Global Studies Scholar and Lecturer, storyteller, travel blogger & photographer, 'Big History' proponent, retired physician, intellectual omnivore
#2: The Nara Daibutsu at Todai-ji 
1- It's extremely beautiful and geologically interesting, with a rugged green volcanic south and an uplifted, sculpted limestone north. That means stunning mountains & beaches, with the latter mostly encircled by a barrier reef which makes for great swimming and snorkeling. 
The deep, capacious lagoon comprises 19 higher volcanic islands, 10 atolls, and over 100 coralline islets. 
But politically, it is part of the nation of Papua New Guinea, not part of the Commonwealth Nation of the Solomon Islands. 
The airfield was taken from the Japanese, who had invaded and occupied Guadalcanal in July 1942. The Americans re-named the airfield in honor of Lt. Lofton Henderson, the marine air squadron commander who had been the first to perish in the June '42 Battle of Midway. 
Rangiroa means 'Vast Sky' and it lives up to its name. It's about 48 miles long by 20 miles wide and its circumference is over 120 miles. The photos below were taken from inside its 'inland sea' lagoon - it might have been called 'Big Water'. 2/5 
Fakarava is in the Tuamotu archipelago. Its huge rectangular lagoon sits where a mountainous volcanic island once loomed but has subsided completely beneath the sea over millions of years, leaving only a ring of coral motus. 
Mendaña's voyages would go far beyond Polynesia in search of the mythical southern continent of Terra Australis. But his voyages would be blood-soaked, and end in mayhem in the Solomon Islands. An excellent account by Robert Graves: 
It's lush and beautiful, straddling the Caribbean and Atlantic. Below is a view looking southeast from St. Kitts to Nevis. The clouds that gather on the volcanic Nevis Peak give the mountain its name, derived from the Spanish word 'nieves' for snows. 
The battle pitted two naval titans against each other: France's Comte de Grasse and Britain's Admiral George Rodney. Comte de Grasse was fresh off a crucial French victory in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay (aka Battle of Virginia Capes)...
But only the 4 in yellow remain French today: 
Truman and Churchill did not mince words when they warned 11 days before the Hiroshima bombing: 
The goal was to bring forth amrita, the elixir of immortality, with a vow to share it. The demons, who were in control of the world at the time, helped the gods tear off Mt. Mandara, one of the 5 peaks of Mt. Meru where the gods dwelled, to use as a churning stick. 2/11 
Note the waving hand varies, and it matters: 
Sampuru dates at least from the Edo Period and replicas were originally made from wax. Modern sampuru are mostly made of plastic and natural resins. Guess which food items below are real and which are sampuru fakes? 2/4
To do so you’d have to go to Chinatown in Incheon, South Korea. The area dates back to the China-Korea Treaty of 1882. That’s when Chinese traders settled in the port area of this city by the Yellow Sea. The area is no longer residential, but... 
Is it animal, mineral, vegetable, or alien organism? Well, despite the misnomer 'sea pineapple', it's very much a member of Kingdom Animalia. Also known as 'sea squirt', it's an ascidian tunicate and is a relative of the most ancient pre-vertebrates. Who knew. 
It is profoundly steeped in history, and the museum in the Castle and the adjacent larger museum tell the spectacular stories well. Here is a good summary of the larger-than-life, truth-is-stranger-than fiction story of the 1614-15 Siege of Osaka Castle:
This shimenawa shown below - at the entry of the grand shrine Izumo Taisha west of Matsue - is said to be the world's largest. 
The kamikazes were deployed in full and fierce force - wreaking profound physical and psychological havoc. 
The immense destruction wrought can be seen in the pictures, which resemble Hiroshima in 1945, as do the incinerated artifacts. 30,000 residents were killed. 2/3 
