Nagoya – Atop the fifth-floor observatory at the Gifu Sekigahara Battlefield Memorial Museum, a thick fog hangs low over the surrounding narrow valley on the morning I visit. A guide mentions that, minus the intermittent mid-September rain, it’s eerily similar to the weather that fell over the small town almost 426 years ago on Oct. 10, 1600 — the day a clash between more than 160,000 samurai led to the end of more than a century of civil war and the start of the peace, stability and cultural blossoming of the Edo Period (1603-1867). And yet, there are barely a few dozen attendees — all of them Japanese — at the museum during my visit.
Despite samurai being a universal symbol of Japan overseas, it’s nearly always kitschy, samurai-coded “museums” and “experiences” that draw tourist crowds. Rarely, it seems, do sites like Sekigahara — actual battlefields where samurai armies crossed swords and spilled blood — attract a significant number of travelers.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
