When people think of famous sightseeing districts in Tokyo, Asakusa is usually one of the first places that comes to mind. Visitors from around the world come to see the giant red lantern of Kaminarimon and the historic temple Senso-ji . Amid all this, there is a small but familiar “Tokyo moment” that people sometimes talk about. “I meant to go to Asakusa, but I accidentally ended up in Asakusabashi .” Because the station names sound similar, visitors occasionally get off at the wrong stop. When they step out of the station, instead of a bustling tourist area they find themselves in a calm business district. Looking around, they start wondering: “Where is Kaminarimon?” There is no need to be disappointed. Asakusa is only a few minutes away by train. And there is something else. Asakusabashi itself is actually a surprisingly interesting neighborhood. It may not have many flashy tourist attractions. But the area is filled with the atmosphere of Tokyo’s old downtown, a hist...
Who was the first famous person in Japanese history? That’s not an easy question—but there’s one name that stands out. Her name was Himiko , and she ruled nearly 1,800 years ago. While powerful figures likely existed in Japan long before her, Himiko is special for one key reason: She is the earliest known individual in Japanese history that we can actually identify today by name —with a fairly clear historical context and credible evidence of her existence. An Identifiable Person in a Prehistoric Land Japan in the 3rd century CE had no written records of its own. Most of what we know about this time comes from Chinese historical texts , especially the Records of Wei (魏志倭人伝), part of the Records of the Three Kingdoms . This document tells us that the country of Wa (early Japan) had been in turmoil under the rule of male kings. It was said that conflict could not be resolved until the people "made a woman named Himiko their ruler." She was described as a shaman-que...