Selected Historical Features

Politics, the Economy, and the Foreign Relations

Sato guided from outset on signing secret nuclear pact with U.S. | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and AnalysisA policy document from over half a century ago lays out details of a secret Japan-U.S. pact signed by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and President Richard Nixon allowing the United States to bring nuclear weapons to Okinawa Prefecture after it reverted to Japanese sovereignty in 1972.

US-Japan Alliance: Still ‘Sword and Shield’?Don’t let the current defense guideline overhaul fool you. The broad contours of the U.S.-Japan alliance won’t change.

Production under American Supervision and Confiscation of the Film

Seventeen Article Constitution | Japanese historySeventeen Article Constitution, in Japanese history, code of moral precepts for the ruling class, issued in 604 ce by the regent Shōtoku Taishi, which set the fundamental spirit and orientation for the subsequent Chinese-based centralized reforms. Written at a time of disunity, when Japan was divided into hereditary, semiautonomous uji units, the articles laid greatest stress on the Chinese Confucian concepts of a unified state ruled by one sovereign; the employment of officials on the basis of merit, not heredity; the responsibilities of the officials to the ruled, as well as the obedience of the subjects to their rulers; and

The Mukden Incident of 1931 and the Stimson Doctrine

ニュース映像｜NHK 戦争証言アーカイブスNHKでは、戦争体験者の証言を中心に後世に戦争の実相を伝えていくために「戦争証言アーカイブス」を開設します。

The Jesuits and SlaveryAbstract Despite extensive historiography, most people are not aware that the Society of Jesus owned people. Even Jesuit historiography sometimes neglects that complicated history. The historiography of slavery, however, has long tapped into Jesuit sources and produced a rich scholarship on Jesuit debates over slavery and their slaveholding practices across the Americas. This essay places Jesuit slaveholding in the context of the Jesuits’ global history and argues that genealogical research and calls for reconciliation provide an opportunity to renew and reorient scholarship towards the social history of the people owned by the Jesuits.

Nixon vs. SoybeansIn the 1970s, the President essentially gave away a major American ag market. The same things may now be happening again.

Protectionism: the curse that keeps on taking“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” warned the Spanish philosopher George Santayana more than a century ago.Listening to our major presidential candidates talk about tr…

Dartmouth Alumni Magazine — November | December 2010Explore the full November | December 2010 issue of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Browse featured articles, preview selected issue contents, and more.

Records reveal detailed strategy to amend pacifist Constitution by former PM Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandfatherEx-Prime Minister Kishi set a two-year timeline to revise the postwar security treaty with the United States as a precursor to amending the pacifist Constitution, declassified records show.

The Meiji Secret: The Emergence of Zaibatsu

Origins of the Modern

Japanese Economy

United States Forces JapanThe United States Forces Japan, or USFJ (在日米軍, Zainichi Beigun?) refers to the various divisions of the United States Armed Forces that are stationed in Japan. Under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, the United States is obliged to defend Japan in close cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Forces for maritime defense, ballistic missile defense, domestic air control, communications security (COMSEC), and disaster response operations. After the J

Know Japan - YCAPS

Taihō code | Japanese lawTaihō code, (ad 701), in Japan, administrative and penal code of the Taihō era early in the Nara period, modeled on the codes of the Chinese T’ang dynasty (618–907) and in force until the late 8th century. Although the first work on legal codes was begun in 662, the Taihō code was the most famous. It provided for the establishment of the central-government administrative organs; of provinces (kuni) ruled by governors (kokushi) who were appointed by the central government; districts (gun, or kōri) administered by district governors (gunji) selected locally from the gentry; and townships of 50 households, governed by

On This Day in Japan: The Shocking Death of Novelist Yukio Mishima | Tokyo WeekenderThe renowned author of “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion” took his own life in a highly publicized incident on November 25, 1970.

For Japan’s Shinzo Abe, Unfinished Family BusinessThe wartime legacy of Shinzo Abe’s grandfather in China is a backdrop to Sunday’s Japanese election.

The Impact of Zaibatsu Busting in Occupied Japan

Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review

Japan’s Reliance on US Extended Nuclear Deterrence: Legality of Use Matters TodayJapan declares in its security policy that US extended nuclear deterrence is “essential”. However, policymakers do not seem to have provided sufficient explanation of the legality and the implicati...

Secrets of the Shogun’s Harem | Lesley DownerNovember 1861. Sunlight glitters on the lances and pikes of hundreds of attendants and guards, as a procession winds slowly along a mountain road in central Japan. In all, there are 20,000 people – lords and ladies in palanquins, warriors on horseback and on foot, officials, ladies-in-waiting, maids and maids of maids. Then come shoe ... Read more

Occupied Japan and other issues

Group compiling encyclopedia on POW camps, captives in Japan | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and AnalysisDespite limited resources and a dwindling number of witnesses, a citizens group has continued efforts to determine conditions in POW camps in Japan where 10 percent of the captured combatants died in World War II.

Extracts from KIDO's Diary - TOJO, Hideki

New evidence of Japan's effort to build atom bomb at the end of WWIIIn August 1945, the U.S. dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Tokyo “Black Markets”, 1945. | Old Tokyo"This is Tokyo’s Ueno, the most pugnacious part of town, where tempers and nostrils flare, and every inch of territory - even the space under a train trestle - is guarded jealously. Yes, it is just the sort of place where, not so very long ago, there was a bloody row in which the locals

Report documenting how Japan used chemical weapons during Second Sino-Japanese War found for first timeThe existence of a detailed report documenting how chemical weapons were used by the Imperial Japanese Army in China has been confirmed for the first time,

Debating the Allied Occupation of Japan (Part Two) - Association for Asian StudiesIn the fall 2016 issue of Education About Asia, I outlined three policy decisions, which I consider a fascinating way to discuss the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945–1952). The three—the decision to keep the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito) on the throne, punish selected individuals for war crimes, and create a new constitution that (in Article 9) […]

The Illegal Ramen Vendors of Postwar TokyoBlack markets and American wheat imports popularized ramen.

POW Camps in Japan Proper

US Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens CapturedCongressional Research Service Report for Congress Gary K. Reynolds Information Research Specialist Information Research Division Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Order Code RL30606 Updated December 17, 2002

The Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000The Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000 authorized the process of locating, declassifying, and publishing documents relevant to war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during WW2.

Beyond the World War II We KnowA Times series documenting lesser-known stories from World War II. Email: AtWar@nytimes.com

Diplomatic Exchange and Repatriation Ships

Hideki Tojo's Prison Diary

Japanese Interim ReportSee other Japanese War Crimes resources for researchers. An Interim Report to CongressTable of Contents:Foreword Executive Summary Agency Processing and Declassification Status, January 2002 Resources Required to Implement the Acts As Related to Japanese War Crimes Highlights of Declassification to Date Records of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Records of the Army Staff: The Investigative Records Repository (IRR) Records of the Central Intelligence Agency Records of the Department of State Records of the Navy Judge Advocate General Records from the John F.

The Asia-Pacific War and the Failed Second Anglo-Japanese Civilian Exchange, 1942-45 The proposed 2nd Anglo-Japanese civilian exchange, originally planned for October 1942, never eventuated partly due to differences in the interpretations of what constitutes a merchant seaman and view

The Japanese Red Cross Society’s Emergency

Responses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945

spartacus-educational.com/2WWtojo.htm

Pre-WW2

Korea Under the Rising SunThousands of Koreans were forced to serve in the Japanese Army or provide labor during World War II.

The Era of Modernization in JapanScholar Joshua A. Fogel discusses Japan’s era of modernization.

Learn About Japan's Sengoku or Warring States PeriodJapan's Sengoku Period is sometimes compared to Europe's Dark Ages, as a chaotic transition time between political systems.

History | About Us | JAPANESE RED CROSS SOCIETY

The Sengoku period

(1477 - 1573) 戦国時代

JACAR Glossary | JACAR Document Topic BrowserIf you are struggling to find the right search term for a JACAR archival record, try using our navigation system's topic search feature. To search by topic click here. You can browse by subject and can also find documents from chronological tables, maps, and organizational information.

History of Yokosuka Port

Society

Japanese Pirates in the Late Medieval and Early Modern East Asia.In the Japanese language `kaizoku` is the word for pirate but if you ask a Japanese what their image of kaizoku is, they will give an image of a European pirate, or Captain Jack Sparrow, hahaha. In…

Tracking the Fate of Japanese Art Dealership, Yamanaka & Company, Inc.

The Ingenious Samurai Pirates Who Ruled The Asian SeasThe fascinating pirate history of the Wokou/Wako

Tokyo Commuters Go On a Rampage (Published 1973)Commuters protest slowdown in railroad service Mar 13 by smashing stations and attacking personnel in Ageo, Japan; illus; slowdown started Mar 5; was called by National Railway Locomotive Engineers Union to back its demand for 2 motormen to each train, work week of 40 hours and 5 days instead of present 44 hours and 6 days, and improved train safety

Some Notes on “Japanese Pirates” - Association for Asian StudiesImages of Pirates When today’s students think of pirates, the first image that likely pops into their minds is of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films from Disney Studios. While I feel certain that my colleagues specializing in maritime history find many inaccuracies in that image—as I’m sure […]

The Sad Reason We Don’t See Many Japanese Pirate Movies | Tokyo WeekenderThe anime world of One Piece aside, there is a suspicious lack of Japanese pirate movies, despite an intriguing history of pirates.

江戸東京博物館東京都江戸東京博物館の公式サイトです。ご来館案内、常設展、展覧会の情報や催し物情報などをご覧いただけます。

O SumoA change of pace now, away from temples and shrines. Sumo, one of Japan’s oldest sports but one of the least know. I love Sumo. I have been following sumo for about 20 years now. I love the…

Hotel and tea house girls of Japan in the early 20th century.Pre-war Japanese society and social classes were very different to today. A distinct class of domestics that were filled predominately with women were in the service industry such as hotels, tea-h…

JAPAN

1946-1947

"Silence": The True Story of the Jesuits in Japan - Jesuits.orgAlthough Martin Scorsese’s new film “Silence” is based on a novel by Shusaku Endo, many of the events and people depicted in the movie are real.

Sex and Suffering: The Tragic Life of the Courtesan in Japan’s Floating WorldIt’s difficult to get a window into the world of Edo-Period Japanese prostitutes without the gauzy romantic filter of the male gaze. The artworks in the...

Jesuits and Western Clock in Japan’s “Christian Century” (1549–c.1650)This paper explores how the Jesuits in Japan’s “Christian Century (1549–c.1650)” used Western mechanical clocks in missionary activities and how this new technology was received and transformed in the country. Sources show that it was a common practice for the missionaries to present clocks as unusual gifts to gain access to the ruling class. This policy eventually led to the production of mechanical clocks by local craftsmen by around 1600. Although Christianity was strictly prohibited after 1614, the technology survived and found its way into the secular world.

Cities and Infrastructure

Tokyo History 101: How the Capital Came to Be - Part 1 | Tokyo CheapoEver wondered how Tokyo became the mega-city it is today? Here's a quick, easy-to-digest guide to Tokyo history for those keen on exploring

Tokyo History 101: How the Capital Came to Be - Part 2 | Tokyo CheapoEver wondered what old Tokyo was like? Here's a quick, easy-to-digest guide to Edo Tokyo history for those looking to explore the

Tokaido Highway - Explore ShizuokaOLD TOKAIDO HIGHWAY With 22 post stations in Shizuoka the Old Tokaido Highway, an ancient road linking Tokyo to Kyoto, literally paved a way for travelers to Explore this amazing prefecture In the late 16th century near the beginning of the Edo period, the famous Shogun (and Shizuoka resident) Tokugawa Ieyasu built what was to […]

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The Story Behind Japan’s 〒 Postal LogoIf you live in Japan, surely you’ve seen it before. It’s a symbol that looks like the capital letter T but with an additional horizontal line above it: 〒. Known as the postal mark (yubin kigo), it’s a symbol that represents the Japanese postal system. Despite a decline in physical letters sent, the

The Old Tokaido WayRunning through the heart of Hakone is the Old Tokaido Way. The road was one of the most important in all of Japan as it served to connect the cultural and imperial capital of Kyoto with the political and economic center of Tokyo. The road has been the setting for numerous stories, the backdrop for ukiyo-e art. It was the route that the samurai and traveling royalty would use.

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