Aiden Norris, son of Brynjolf Brandrsmitr aka Bruce, of the Barony of the Lonely Tower, has recently been accepted into the ranks of the Junior Team USA for the martial art of Kendo. His family seeks sponsors and donations to help meet mandatory travel expenses for the competitions.

Greetings to the wonderful populace of Oertha!  I invite you, one and all, to join us in celebration of the coming of spring and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas will present a two-day symposium bringing "together an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars from the arts, humanities, and sciences to explore the roles that color played in the society, politics, thought, art, and ritual practices of ancient and medieval East Asia." Deadline for online registration is March 1, 2013.

A skeleton of a man wearing metal armor has been found in Gunma, Japan. The armor dates to the early 6th century and is very well preserved.

Maistir Brandubh O Donnghaile, Silver Buccle Herald, reports that at Their Academy in the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael, Their Majesties Khalek and Branwyn of Aethelmearc, recognized the efforts of two of Their subjects with elevation and invitation to peerages.

A recent discovery may prove that the Roman Empire was more influential than previously believed. Three Roman glass beads have been unearthed in a 5th century Utsukushi burial mound in Nagaoka, Japan. (photo)

Glass beads found in a 5th century tomb near Kyoto, Japan probably originated somewhere in the Roman empire. The beads were made between the 4th and 1st centuries CE.

War has broken out between two of the dominant clans of Feudal Japan, the Taira and Minamoto. From the First Battle of Uji in 1180 through to the final decisive Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, the fate of the Imperial Throne itself was decided.

On March 31, 2012 we will gather at the Big Lake Lions Club to test our skills in Pearl Diving, Fishing, Celtic/Viking and Japanese style Knot work, Tug-o-rope, Arm Wrestling, Stick pull, Sumo Wrestling, Deck balance, Origami, Looting and more. 

Japanese Archaeologists working at Shindo Remains in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, have found an early 12th century pot with the face of ogre drawn on its surface in ink. Kashihara City was once the location of Japan's capital.

The National Diet Library of Japan has created a website for the study of Wasan, the mathematics that developed in Japan before the Edo period with text written by Mr. Sato Ken’ichi, Associate Professor, University of Electro-Communications, and Orita Hiroharu, Library Counsellor of the National Diet Library.

A site excavated at a train yard in Japan is thought to have been a facility that provided food and lodgings to Korean and Chinese enyoys. The facility is mentioned in ancient manuscripts and dates to the 8th or 9th century CE.

In the 13th century, Mongol leader and Chinese ruler Kublai Khan attempted to invade Japan. A witness to the ill-fated attempt may have been found off the coast of Nagasaki in the form of a nearly-intact Chinese ship.

Foxknife Armory produces carved rattan wasters which are designed to more closely resemble period swords than round batons of flat rattan planks. Thomas has a wide variety of eras and cultures represented and has recently (late 2011) started adding hardware to compliment his blades.

The British Museum acts as a backdrop for a new manga publication by Hoshino Yukinobu. Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure stars "a portly ethnographer-cum-archaeologist who solves crimes and explains civilisations."

Imagine if Monty Python's French castle were actually Japanese... Amusing mash-up of Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Come celebrate the closing of the glorious season at this year's Summer's End - Gion Festival - on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 in the Canton of Beau Fleuve, Barony of the Rhydderich Hael.

Those creative cooks out there will want to try the latest recipes for such gourmet fare is Peepshi or Peepza, both containing one major ingredient: peeps! (photos)

Metal workers and jewelry artists will want to take a look at two short documentary films on YouTube showcasing classical Japanese metal artist Ford Hallam as he recreates a piece of decorative metalwork.

This January, seven master stoneworkers from Japan joined a team of "rockknockers" at the International Stoneworkers' Symposium to construct castle ramparts using traditional dry stone masonry techniques in Serra Cross Park, Ventura, California.

The Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute has been investigating the 16th century residence of warlord Nobunaga Oda. Among other finds, they turned up the lord's private sauna. 

Ii Toonishi-no-kami Katsumori reports that photos from the Far West A&S Coronet Tournament, which took place in Vale de Draco, Camp Zama, Japan, are now available online.

A makeup kit, which includes scissors and tweezers, dating to the Heian Period (794-1192), has been discovered in a tomb in Nishiwaki, Japan. (photo)

Fighting heroically, while looking good and living well, seems to be the theme of an exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 runs through January 10 , 2009. (photos)

Anthony J. Bryant has created a website showcasing his research on Japanese armor entitled An Online Japanese Armor manual. A sometime resident of Japan and a member of the Nihon Katchû Bugu Kenkyû Hozon Kai (Japanese Arms and Armour Research and Preservation Society), Bryant offers a history of Japanese armor and very detailed tutorials on creation and use of the armor.

The Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art has acquired a rare 13th-14th century tea jar "widely revered as an icon of Japanese tea culture." The jar, originally made in China, has been used to store tea for over five centuries. (photo)

Longtime SCA member Jay Noyes, a 40-year-old self-described "farmer from Missouri," had a dream. He wanted to bring the medieval combat he remembered from his days in the SCA to Japan, where he moved in 1991. To accomplish this, he created Avalon, a medieval history group, and started Castle Tintagel, a school for western martial arts in Tokyo. Edan Corkill of the Japan Times has the story.(photos)

Fabric Dragon sells many items, but of especial interest to most SCAdians are the linen threads in multiple weights and colors, silk threads in multiple weights, colors, and degree of twist, beads (including those small enough to use easily in embroidery) and pearls of various types.

Archaeologists working on the excavation of Sawayama Castle in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, hope that their discoveries will give new understanding to its owner, Ishida Mitsunari, whose defeat marked the end of the feudal Sengoku (Warring States) period.

Researchers in Nara, Japan are excited by the discovery of shards from an Islamic vase dating to the 8th century at the former location of the Heijokyo palace.