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December 22, 2024
 

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JAPANESE HISTORY

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OBITUARY
Nov 7, 2021
Joyce Lebra: Trailblazing scholar and witness to Japanese history
The world of academia lost a true pioneer when Joyce Lebra passed away last month. She received the Order of the Rising Sun award in a ceremony a month earlier.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 14, 2019
Poetic escapism for the end of the year
If the year-end seems less festive than foreboding, escape through the poems of the 'Koshinsu,' Japan's earliest poetic anthologies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 27, 2019
'China and Japan': Facing off across the aeons, two giants of East Asia
Ezra Vogel's 'China and Japan' is a timely reminder of how public perceptions are shaped by political expediency, how new leaders and propaganda can efface existing goodwill.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Apr 20, 2019
Emperor Go-Daigo: The pride before a fall
The anonymous 14th-century chronicle 'Masukagami' ('The Clear Mirror,' translated by George Perkins), dramatically details the trials and errors of Emperor Go-Daigo, the 96th emperor of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2019
'Japan Story': History enlivened at every turn with flashes of wit
Christopher Harding's comprehensive 'Japan Story' is an ultra-progressive account of modern Japanese history, ushering the often-ignored maverick women, socialist thinkers and doubters of the state version of modernity to the front.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Nov 24, 2018
Ryotaro Shiba's 'Clouds Above the Hill': A gift to anyone wanting to deepen their knowledge of modern Japan
'Clouds Above the Hill' portrays, in rich detail, the first generation to grow up in the Meiji Era and culminates in Japan's surprising victory in the Russo-Japanese War.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / japan since the Meiji Restoration
Nov 13, 2018
Meiji 150 as the end of an era
When Japan was a young nation-state 150 years ago, its leaders charted a course through trial and error. Now we are in need of a new vision, identity and strategy for the next 150 years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 29, 2018
Mass media and democracy in prewar and postwar Japan
Now, more than ever, the free press must avoid the perils of populist pandering and fulfill its responsibility as one of the key pillars of democracy.
EDITORIALS
Oct 23, 2018
Revisiting the Meiji Restoration, 150 years on
The process of the Meiji Restoration looks all the more relevant at a time when Japan is facing an uncertain and uncharted future.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 15, 2018
The long struggle to become international
Eighth-century Japan was an infant civilization. Its prehistory had been long. Awakened at last, Japan drank eagerly from the source: China, then at its creative peak.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 2, 2017
'A Brief History of Japan': Jonathan Clements guides readers from ancient lore to otaku obsessions
Ask any Japanese high school student which is their most difficult subject, and chances are they'll answer Japanese History — a consequence of the endless litany of dates, names and battles they need to memorize. Pity then, that they don't use this little book in class, because it manages to make thousands...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 19, 2016
Battle of Sekigahara: a war set in stone
The open valley basins of Gifu Prefecture at the very center of Honshu, where the town of Sekigahara lies, were easily co-opted as theaters of war. It's no coincidence, given the martial history of the region, that the town of Seki was once known as the premier sword-making spot in the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 19, 2016
The frayed edges of modern Japan
In the Edo Period (1603-1868) and the years that followed, Japan made strenuous efforts to bring together its patchwork of feudal regions into a strongly centralized state with a unified culture. Accordingly, the nation now is one of the most homogenous in the world. But there are a couple of places...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 8, 2015
'Ishuretsuo: The Image of Ezo'
Dec. 15-Feb. 7
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 17, 2015
Abe's unconvincing attempt to whitewash Japan's history
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's WWII anniversary statement glosses over unpalatable facts and attempts to interpret them in a favorable way for Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 13, 2015
Cultural historian James Vardaman reflects on his journey into Japanese publishing
Between two sips of coffee, Waseda University professor James M. Vardaman comes clean to me about his decades of addiction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 7, 2015
Taking a critical look at the prison of history
Those who write about history do so at their peril. The difficulties are manifest: how to contribute anything meaningful, to be divergent but remain credible and to research the past without losing sight of the present.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2014
High-level disorganization still hobbles Japan
Although many Westerners think of Japan as a highly unified, hierarchical nation, it often more closely resembles a squabbling confederation of loosely affiliated gangs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 13, 2014
Low City, High City
Best known for his translations of "The Tale of Genji" and the fiction of Yasunari Kawabata, for which the author won a Nobel Prize, Edward G. Seidensticker was also an accomplished essayist and historian.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 12, 2014
Hasekura Tsunenaga's portrait has a tale to tell
History is littered with grand projects and dashed expectations that are no less intriguing than its moments of triumph and heroism. A large portrait in oils of a splendidly attired, mid-ranking samurai posing regally in a Roman palace in the early 1600s bears witness to one such episode.
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

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