Author: Ms. R.

Tōshōgū Shrine, the burial place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, is the most popular tourist attraction in Nikkō, Japan. It’s famous for its elaborate architecture, but also known for its carved details. One of the most notable carvings is the Nemuri-neko, or the Sleeping Cat, at the entrance to the okumiya (rear shrine). The carving is attributed to Hidari Jingorō, a legendary 17th-century artist who may or may not have been a real person.  Although it……

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The secret to whipping up a gumbo that makes your neighbors jealous is in Kisatchie National Forest. At least, that’s what John Oswald Colson and Dustin Fuqua might tell you. Every summer, Colson and Fuqua make their way through the longleaf pines of Central Louisiana until they find a wispy, unassuming tree with mitten-shaped leaves low enough to pick. This is the sassafras tree, and the highly coveted, gumbo-elevating herb made from its dried and pulverized leaves is called……

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This story was excerpted and adapted from the author’s recent book, A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data. Copyright (c) 2020 by Alexander Boxer. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. The location was perfect for a new capital city. There were, of course, the standard prophecies that a great metropolis was destined to arise there. Even more persuasive, perhaps, were the……

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In the week before India went into its three-month coronavirus lockdown, Rahul Khot was a busy man. The curator of the wildlife collection at the Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai, Khot was working to ensure that the nearly 138,000 specimens under his care would be okay without regular supervision. “We weren’t really worried because we have foolproof practices,” he says. Still, he wanted to be prepared. Khot’s team checked that the specimens were properly stored and that chemicals……

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Just off the town of Livorno, in Tuscany, there is a rocky shoal known as Meloria. Now part of a marine protected area, in ancient times this skerry constituted a dangerous hazard for ships navigating the area. For this reason, in 1157, the Pisans built a lighthouse on one of the rocks that breached the surface, to signal the presence of the shoal. Meloria was the site of a large battle in 1284 between the armies of Pisa and……

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Paying homage to classic roadside attractions, The Wacky Taxidermy & Miniatures Museum contains well-over 60 dioramas and miniature scenes that feature taxidermy mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons dressed to match their environment. A 15-foot long mouse city street takes up one building alone and features 1:12 scale businesses such as a beauty salon, tattoo shop, coffee shop, and movie theatre. Other taxidermy pieces display representations of folklore creatures from around the world such as the jackalope, the wolpertinger, and……

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In the seaside County Antrim village of Whitehead, Northern Ireland, the Coastguard have always had saving lives and preventing smuggling on their minds. In fact, when the Coastguard service was first established in the 1820s, smuggling was its highest priority, because the illegal practice had become a major source of lost revenues for the country. And the Islandmagee peninsula where Whitehead resides had become a haven for smugglers. After many years operating from thatched cottages in the village, it……

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The Capodimonte porcelain factory, located on the Capodimonte hill on the outskirts of Naples, produced some of the most outstanding examples of Italian porcelain during the mid-18th century. The greatest work to hold this factory’s hallmark is the Porcelain Boudoir commissioned by the Queen of Naples, Maria Amalia of Saxony. Constructed between 1757 and 1759, the room was originally crafted inside the Palace of Portici, the new residence of the royal family completed just a few years prior. The……

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Momotarō, also known as the Peach Boy, is one of the most famous characters in Japanese folklore. In most versions, he is born out of a giant peach and raised by an elderly couple until he grows into a strong young boy. With a bag full of kibi-dango (sweet millet dumpling) made by his foster mother, Momotarō sets off on a quest to fight a marauding horde of Oni, mythological ogre-demons. He gave some of the dumplings to a dog,……

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