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Whether for sentimental reasons or for some less obvious practical ones, the Emperor ordered the palace and adjacent gardens completely renovated, refurbished and “invigorated” - and that's where the modern story of Kyoto Imperial Palace began.

Not exactly a single building, and not exactly in Nara - “Palace Town” looks like a much better name for what's officially known as “Nara Imperial Palace”

Arguably, one of the most stunning wonders ever experienced by humankind, isn't a place or an object but a concept known as the “butterfly effect” - namely, occurrences when small changes bring about far-reaching consequences.

As for the show itself, it tells the story of the city of Osaka - from its babyhood when it wasn't even called “Osaka” yet but “Naniwa”;

In fact, it might be one of the friendliest and most welcoming places in the already friendliest and most welcoming country.

James Clavell's choice to gloss over the winner is remarkable because it results in "history being written not by but about the victor"

While fiction is to be taken with a grain of salt wherever it mentions facts - such as names, dates and places - it's completely in a class of its own when it comes to capturing the spirit of the times described.

Japanese history defies definition because the winner and the loser might end up being one and the same person!

Swords were about to become the first and most obvious victim of that legislation. Whether intentionally or not, the new government attempted to throw the baby out with the bathwater