Japan - Geek Nation Samurai Tour 2019
In October 2019 I went with my wife to Japan with the Geek Nation Tours Samurai Tour. The expert guest on the tour was Dr Stephen Turnbull who has been visiting Japan for 50 years and has written many books on Japanese history and warfare. Teras Cassidy, who runs the company also joined us. We were expertly managed by Katsuo Eriko who has travelled with Teras before and knew what to expect!
Geek Nation Tours: https://geeknationtours.com
It was an excellent trip, I recommend them.
In particular, Dr Turnbull, or The Shogun, as he became known, was one of the group, all be it an expert one, rather than keeping an academic distance.
Mascot
The photos are organised by day.
Note
Place names
jo - Castle, as in Himeji-jo. It would be wrong to say Himeji-jo Castle.
ji - Buddhist temple, as in Ginkaku-ji. It would be wrong to say Ginkaku-ji Temple.
jinja - Shinto shrine, a structure that houses one or more Shinto kami (spirits or phenomena). Shinto shrines are marked by a Tori gate and Komainu (guardians). For an example see Ootoya-jinja.
Personal names
The Japanese put the family name first and I've tried to follow that. For example, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son was Toyotomi Hideyori.
Cameras used
Most of the pictures were taken using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk II. This has a Micro four-thirds lens mount and very good stabilisation.
I used an Olympus 12-40mm, F2.8 IS PRO lens (35mm equivalent, 24-80).
Some photos were taken by my wife with a Panasonic DC-TZ90. The Itinerary page has links to her Facebook albums for those who have Facebook.