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 […]
Japan
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 […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
Amakusa Shiro, the Teenage Messiah who Led the Rebellion Against the Persecution of Christians in 17th Century Japan
When we talk about persecution of Christianity, usually the image that comes to mind is that of the Roman Empire, with Roman Christians identifying themselves incognito through drawings of the Chi-Rho or a schematic fish. However, in late 16th century Japan, a similar situation was also experienced. In 1587, the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier […]
Posted inSecond World War
Hitoshi Imamura, the General Convicted of War Crimes who Compensated Victims and Had a Prison Cell Built in his Garden
Hitoshi Imamura was a Japanese general who, at the end of World War II, was prosecuted for war crimes committed by soldiers under his command against Allied prisoners in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, a relatively mild punishment compared to other military members because he was […]
Posted inModern Era, Second World War
The Story of the Two Japanese Officers who Competed to See who Could Kill 100 Prisoners with their Swords First
On January 28, 1948, two prisoners were executed in Yuhuatai, an urban district of the Chinese city of Nanjing. Their names were Tsuyoshi Noda and Toshiaki Mukai, both Japanese, the same age -thirty-six- and convicted for the same reason: war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the infamous Nanjing Massacre, in which the Imperial […]
Posted inModern Era
Tsushima, the “biggest and most important naval battle since Trafalgar”
The outcome of a battle can have implications beyond the confrontation between the contenders and even beyond the war itself. Sometimes, it resonates on the international stage, triggering events and behaviors that might never have occurred otherwise. A good example of this is the naval combat at Tsushima, formerly known as the Battle of the […]
