The story of Japan’s “comfort women” remains one of the most painful and heavily documented examples of wartime exploitation in modern history. Between 1932 and 1945, the Imperial Japanese government created and oversaw a vast system of sexual slavery that …
During World War II, major powers across the globe utilized propaganda posters as a means of communication and persuasion. In the context of this conflict, Japanese propaganda posters stand out for their remarkable artistic quality and distinctive messa…
Arnold Genthe's photographs of Japan from his six-month visit in 1908 provide a remarkable glimpse into the daily life of the Japanese people during the Meiji period. Unlike many other Western photographers of the time who were interested in capturing exoti…
The world of geisha and maiko women has always been shrouded in mystery and fascination. These women, who have dedicated their lives to mastering the art of traditional Japanese entertainment, have been the subject of countless books, films, and artworks. …
These glass-plate photographs depicting life in Japan were collected in Yokohama during the years 1908–1918 by Herbert Geddes, a manager for a Canadian import-export company. Originally, these types of photographs were sold as postcards or souvenirs to fore…
When societies industrialize, food systems expand and specialize to meet the new waves of customers. These amazing old photographs show Japan’s demae, or delivery men, who braved the crowded streets balancing towers of dozens of piping hot meals on their sh…
Known as onna bugeisha, these female samurai who fought beside and against male samurais are an important part of Japan's military history. They were members of the bushi (warrior) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect thei…
On 9 September 1942, though, something happened that had never happened before: an enemy plane bombed the contiguous United States. There had been rumors of bombers over Los Angeles the previous December, but those were ultimately proven false. And, of cour…
On September 2, 1945, Japanese representatives signed the official Instrument of Surrender, prepared by the War Department and approved by President Harry S. Truman. It set out in eight short paragraphs the complete capitulation of Japan. The opening words,…
After World War II had ended, the surrendered Japan was devastated. All the large cities, industries, and transportation networks were severely damaged. A severe shortage of food continued for several years. Allied forces led by the United States occupi…
The samurai were a class of people who served the aristocracy with arms. The word first appeared in a document of the Heian period; before that time such people had been called mono-no-fu or bushi. Mono means ‘thing’ and fu means ‘man’; that is, men who dea…
In this article, we’ve collected a few rare photographs from the 1870s taken by Shinichi Suzuki (1835-1918) who photographed Japan for a foreign newsmagazine called The Far East. After his lumber family business was destroyed by a tsunami in 1854, Suzuk…
After centuries of isolation and several unsuccessful attempts by the Western nations at opening Japan to international relations and trade, the United States Navy sent Commodore C. Perry in 1853 with a letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor…
Tattoos have an extensive history in Japan, and to truly understand the stigma behind them it is essential to be aware of their significance. The first records of tattoos were found in 5000 B.C., during the Jomon period, on clay figurines depicting desi…
The Great Kanto Earthquake, sometimes called the Great Tokyo Earthquake, rocked Japan on September 1, 1923. The city of Yokohama was hit even worse than Tokyo was, although both were devastated. It was the deadliest earthquake in Japanese history. The e…
After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese quickly gained control over a huge area of the Pacific, from the Philippines to Burma to the Aleutians to the Solomons. While the Japanese enjoyed the advantage of interior lines of communication, they had somewhat overe…
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8 a.m. local time Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. For over an hour, in two waves, some 350 Japanese aircraft—having taken off from six aircraft carriers 230 miles north of Oahu—attacked th…
At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and military significance. A number of military units were located nearby, the most important of which was the headquarters of Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's Second General Army, which comm…
By 1945, the Japanese had suffered an unbroken string of defeats for nearly two years in the South West Pacific, the Marianas campaign, and the Philippines campaign. In June, after more than 80 days of fighting, Allied forces captured the Japanese islan…
Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda is the most famous of the so-called Japanese holdouts, a collection of Imperial Army stragglers who continued to hide out in the South Pacific for several years after World War II had ended. An intelligence officer, Onoda had been…