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 Yoshiaki Miura

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Yoshiaki Miura
For Yoshiaki Miura's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / AT A GLANCE
Apr 28, 2018
150 years since the Edo Castle surrender
What's done is done. But what if a historic negotiation over the surrender of Edo Castle between Saigo Takamori, who led the Imperial forces during the fall of Edo, and Katsu Kaishu, the shogunate's army minister, had fallen through 150 years ago? The surrender of the fort, or the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, which opened the door to Japan's modernization, might not have happened, and what is now the nation's capital could have gone up in flames. Edo, renamed Tokyo in September 1868, was controlled by the shogunate for 260 years, but it fell to the alliance of Satsuma and Choshu forces supportive of the formation of a new government under the restored Imperial rule of Emperor Meiji. One of the central conditions for the peaceful handover, which saved Edo and its population of more than 1 million from war, was to spare the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and last shogun. Emperor Meiji moved from Kyoto to his new residence in the castle, which today is part of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Nov 4, 2017
Gundam towers over a transforming Tokyo
Every day, the towering full-scale Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront district undergoes a transformation, eliciting shouts of joy from visitors young and old, many trying to snap good photos with their smartphones.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Jul 20, 2017
High-tech brush and dustpan
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Apr 29, 2017
Tokyo cruise offers a step back in time
A new Tokyo Bay samurai-themed cruise ship fashioned after those used by feudal lords back in the Edo Period (1603-1868) promises tourists visiting the nation's capital an interesting contrast between modernity and tradition.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Jan 31, 2017
Tsukiji's fish wholesalers may be leaving but Showa Era outer market here to stay
Although the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tsukiji's fish merchants are wrangling over the planned transfer of the site in Chuo Ward to the Toyosu district in Koto Ward a few kilometers southeast, there is still a portion of the world-famous market that will remain vibrant and unchanged.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Dec 7, 2016
A taste of Russia in Tokyo
With Russian President Vladimir Putin set to visit Japan next week, expectations are growing as to whether progress will be made on a territorial row that has been a thorn in bilateral ties.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Oct 6, 2016
Head-turning camera puts new spin on Tokyo tourist sites
Talk about revolutionary. Ricoh's Theta S camera shoots 360 degrees and turns out head-spinning spherical images when paired with an image-processing app. The camera, which has two lenses, can be hand-held or triggered by remote control.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Aug 2, 2016
Yasukuni Shrine glows in its traditional mid-summer show
It's like a midsummer night's dream.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
May 31, 2016
Meiji Jingu a Tokyo shrine that's popular for nuptials
One bright Saturday afternoon in the fresh green of spring, priests led a bride and groom toward a wedding hall at Meiji Jingu, a renowned shrine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Apr 5, 2016
Tokyo temple's beckoning cats keep visitors purring in
A five-minute walk from Miyanosaka Station on the Tokyu Setagaya Line, Gotokuji Temple in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward offers a fun sight for visitors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Feb 2, 2016
Nakano Broadway marks 50 years, now known as a center for Japanese cultural memorabilia
Nakano Broadway turns 50 this year. The shopping complex in Tokyo's busy Nakano district remains popular with enthusiasts of pop culture, boasting dozens of manga, anime and collectors' shops.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Dec 1, 2015
Little Myanmar thrives in Tokyo as more residents arrive
In the hustle and bustle of Tokyo's Takadanobaba district there exists what might be termed Little Yangon, with a number of restaurants and shops catering to the growing community of residents from Myanmar.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Sep 1, 2015
Tateishi outwardly nondescript but grilled fare, comraderie offer inner glow
About 30 people young and old make a line in front of a small izakaya pub that offers grilled innards at 2 p.m. on a weekday in the Tateishi district of Katsushika Ward, Tokyo — an odd sight perhaps for first-timers, but a daily one for regulars.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Jul 7, 2015
Ebisu or Yebisu: Either way, it's the beer that beckons in Tokyo neighborhood
With the long rainy season almost over, real summer is just around the corner. And after a hot sunny day, it's time for a cold beer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Apr 7, 2015
Tokyo's Ueno Park blossoms as tourist site
Ueno Park, one of Tokyo's best-known landmarks, is Japan's first government-designated park, with its origins dating back to the Meiji Era. It was Dutch military Dr. Anthonius Franciscus Bauduin (1820-1885) who first proposed the idea of giving the area special status.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2015
Goto, Yukawa mourned in spontaneous gatherings nationwide
People gathered at dusk Sunday at a number of locations nationwide to mourn the deaths of Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, two hostages of the Islamic State group whom the militants apparently murdered last month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Feb 3, 2015
Tokyo's Kamata area looks to revive its film industry
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Nov 30, 2014
Shinagawa, a gateway to old and new Tokyo
In the Edo Period, Shinagawa was the first "shukuba machi," or "post station town" to be built on the Tokaido, the coastal road linking the bustling Nihonbashi district in Edo, then the de facto capital under the Tokugawa shogunate, to Kyoto, which remained the nominal capital in the west.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Oct 5, 2014
Parasite museum aside, you won't be saury for visiting Meguro
When Japanese hear the word Meguro, some might recall the old "rakugo" comedy "Meguro no Sanma" ("Meguro's Saury"), about a samurai lord in the Edo Period who fell in love with the taste of saury, the fish that was considered humble fare for peasants and others on the lower rungs of Japan's social ladder.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Aug 3, 2014
Tokyo's storied Nihonbashi raises profile to promote historical role
The Nihonbashi district prospered as Japan's financial and trade center after shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital to Edo, the old name for Tokyo, in the early 17th century.

Longform

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