Archive for April, 2025
A review of the stunning new film “Warfare”
April 29th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
The word unique is overused and usually misused, but “Warfare” is a unique film. The nearest work to it is Ridley Scott’s 2001 “Black Hawk Down”. Both films depict actual firefights in which American soldiers struggle to stay alive in a messy combat with the cinematography presenting a brutally visceral depiction of the violent conflict. […]
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The explosive growth in tourist numbers in Japan
April 22nd, 2025 by Roger Darlington
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that, following a professional visit to Japan in 1998, I’ve just made a return visit as a tourist for a more extensive trip. In 1998, there were 4.1M foreign visitors to Japan. By 2014, there were 13.4M. By 2024, the figure was 36.9M. This is […]
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A review of “Abroad In Japan” by Chris Broad
April 21st, 2025 by Roger Darlington
To be honest, this is not really a biography, instead it is part memoir and part travelogue. I read it while travelling in Japan and found it a very accessible and useful introduction to this wonderful but strange country. It is written in a casual, even conversational, style and it is often quite funny. Broad […]
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A review of “Japan: A Short History” by Mikiso Hane
April 21st, 2025 by Roger Darlington
For the last two millennia, Japanese history has been divided into eras named after the capital or after the shogun or emperor of the time: the Yamato period (c.300-710) with the political centre located in the area around Kyoto, then known as Yamato; the Nara period (710-784) named after the capital city; the Heian period […]
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It will take you 18 minutes to listen to this talk – but you won’t regret it
April 20th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
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Holiday in Japan (13): reflections
April 18th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
How to summarise such an exciting and varied holiday? We all agreed that the highlight of our trip had been the day viewing the majestic Mount Fuji. Often the sight of the volcano is hazy or poor or simply impossible. We could not have had better weather and clearer views. For me, the other highlight […]
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Holiday in Japan (12): return
April 18th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Thursday was a day of departures with different members of the Great Rail Journeys group flying off to different destinations. Those flying to London had the day free in Osaka. Four of us joined together as a Northern Brigade: Dave & Jen from Grimsby, Jenny originally from Huddersfield, and me originally from Manchester. The weather […]
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Holiday in Japan (11): Arashiyama & Osaka
April 16th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
It was the last day of the official part of our tour (Wednesday). Leaving Kyoto after three nights, we first journeyed to the nearby town of Arashiyama. We were there to see a bamboo forest. The company’s description of the location suggested: “Listen out for the soothing sounds of trunks creaking and knocking together and […]
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Holiday in Japan (10): Nara
April 15th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
On the penultimate day of the official part of our tour (Tuesday), the pace slackened, when we did not leave our hotel in Kyoto until 9.30 am and we were back at 3.20 pm. We were out of the city all day. At a place called Fushimi, we visited a sake brewery called Kizakira. This […]
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Holiday in Japan (9): Kyoto
April 14th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
We spent the whole of Monday in Kyoto. The city is most famous for its fabulous temples and, in the morning, we visited two of them. On my visit to Kyoto in 1998, I saw four temples: Kiyomizu Temple, Sanjusangendo Temple, Nijo Castle and Nanzen-ji Temple. Today we went to a new location for me, […]
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