Chi-Chia's blog

A four-day summer family trip from Changhua to Xitou and Sun Link Sea in Nantou, with the DOD PERRY WAGON's first outing, a long walk to the Xitou Astronomical Observatory, firefly watching in the rain, and a carsick ride home.

A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Kamakura period: the Hokuriku front of the Jōkyū War of 1221 and the Nagoe shugo line, the layers of tradition behind the Ataka barrier and Kanjinchō, Kamakura-period artifacts of Tateyama worship, and Shinran's Jōdo Shinshū in later Hokuriku history.

A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Heian period: the founding of Kaga Province in 823, a governor's working visit recorded in the Tamefusa-kyō-ki, the rise of Hakusan and Tateyama worship, and the 1183 Battle of Kurikara Pass that pushed the Hokuriku road onto the national stage.

A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Nara period: the Etchū provincial capital and Ōtomo no Yakamochi's Man'yō poems, the Tōdai-ji estate maps, Bohai envoys on the Japan Sea coast, and why the written record differs so much across the three areas.

A spontaneous family stay at Fame Hall Garden Hotel in Longtan, Taoyuan, covering the room, the Toddler's Playroom, dinner at Parents Restaurant, breakfast, fish feeding, and how the hotel felt after another return visit.

A travel note for Komatsu, Kanazawa, and Toyama that organizes the Asuka period, the spread of Buddhism and writing culture, and the archaeological evidence for settlement, production, administration, ritual, and tomb change in the three cities.

A Taipei family activity at Suiye Farm where the kids learned about chickens, mixed feed, fed hens, picked eggs, and met retired horses.

The first Hokuriku history-and-culture note for our upcoming trip to Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu, bringing together the key sites, Toyama's shakoki-dogu, and the archaeological context from the Paleolithic, Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods.