In 1964, Madeleine Edison Sloane traveled to Japan and visited Iwashimizu Hachimangu, a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto Prefecture near the city of Yawata. The purpose of her visit was not tourism but rather to personally see a memorial within its walls and take part in one of the two festivals held there in memory […]
Japan
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
DNA Analysis Reveals the Origin of the Japanese
A team of researchers has made an important step in understanding the origins of modern Japanese people. Scientists were able to extract DNA from a Yayoi-era skeleton found at the famous archaeological site of Doigahama in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, and conduct a complete analysis of its genome. This study has revealed that the current Japanese […]
Posted inHistory
The oldest reigning dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, descended from a shaman queen
If we were to ask what is the world’s oldest active monarchy, most readers would probably say the British without giving it much thought. That would be an incorrect answer. We need to shift the focus to the Far East because that is where Japan is, whose kōshitsu, or Imperial House, has been at the […]
Posted inArt, Prehistory
The Mysterious Engravings of the Fugoppe Cave in Hokkaido, One of Only Two Sites with Ancient Petroglyphs in Japan
Located in the small fishing town of Yoichi, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, is Fugoppe Cave, an archaeological site that contains over 800 petroglyphs carved into its walls, making it a unique location in all of Japan. The discovery of the cave dates back to 1950, when two young brothers, drawn by stories of […]
Posted inCulture
Utsuro-bune, the Japanese legend about a strange ship and its mysterious passenger
In Japanese folklore, there is a curious legend that is repeated in various current provinces of the country such as Hitachi, Kaga, Echigo, in addition to other historical territories like Owari no Kuni, Atsuta, or Iyo: the one about a boat of strange shape that came from the sea without anyone knowing its origin and […]
Posted inArt
The Largest Wooden Building in the World Houses a 16-meter-tall Buddha Statue
Previously, we shared the story of the Prinkipo orphanage, the largest wooden building in Europe which, however, is small compared to the Daibutsu-den or Great Buddha Hall, considered the largest wooden building in the world. It holds the record despite being 33 percent smaller today than when it was first constructed due to several renovations. […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
“The Book of Five Rings”, Written by the Ronin Miyamoto Musashi in the 17th Century and whose Philosophy the Japanese Apply to their Work
The speed and consistency with which Japan recovered politically and materially after its defeat in World War II, overcoming the enormous destruction from aerial bombings, two atomic bombs, and a severe demographic drain, is often a source of amazement. Part of this effort was due to the aid received and the cultural influence exerted by […]
Posted inCulture, History
Go, the Oldest Continuously Played Board Game to Date
Born in Berthelsdorf (Saxony, before German unification) in the mid-19th century, Oskar Korschelt had barely reached adulthood when he accepted a position as a chemistry professor at the Tokyo Medical College, later working for the Japanese government and industry. He spent almost a decade in the land of the rising sun, enough time to develop […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Jomon Hunter-Gatherers of Japan Used Food Sharing to Combat Climate Change 7000 Years Ago
The Jomon were the first inhabitants of Japan, who lived in the country between 16,500 and 2,300 years ago. They lived as sedentary hunter-gatherers, and during the Middle Jomon period around 5400-4500 BCE, they reached their peak population and cultural complexity, during a warm period. However, later there was a climate cooling, and the Jomon […]
Posted inScience
The Largest Underwater Volcanic Eruption in History, 7300 Years Ago in Japan, Created a Caldera the Size of a Capital City
A team of geoscientists from Kobe University recently uncovered evidence that a massive volcanic eruption that took place 7,300 years ago in southern Japan was the largest eruption to occur on Earth within the past 11,700 years. Their findings shed new light on mega-eruption dynamics and the influential role volcanoes have played in Earth’s climate […]
