last. Nagasaki’s setting in the valley of...
The city of Hakata — on the island of Kyushu — has been completely overrun by mainland Chinese. We’d stopped there for a night on our way between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And we’d just walked over to the new Canal City shopping complex in search of something to eat. As you know by know, all journeys in Japan revolve around regional food, and this enormous collection of shops just happens to house...
A ride was waiting for us at the station when we returned to the mainland from Miyajima. We followed the road further down the coast, past the large circular enclosures of oyster farms which occupied the inland waters. And then we wound up the hill through smaller streets to our lodgings for the night. A visit to an onsen (“hot spring”) is an essential part of any trip Japan, and one I always...
We continued our post-Hiroshima adventures down the coast about half an hour by train from the city, where we explored one of the official National Treasures of Japan. Popularly known as Miyajima (or “Shrine Island”), the main Shinto complex of Itsukushima-jinja was established in the time of Empress Suiko. But it was the Heian period warlord Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181) who gave it its present...
Hiroshima was once a vibrant castle town. And the Sarugaku-cho neighbourhood was a lively place of noh actors, artisans, physicians and shops. Until the day that everyone died. At 8:15am on Monday August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay flew over and unleashed the greatest destructive force the world had ever known. The bomb was detonated in the air, 580m above the ground...
I’ve got “top ten” lists on the brain these days… I thought it’d be fun to dredge through the foggy corners of my memory, brush aside the cobwebs, and post a list of my top 10 favourite cities, taken from 25 years of travel. Number One aside, I didn’t post this list in any particular order. Each place is unique and has some individual character that can’t be compared with the others...
It’s been quiet here in Road Wisdom land, but it’s the silence of distant places rather than the silence of inactivity that has fallen over my blog… I’ve been on the road these past couple months. Exploring the rugged interior of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Navigating the hectic city streets of Tokyo, and the quieter corners of northern Honshu. And more recently in...