日本レフティゴルフ協会 NALG JAPAN

Guided by Todd and Mie

Introduction

As your flight is approaching to Japan, you must be getting excited. If you are interested in learning more about Japan which has never been written in a guide book, please give this a try. On this site, you will see a lot about Japan through the eyes of both Todd Evans, from Seattle U.S., living nine years in Japan with his Japanese wife and beautiful little daughter and Mie Waki, a native Japanese with Tom, a left-handed amateur golfer and a sweet husband. We will try to give this a fun, casual, intelligent and uncareful (or carefree?) approach to travelling in and understanding four disaster prone islands.

Japan is a small country in area with a large population of 130 billion, and..uh-oh, twenty five percent of which are over the age of 65. It has a long history and a variety of culture, customs, nature and human character.

One of the best parts of Japan is food. You can enjoy every kind of authentic cuisine from around the world which is an excellent perk. In “that” guide book by Michelin, there are more restaurants with three stars here than in France. There is so-called “B-class gourmet” which is not junk food or fast food but local cuisine from daily life such as Okonomi Yaki, Yakisoba, ramen, donburi, gyoza and so on.. Can’t stop when we start talking about it, we will let you know more about “food in Japan” in the future series.

You are approaching Narita International Airport –which is one of the main entrances for foreign travelers into Japan and its capital city, Tokyo. Unfortunately, it failed to become a hub in Asia, having been plagued by formidable protesters who were against constructing an airport in their area. Because of this, the airport had no choice but to begin and continue operating with only one runway for more than thirty years since its opening in 1978. However, this fact definitely proves that Japan is a true democratic country in Asia.

You are taking a limousine bus to the Central Tokyo Area. You will see a renewed Tokyo railway station (repair cost about 600 million dollars and took 5 years. It is worth visiting) and soon the Imperial Palace ・・・・・・・

Welcome to Japan!

Brief history of Emperor

From about 2600 years ago until today, Japan has had 125 emperors. The first one was Jin-mu (BC660～) which means God Warrior in Chinese Character. It is somewhat considered that from the 1st emperor to the 14th (～AD269) existed only in myths. Though the next 11 emperors from the 15th to the 25th have yet to be determined, 110 emperors are on the record from when the 26th Kei-tai (AD507～531)  was confirmed to be directly descended up to the current 125th emperor Hei-sei meaning peace.        There were several periods when a samurai warrior took the throne from the emperor starting in 1199. He was called the Shogun or General. Unlike the usurpers of Europe and Egypt, the emperor was never killed. He always maintained his title and kept his head… literally. So Japan is the country with the purest and longest Imperial Lineage.

The emperor had originally resided in Nara. There is no clear mention in any historical materials about where we should call a capital city but it has been considered to be the place where the emperor lived/lives. The 19th emperor moved to Kyoto in 794, for a more convenient location to rule mainly to utilize the river. Since then, Kyoto had been a capital city for more than 1000 years, with aristocrats writing poetry, farmers growing delicious vegetables, and chefs creating gorgeous, extravagant Japanese cuisine still served there today, but the price have gone up.

In 1868, there was yet another power switch from Shogunate to Emperor with the capital being moved to Tokyo which had been introduced to special guest in the form of four black fleets from America demanding trade. Japan had been closed at that time for about 250 years. Many Japanese land loads under the Shogun and some of whom had been secretly trading with China and other Asian countries and had become wealthy with strong samurai serving them wanted a return of power to the Emperor and open the country. Civil fighting occurred and the Emperor was restored. This is the start of modern Japan.

A new Imperial Palace was built near the ruins of an Edo period Shogunate castle.Bringing us to your arrival point in Tokyo now.