In my column this month, I will first answer a subscriber’s specific questions regarding purchasing travel insurance, then I will provide some thoughts and recommendations on the general subject.

QUESTION: Dear Mr. Wirtanen, my husband and I are planning a trip to China (including Tibet) and Japan in October-November and, for the first time, we are wondering about the value of purchasing travel insurance.

In the archives of your “Eye On Travel Insurance”...

The three castles I visited on my trip to Japan in October-November 2015 — Osaka, Nijo and Himeji — have much in common. Each is a spacious complex in the middle of a large city. Each is surrounded by a moat and by expansive gardens. Each displays monumental gateways, picturesque wall turrets and impressive stonework. Two of the three castles still each have their tenshu, a central tower or keep.

These castle complexes are so grand that they could be mistaken for imperial...

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 484th issue of your monthly foreign travel magazine.

A frequent contributor of trip reports to ITN, subscriber Nili Olay of New York, New York, wrote, “Last year, after winning a 3-year extension to my subscription in an ITN essay contest (‘I’ll Praise Prague’), I donated part of my prize to the Naples, Florida, public library, the main branch. (I winter in Naples.) Thought you’d like to see it displayed.”...