Part of me resists publishing a review of Hiroshi Senju Museum Karuizawa and its semiannual exhibition, as it's much better to arrive with little idea of what to expect. The 2017 autumn and winter collection of works by Senju, a minimalist nihonga painter who takes on expansive themes like water and sky, runs through Christmas day. If you haven't yet experienced this tour de force of art, architecture and nature, stop reading now and just make plans to go. more...

The artificial island of Dejima, located in Nagasaki Bay, was built in 1634 as part of the Japanese government's isolationist policy. With an area of 1.5 hectares and a single bridge connected to the mainland, the fan-shaped island was established as the only site for foreign trade in the country, housing Portuguese merchants for the first few years and the Dutch for the following 200 years, from 1641 to 1859. more...