by Darina Oomi | Aug 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
In our last blog post we talked about Takayama, one of our favourite cities in Japan. Located high in the Hida Mountains, its home to one of Japan’s most popular festivals. The Takayama Festival actually refers to two festivals, the Takayama Spring Festial, or...
by Darina Oomi | Aug 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
Unique Japan Tours loves Takayama. It’s a beautiful city, located high in the Hida mountains (hence why it’s sometimes called Hida-Takayama). After the hustle and bustle of modern Tokyo, Takayama is a welcome reprieve. A merchant city famed for it’s...
by Darina Oomi | Jul 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Kumano Kodo are a series of pilgrimage trails, located in the Kansai region of Japan, south of Kyoto and Nara. Kumano is the name of the area, and “kodo” means the “old ways”, so the name literally translates as the old ways of Kumano. The trails were, and still...
by Darina Oomi | Jul 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
In our last blog post we talked about the Gokaido, the five routes built in the Edo period of Japan, which connected the capital of Edo, modern Tokyo, with the outer provinces of the country. We also talked about the Tokaido, one of the two routes connecting the old...
by Darina Oomi | Jul 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
In 1601, soon after he came into power, the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu started to build five routes connecting the capital of Edo (modern day Tokyo), with the other provinces. These routes were essential for the success of the Sankin-Kotai system, where lords would have...