An island festival steeped in history
In 1185, Japan's Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genpei) clans played out the final battle of the Genpei War, the result of which would have a profound effect on Japan ushering in its first shogun with Kamakura as the shogunate. In the latter part of the ...
Submitting to the masters on Onomichi's Path of Literature
The Onomichi Path of Literature is a short 1-kilometer walking trail that introduces the many famous literary masters associated with the Japan Heritage city.
The death of a Japanese countryside festival
Ancient rites bend to an aging, shrinking population, but how much longer can local traditions hold out?
One man's labor-of-love museum captures Seto Inland Sea island's storied stone history
Build a stone museum and they will come? That's the idea behind the K's Labo museum on Kitagi Island in Okayama Prefecture.
Japan's public policy is killing rural entrepreneurship
While big-ticket tourism projects in Japan thrive, those involved in smaller-scale projects can feel starved of government support.
Shikoku prison escapee stymies 6,600 police on small island in Seto Inland Sea
Police in Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures have been pursuing the man on Mukaishima Island since he escaped from Matsuyama Prison on April 8.
A ceremony was held Sunday to celebrate Tuesday's 30th anniversary of the Seto-Ohashi Bridges, a series of bridges connecting Kagawa and Okayama prefectures across the Seto Inland Sea. The Seto-Ohashi Bridges form one of the bridge routes linking the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku. One ...
Launch a tourist-friendly Seto Inland Sea ferry system and they will come
The 250 or so inhabited islands scattered like pebbles between Honshu and Shikoku have been unfairly relegated to guidebook sidebars labeled "Off the beaten track."
What do Western tourists want from Japan? Try asking one
How many other countries would attempt to lure Western tourists without at least having a tete-a-tete with a woman in their target audience who has lived for over 20 years in the very place they're hoping to attract people to?
Slow food and easy pedaling along Seto Inland Sea's Shimanami Kaido
Japanese-Western fusion cuisine abounds along this six-island cycle path connecting Hiroshima to Ehime.
Discovering the mystery behind 'Goat Island' in the Seto Inland Sea
There was a man living on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea who had a goat. He was not an old man, and he didn't know much about ruminants, so when his goat grew bigger, and its stubbornness exceeded its usefulness, the ...
Rural Japan looks to tap repeat tourists from abroad amid slump in shopping sprees
With signs of a slowdown in foreign tourists' spending at urban shopping centers in the country, officials and businesses in regional cities are aiming to draw greater interest in their untapped tourism resources as repeat visitors from abroad increase. Consumption by foreign tourists in Japan ...
