Letter to the paper from a 70 yr old lady about her 95 yr old mother "Thank you Nintendo for responding to my letter" After my mother turned 60 she began playing Tetris on gameboy all the time. It was always by her side. However when she turned 95 her health began to fail 1/4

In recently discovered documents about the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-8) the govt forces had issued an "Uchi Sute" kill & leave policy and rely on witnesses as opposed to the actual heads. The problem was soldiers were stopping to take heads & it was affecting the flow of battle.

In 1921 “the Last Ninja” Fujita Seiko gave a demonstration of Reijutsu霊術 "Ghostly Techniques" to group of about 600. This was mix of hypnotism, parlor tricks and body piercing. He began publishing books on Ninjutsu and other martial arts starting in the 1930s.

In 2012 a Buddhist statue was stolen from a temple on Tsushima and taken to Korea. The Korean temple argued that since the statue was stolen by Wako pirates in the 14th century, it rightfully belonged to Korea. It seems a peaceful solution has been reached and it will be returned

In awe at the size of the rabbits they were catching in Chiba Prefecture in 1910 It was held by the special suggestion of H.M. the Emperor and commenced on Feb.7, lasting five days...many prizes were won.

孩児参 Gaijisan Front and back of a nice piece of ginseng that is used to improve the Ki (Qui) prevent dry mouth, improve appetite, make children stronger and is effective against summertime colds. 和漢人參考 1774

Ramen shops with spooky auras

This is actually how you eat Sanma 秋刀魚 A famous folk song in the 1920's wrote the name with Kanji that meant A Katana shaped fish that you catch in the fall, and that became the most common way of writing it. It can also be written with one kanji as 鰶 "festival fish."

難病・奇病 For treatment of difficult or curious diseases come to Yahata apothecary

Old wooden ad for Nitan pills The pills contained 16 herbal medicines such as cinnamon, ginger & Saussurea costus (to treat inflammation) coated with distinctive silver foil. They left a fresh taste in the mouth and helped with bad breath, hangovers, dizziness & motion sickness

Nekohi 猫碑 Cat Stela While Cat Stela can be found all over Japan, 81 of them are located around Marumori Town, Iwate prefecture. This one dates from 1810 and is inscribed with Nekogami 猫神 God of Cats. It was unfortunately buried in a landslide following a typhoon in 2019.

E-book now available amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DJ6H…

An Edo Era floatation device used by the Kobori School. This is Kobori Tosui "walking on water"Jutsu 小堀流踏水術. No information on the construction or materials, possibly some kind of animal bladder

Ainus (Ainu) 1896 This painting illustrates the artist's interest in the natural, primitive way of living of the Ainus. The inscription in the painting is a phrase from an ancient Chinese parable describing a moral that to be natural and artless is the wisest way of living.

Shinjuku fashion over the years This ad for Shinjuku MYLORD is currently playing on the train