The ruins of the Sankanten Shinto Shrine, which was constructed on the grounds of one of Tainan's largest sugar factories, has recently been restored by the local government. In this one I introduce the history of the shrine, and its design. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/sankanten

Taichung's Paochueh Temple (寶覺寺), a Buddhist temple that dates back to the Japanese era with a giant, very Instagrammable Buddha statue, once one of the largest in the country! www.goteamjosh.com/blog/baojue

Linfengying Station (林鳳營車站), an eighty-two year old train station in northern Tainan that dates back to the early years of the Japanese-era, and amazingly still remains in operation today. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/rinhoei

Chiayi's historic Beimen Station, the gateway to Alishan. Recently decommissioned, and restored, the station is a short distance from the popular Hinoki Village, and is part of a railway cultural park that celebrates the history and development of the city. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/beimeneki

Are Taiwan Pizza posts a thing on BlueSky? In case you were wondering, no, that's not puke in the middle of the pizza. It's the new Beef Hot Pot Pizza from Pizza Hut.

Chiayi Station, one of Taiwan’s major railway stations constructed during the Japanese-era that remains in operation today. Its time as one of Taiwan's busiest stations may soon be coming to an end, so if you have a chance to visit, you might want to visit soon! www.goteamjosh.com/blog/kagieki

A Little Egret, known in Taiwan as a pe̍h-lîng-si (白鴒鷥) taking flight at Tainan’s Sicao Wetlands.

Another year has passed, so it’s time for another year in review blog. Was it great? Was it terrible? You’ll just have to read and find out for yourself. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/2024

I walked around Osaka on my most recent trip with my small Fuji camera attached to my shoulder strap. It can’t really compare to my new Canon R5II, but the images it takes are absolutely beautiful, especially in urban areas, like this.

Walking up to the entrance of Koyasan’s four hundred year old Kongobu-ji.

This is a really important point. Falun Gong is an insane right wing cult and their Shen Yun dance troupe is a forced labor organization that simply pushes their anti-China and cult propaganda. It’s entirely possible to be anti-CCP and not align yourself with these psychos.

I just spent an hour reading about an 1805 rebellion in Taiwan led by someone who named himself the 'Sea-calming Majestic King' (鎮海威武王). It's weird that there are still so many crazy cult-like leaders here, but they never lead rebellions anymore.

As a Canadian, seeing red maples in Autumn was a pretty important thing growing up, but now that I'm living in Taiwan, it's not something I see often. Fortunately I was able to catch them in Japan during my recent trip, and even better is that I didn't have to rake them up off the lawn.

Threads remains pretty popular here in Taiwan, and unfortunately, it’s a bit better than Bluesky for keeping track of what’s going on locally. My TL, though, is constantly full of girls sharing questionable photos of themselves grifting for social media clout.

Typical Osaka restaurant.

I can’t be the only one who has just discovered that Logan Paul and Jake Paul aren’t actually the same person.

Uji Shrine’s gate with red maples. (宇治神社の鳥居)

Statues of Daruma (達磨 /ぼだいだるま) at Katsuō-ji just outside of Osaka.

Red maples in Koyasan

The giant Komainu at Osaka’s famed Nanba Shrine (難波神社)

It’s Shichi-Go-San Day (七五三) here in Japan where all the 3, 5 and 7 year old children get dressed up and head to a shrine for some festivities. It was pretty cute, as far as children go.. (I prefer dogs)

This is an update to my original article about the Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall with a much more in depth introduction and new photos of the building. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/takaohall

Here’s a photo of Keelung’s colorful Zhengbin Harbour for an otherwise dreary day.

After years of waiting, I finally got a new dream camera. I took it out yesterday for a bit of a wet adventure through Pingxi, and shot this hand-held photo of the famed Shifen Waterfall, something I would have needed a tripod for with my older camera. Quite pleased so far.

Last night’s Super Moon over Taiwan.

Tainan's Bao'an Station (保安車站), one of the few more than a century old Japanese-era wooden train stations that remain in operation in Taiwan today. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/baoeki

A history of the Kagi Shrine, and what remains today. Once one of the most important Shinto Shrines in Taiwan, it has become a popular tourist attraction, with its remnants preserved for the enjoyment of future generations! www.goteamjosh.com/blog/kagisha

Tonight’s super moon from my rooftop in Taiwan.

After what seems like hundreds of hours of research, translation, mapping, and data entry, my map of Taiwan's historic Shinto Shrines is just about ready to go live. Bet you didn't know there were 360 of them! TBH, I don't know why I did this, but I'm happy it's almost done!

One of Taiwan's few remaining major Japanese-era train stations, the historic Taichung Railway Station was retired in 2016, just short of its centennial, but it has been preserved and is currently part of a beautiful Railway Culture park. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/chueki

I've spent so much time writing about the Japanese-era over the past few years that when I was recently writing an article about a local temple, I discovered that my knowledge about local architectural design was pretty poor. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/hokkien

Spreading some love for a temple in Taipei that doesn't get much attention, but is so 'historic' that the word 'historic' is part of its official name. Jiantan Historic Temple is a quiet place to visit, is absolutely beautiful, and conveniently located less than a 2 minute walk from an MRT station!

I'm obviously a big fan of visiting shrines, and I've been to quite a few, but its safe to say that none of them compare to the beauty of this quaint mountain-side Kumano Shrine in the middle of Kyushu. It was so beautiful that I had to visit twice!

In Japan, there are shrines almost everywhere you look, but then there are also 'Grand' Shrines, which are massive places of worship, and a celebration of the nation's history and culture. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/usajingu

Located on the roof of the Hakata Railway Station, you'll find a small Shinto Shrine set up to celebrate the history of the construction of the railway that connected Kyushu to the rest of Japan. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/tetsudo

Everyday Taiwanese conversations in the midst of what Americans would refer to as a ‘titan’ 😄 AGFA APX 100

With over 44,000 shrines dedicated to Hachiman throughout Japan, you'd think it would be difficult to single one or two of the most influential, but Fukuoka's Hakozaki Shrine is certainly one of them. The historic shrine is considered to be one of three most important Hachiman Shrines in Japan.

Took the new camera out for a walk today and I have to say I’m really enjoying it.

I had meant to post this earlier this week, but I was busy and had too much going on. Even though it's a bit late, here's my ode to 2023, featuring lots of new photos from my new camera.

With a history dating back almost 1800 years old, Fukuoka's Sumiyoshi Shrine (住吉神社) is one of the most important shrines in Kyushu, and is the first place of worship dedicated to the Sumiyoshi Daijin in Japan.

Taiwanese Temple at night during the annual Qingshan King celebrations.

Over the years I've spent quite a bit of money purchasing film and having it developed, so I figured instead of doing that I'd just do what all the other hipsters are doing and invest in a new Fuji camera. Fortunately I got it in time to take it to this year's Qingshan King Festival.

The Huashan 1914 Creative Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taipei, with a constant rotation of exhibitions, concerts and other events. This article explains in detail the brewery's history, and each of the buildings within the park. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/huashan

Taipei’s ‘Top Three’ places of worship that any tourist who visits the city should probably visit while they’re in the country. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/taipeit...

Hey Bluesky, Taipei says hello!

Photos from the massive Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade that took place in Taipei last weekend. www.goteamjosh.com/blog/pride23

With the annual Qingshan King festival fast approaching, I've been getting lots of questions on my website about when it actually takes place. The Lunar Calendar strikes again! Kryptonite to foreigners! 😄 Film: AFGA-APX100

Three different views of mountains, historic bridges and rice paddies situated along the Dahan River in Daxi (大溪). AGFA APX 100

Grand Shrine accessibility at the Usa Grand Shrine in northern Kyushu, Japan. AGFA-APX 100.

Agfa APX 100 in the pouring rain at one of Fukuoka's most important Shinto Shrines.