Isolation and The Last Samurai
At the start of the 17th century, with the commencement of the Edo Period, Japan decided it didn’t want foreign friends any more. Citing moral decline, the arrival of alien religions and the wicked vices of the wider world, it closed its doors and entered a period of self-isolation known as Sakoku. In the bustling ...
Enter The Shadow Warriors
There’s a legend based in my part of Scotland. It tells the story of Sawney Bean, a cave-dwelling cannibal who, along with his incestuous brood, would rob and eat unfortunate travellers. The Beans, of whom there were said to be several dozen, would overwhelm the innocent passers-by before dragging them off to their dark lair. ...
The Tranquil Hill
I can think of no other country in the world that feels so simultaneously futuristic and steeped in history as Japan. Without ever having come here, I always imagined that Japan essentially existed five years in Europe’s future. Yet no right-minded wee boy would fail to fantasise about the machinations of the samurai and ninja. ...