Ozu is often perceived to be a uniquely Japanese director with a fascination for the domestic, but in fact he was a wide-ranging movie fan who started out aping US films and rarely had real experiences to parallel the lives of his protagonists, says this February 2010 feature.
Iwami Ginzan, a historical ensemble of a silver mine site and mining towns in a seemingly sleepy part of Shimane Prefecture, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
LAHAINA, Hawaii Wildfires that rendered this historic former Hawaiian capital a smoldering ruin also left deep scars among the descendants of 19th century Japanese immigrants brought to the Valley Isle to work the sugarcane fields.