How to learn about historic spots

Asakusa's timeless Kaminarimon The MET

How much do you know about the history of the place right under your feet? And how do you learn about the lore, and events of the locations you visit? Whenever I get the itch to explore my town or take a day trip, of course, I check Google Maps and look up sightseeing spots on travel websites. But to get a richer insight, I like to find out what happened and why wherever I’m going.

Before I venture into my favorite part of Tokyo, Shitamachi, I have a glance at Exploring Old Tokyo, a travel and history blog written by a foreign resident. His perspective is that information on many travel websites is too thin, so he strives to tell the story of the places he visits. The last blog post went up in the autumn of 2021, but it’s still a great insight into the Edo to Taisho era that remains there. 

While I putter around the house or ride trains, I go down historical rabbit holes with Isaac Meyer’s weekly History of Japan podcast. Meyer, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Washington, covers medieval to modern events in great detail in a no-frills format. One of his recent episodes, The Wolves of Mibu, answers a lot of questions I had about the mystique of the Shinsengumi, a militia that had its headquarters down the road from me in Nagareyama City.

Cultural Heritage Online is a digital source run by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. It’s fun to browse. Click the Time Machine Navi for a scrolling display of treasures from all over Japan. The sliders at the bottom allow you to adjust era and region, and when you click on an item you get a larger view and links to detailed information.

If that isn’t cool enough, click the search, type in a location name, and you’ll get thumbnails of art, documents, buildings, and intangible properties, too. The English side appears to limit the categories to artifacts in museums, but try the Japanese side for a narrow search of sites in a specific region or town. I found that the Japanese side allows a finer search. Click 分野 bunya in the menu to see dozens of categories. Click a thumbnail to see the specifics, and scroll down for maps.

And one more tip - Your own city or town’s website has a 文化財 bunkazai or cultural heritage section with a listing of tangible and intangible cultural properties.