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20 APRIL 2019
African samurai: The enduring legacy of a black warrior in feudal Japan
When feudal Japan’s most powerful warlord Nobunaga Oda met Yasuke, a black slave-turned-retainer, in 1581, he believed the man was a god
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/19/asia/black-samurai-yasuke-africa-japan-intl/index.html
29 APRIL 2019
The life and reign of Emperor Akihito – in pictures
After 30 years on the throne, Emperor Akihito is to abdicate on 30 April and his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will officially accede on 1 May. The 85-year-old emperor is the first in two centuries to stand down. His reign began on 7 January 1989, following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/apr/29/the-life-and-reign-of-emperor-akihito-in-pictures
28 APRIL 2019
Centuries ago, women ruled Japan. What changed?
30 MARCH 2019
The Spies of Pearl Harbor: How Japan Struck the U.S. Navy by Surprise
The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, benefited from the firsthand observation of spies on Oahu
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/spies-pearl-harbor-how-japan-struck-us-navy-surprise-49787
25 JANUARY 2019
Rare film footage with sound of-Kyoto from-1929
A popular YouTube channel has uploaded restored newsreel footage of Kyoto from 1929. What makes this film notable is that it features actual sound footage of Japanese city life at that time. Usually, newsreels from that era are silent
https://globalvoices.org/2019/01/14/sound-footage-of-kyoto-japan-from-1929/
20 SEPTEMBER 2018
Museum claims discovery of oldest Nativity scene in Japan
Scholars are debating whether a set of small statues and objects passed down through generations of a Japanese hidden Christian family is the oldest example of a Nativity scene in Japan
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201809200004.html
23 AUGUST 2018
Japan’s Emperor Hirohito was so overcome with remorse he wanted to die, diary reveals
Hirohito, Japan’s wartime emperor, had given up the will to live towards the end of his life, desperate to avoid the anguish of being blamed for his role in World War II, his aide’s diary has revealed
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/23/japans-emperor-hirohito-overcome-remorse-wanted-die-diary-reveals/
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2161015/no-point-living-diary-reveals-japanese-emperor-hirohitos-anguish
19 MAY 2018
Japanese Director Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Shoplifters” wins the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival
It was Koreeda’s 5th time to be in competition for the Palme d’Or and his first in 3 years. In 2013, his “Like Father, Like Son” won the jury prize
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180520/p2g/00m/0et/006000c
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180520_06/
7 APRIL 2018
Japan’s 114-year-old battleship Mikasa: A relic of another time
The Japanese battleship Mikasa is the only surviving pre-dreadnought battleship in the world. It’s 114 years old and a fascinating look into history. Here’s a full tour
https://www.cnet.com/news/japans-114-year-old-battleship-mikasa-a-relic-of-another-time/
3 JANUARY 2018
Japan’s Endless Search for Modernity
Since the morning of January 3, 1868, Japan has struggled to answer one question: What does it mean to be modern and Japanese?
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/japan-abe-meiji-restoration-china/549536/?utm_source=twb
7 DECEMBER 2017
Celebrity Japanese plastic surgeon who praised Hitler buys pencil-written memoir of Emperor Hirohito for US$275,000
The 173-page document offers the emperor’s recollections of the second world war and was dictated to several of his aides soon after the war ended
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2123255/plastic-surgeon-buys-pencil-written-memoir-japanese-emperor
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/07/national/history/cosmetic-surgeon-katsuya-takasu-pays-275000-emperor-hirohito-memoir-ny-auction/#.WimCr0riY2x
5 OCTOBER 2017
Japanese-born Kazuo Ishiguro wins Nobel Prize in Literature
A Japan-born British author has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Kazuo Ishiguro has received wide acclaim for “The Remains of the Day” and other novels
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20171005_30/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/05/kazuo-ishiguro-wins-the-nobel-prize-in-literature
5 SEPTEMBER 2017
The wedding that broke centuries of tradition
In 1959, Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito married a non-royal bride
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-41085238/the-wedding-that-broke-centuries-of-tradition
2 SEPTEMBER 2017
Five Reasons Why Japan Never Attacked the Soviet Union During WWII
Military journalist Alexander Evdokimov explains why Imperial Japan never did end up invading the Soviet Far East during the Great Patriotic War
https://sputniknews.com/world/201709021057027287-japan-soviet-union-world-war-2/
25 AUGUST 2017
The Man Behind the Burma Independence Army
Keiji Suzuki came to Yangon as a correspondent for the Yomiuri Shimbun, but his real mission was to lay the groundwork for the Imperial Japanese forces’ invasion of Myanmar. A Japanese intelligence officer at the rank of colonel, Keiji Suzuki was known as a dynamic officer passionate about his covert operation
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/commentary/man-behind-burma-independence-army.html
15 JANUARY 2017
The Mongol invasions of Japan 1274 and 1281
by Stephen Turnbull (Author), Richard Hook (Illustrator)
The two attempts by Khubilai Khan, the Mongol Emperor of China, to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281 represent unique events in the history of both countries. It pitted the samurai of Japan against the fierce warriors of the steppes who had conquered half the known world
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1846034566/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1846034566&linkCode=as2&tag=jalemosbl-20&linkId=972144441d9d5b7b3e3e6913d6629139#reader_B01BY34IP4
12 JANUARY 2017
China supported Japanese defense building in 1980s – Declassified files
According to the file, documenting a meeting between Japan’s prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and general secretary of China’s Communist Party, Hu Yaobang, in November 1983, Japan planned to build up defense capabilities in line with the country’s constitution, the NHK broadcaster reported
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201701121049518728-china-japan-1980s-defense-building/
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170112_27/
26 DECEMBER 2016
Former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Yoshida’s forgotten Pearl Harbour trip
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will visit Pearl Harbour with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, wasn’t even born when Japan’s former leader Shigeru Yoshida went there just six years after the country’s second world war surrender, by himself and feeling awkward
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2057248/former-japanese-prime-minister-shigeru-yoshidas-forgotten-pearl
15 NOVEMBER 2016
The Last Samurai: The True history behind the film
The Last Samurai is a pretty solid, although underrated film. The action is well done, and the fusion of old and new, as well as the many ideologies throughout the movie are delivered in an interesting and enjoyable fashion
http://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/true-history-behind-film-last-samurai.html
8 NOVEMBER 2016
Early Japanese animations : The origine of animes (1917-1931)
Anime has a far longer history than you might think; in fact, it was at the vanguard of Japan’s furious attempts to modernize in the early 20th century. The oldest surviving example of Japanese animation, Namakura Gatana (Blunt Sword), dates back to 1917, though much of the earliest animated movies were lost following a massive earthquake in Tokyo in 1923
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/early-japanese-animations-the-origins-of-anime-1917-1931.html
2 NOVEMBER 2016
Famed Japanese artist Hokusai may be the artist of six paintings hanging in a Dutch museum
A Dutch art historian says he has discovered evidence that six unattributed paintings held in storage in a museum in the Netherlands were actually painted by the famed Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-02/hokusai-paintings-discovered-in-the-netherlands/7989172?section=world
12 MAY 2016
Renowned stage director Yukio Ninagawa dies at 80
Yukio Ninagawa, a world-renowned Japanese stage director known for his adaptations of Shakespeare, died Thursday at a Tokyo hospital, his theater and a family member announced. He was 80.
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/may/12/yukio-ninagawa-shakespeare-dies-aged-80
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160512_27/
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/renowned-stage-director-ninagawa-dies-at-80
29 MARCH 2016
Japonisme: The Japanese Influence on Victorian Fashion
During the mid-19th century, Japan opened trade with the West for the first time in more than 200 years. The influx of Japanese imports that followed inspired an intense fascination with Japanese art and culture. This fascination manifested itself in the paintings of Victorian era artists like Alfred Stevens, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet. It also had a profound influence on Victorian fashion
https://mimimatthews.com/2016/03/29/japonisme-the-japanese-influence-on-victorian-fashion/