Archive for the ‘History’ Category

h1

Changing Japanese Beauty

March 28, 2010

Art by Hiroe Rei

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Unit 731

January 29, 2010

Unit 731 (731 部隊, Nana-san-ichi butai) was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel.

From 1936 to 1942 approximately 12,000 men, women and children were murdered in Unit 731, but the atrocities committed there were physically worse than in the Nazi death camps: their suffering lasted much longer, and not one prisoner survived.

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered

August 6, 2009

(Picture Source)

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Hashima Island (Gunkanjima)

May 24, 2009

“Battleship Island” is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki itself. The island was populated from 1887 to 1974 as a coal mining facility. In 1959, its population density was 835 people per hectare (83,500 people/km2) for the whole island, or 1,391 per hectare (139,100 people/km2) for the residential district, the highest population density ever recorded worldwide.

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Japan’s Apology to Prisoners of War

April 16, 2009

Sixty-seven years ago this month, on April 9, 1942, I was surrendered to the Japanese Imperial Army on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. At my first prison camp, the Japanese commandant turned to the American prisoners of war (POWs) and told us that we were “lower than dogs” and “they (the Japanese) would treat us that way for the rest of our lives.” Then he said, “We will never be friends with the piggish Americans.”

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Modern Samurai: Gun vs Sword

April 13, 2009

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Old Photographs of the Bakumatsu-Meiji Periods

December 29, 2008

Taken by Beato. Entitled “Japanese doctor, Azuma Ian and patient “. A bald doctor wearing a kimono with the family emblem and a sword takes the pulse of a young woman patient. A kettle sits on a brazier in the background, but this may be the residence of the doctor.

“Japanese Old Photographs of the Bakumatsu-Meiji Periods” at the University of Nagasaki Library is the largest collection of old photographs, approximately 6,000, taken all over Japan from the Bakumatsu through to the Meiji period.

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

The Origin of Japanese Snowman (Yuki-Daruma)

December 25, 2008

You might have noticed that Japanese snowmen look different from their Western counterparts. Let’s examine their origin. Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Attack on Pearl Harbor

December 7, 2008

On Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which later played a role in the US involvement in the WWII. Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

How to Choose English Translation of The Tale of Genji

November 15, 2008

If you are planning to read what some consider the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, several translations can guide you through the fascinating world of the Heian Period. Let us examine major English translations of The Tale of Genji.

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

What Tokugawa Descendants are Doing Now?

November 9, 2008

Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康 January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. (Wiki)

Read the rest of this entry ?

h1

Culture Day (Bunka no Hi) – November 3

November 2, 2008

Culture Day (文化の日, Bunka-no-hi) is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavor. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars. Read the rest of this entry ?

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 87 other followers