The Rise and Fall of the Ryuzoji Clan and the Bear of Hizen, Ryuzoji Takanobu. 龍造寺隆信 by Stuart Iles Part 1 – The beginning of the end for the once great Shoni clan. There were countless regional lords who tasted a smidgen of success, although for most aspiring warlords to become number one, this success was short lived.  Ryuzoji Takanobu fits this picture perfectly.  Before we dive deep into Kyushu local history, I would like to share an interesting tidbit popped up while I was researching this topic.  A Japanese online source mentioned that there were only two battles where a s ..read more

Arita Town is located in the western part of Saga Prefecture. It borders Nagasaki Prefecture from the south-west to the south of the town. Forests and mountains cover approximately 70% of the town’s land, which is flanked by the Arita River, which divides the town and flows into Imari Bay. The town covers an area of 65.8 sq km and has a population of approximately 21,000. On 1 March 2006, the town was merged with Arita, a pottery town, and Nishi-Arita, an agricultural town, to form the new town of Arita. Arita is known for Arita-yaki porcelain, one of Japan’s traditional crafts, which was firs ..read more

Before writing systems arrived in Japan, the only references we have about ancient Japan is from the Chinese. There is a series of scrolls that documents the history of the Three Kingdoms of ancient China. In the 30th scroll we come across the people of Wa, meaning people of Japan. Gishi Wajinden can be translated as ‘People of Wa in the Chronicle of the Kingdom of Wei’. The scrolls were written by Chen Shou who lived from 233 to 297AD. In the scroll, it mentions the following kingdoms. Geumgwan Gaya (Southern Korea), Tsushima, Iki, Matsuro (Karatsu), Ito (Itoshima), Na (Fukuoka city), Fumi (U ..read more

Morning everyone. It has been a little while since my last post and I thought I would give a little update why I haven’t posted anything recently. Doing research on a topic, for me anyway, inevitably leads to deeper research on connecting topics. In this case my research on ancient Kikuchi castle and Ono castle a little while back, led my curiosity to other ancient castle sites in Japan. Problem is, I now have 3 unfinished research articles and a new book to decipher. This is what is in the works. 1. Kikuchi castle update post with a full translation of its history from the Kumamoto Prefectur ..read more

Had a day trip down to Kurume and popped into Yamaguchi Shuzo. Yamaguchi Brewery is located in the middle reaches of the Chikugo River, a major river in Kyushu, and the city of Kurume (formerly Mii County). The brewery is located right on top of high-quality water wells. The well to the south of the warehouse was dug in the Edo period (1603-1868), and it is said to have been ‘dug by Mr Yamaguchi’ because it was so pure and produced a large quantity of water. At the end of the Edo period, Risuke Yamaguchi (6th generation), who had previously dealt in antiquities and oil, obtained a licence to b ..read more

Hi, first I wanna say thankyou to all my followers. I am very happy that you all like my blog and can appreciate the time I spend travelling around and researching to write these posts. Also, thankyou to the people who I work with and allow me to use your work on my blog. Recently, I haven`t been able to do a lot of exploring or writing. My business, two little kids and family life are taking up all my time. Unfortunately, this blog will have to wait a bit. Although, I would like to try and catch up a bit with the backlog of material I have. For now, lets have a look at Hizen Nagoya castle rui ..read more

Wow, another brilliant year for my blog. Steadily growing every year which if fantastic. 2021 figures. 38,982 views, 22,414 visitors, 18 posts published. I`m so happy to be living here in Japan and I can follow my passion of Japanese history. There is still so much to see and write about and I want to thank everyone who visited my blog and read the articles. Most popular posts. FIRST! Hannya – (A Japanese She-Demon) SECOND! Tachi (sword) named Koinmeitachi, dated 570AD found in Fukuoka, Kyushu. THIRD! Edict of 1635 and its inception More great stories to come. Cheers Stua ..read more

I finally had a chance to visit a couple of breweries on my time off near my home in Fukuoka city. Suginoya brews both nihonshu and beer which for me, was like hitting two birds with one stone. The brewery is located in central Itoshima, near Kyushu University. The site is made up of the nihonshu brewery, beer brewery, a restaurant and a shop. The brewery, to my surprise is nearly 150 years old. It was established in the 3rd year of the Meiji period which is 1871 I believe. Now, Itoshima at that time was still quite underdeveloped compared to now. In Fukuoka, the two main city centers were aro ..read more

Wandering around old Japanese towns is very fulfilling. You can usually get a nice feeling of nostalgia and experience of what life was like living here in small town Japan hundreds of years ago. Kurashiki is a famous old canal town which prospered from about the year 1600 at the beginning of the Edo period. Kurashiki sits on the Kurashiki river system. This river system was very important to the town as it enabled transportation of the rice grown in the region to be sent to customers further out than would be possible on a cart. Kurashiki kura (warehouses) line the canal. Today many old kura ..read more

Over a period of a few hundred years there were thousands of castles built in Japan. In Fukuoka Prefecture only, over 800 castles are recorded to have been built. Good for those of you who are castle fans as you can pretty much find a castle or castle ruin anywhere in Japan. Well, except for Hokkaido, which only has a couple. Anyway, I live in Kyushu, we have a few nice castles and ruins but most are long forgotten, overgrown with weeds, crumbling walls and most are in places which are not easily accessed. So if you happen to stumble on a ruins, get in there and check it out, it is well worth ..read more