Christopher Harding

Seated Amitabha Buddha, Ming dynasty China, c.1600. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Buddhism’ by Donald S. Lopez Jr. review

Buddhism: A Journey Through History by Donald S. Lopez Jr. swiftly soon loses sight of the Buddha himself. Is that a bad thing, and was he ever there?

Japanese delegates to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Standing (left to right): Hikokichi Ijūin and Keishirō Matsui; seated (left to right): Baron Makino Nobuaki, Prince Kinmochi Saionji and Viscount Sutemi Chinda. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

Japan, the West and the Treaty of Versailles

At the outset of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference Japan enjoyed a seat at the top table, but the vexed issue of racial equality set it and its notional Western allies on different paths.

International Military Tribunal for the Far East judges on the bench, 3 March 1947. UVA LAW Special Collections (CC BY 4.0).

‘Judgement at Tokyo’ by Gary J. Bass review

Pacy and even-handed, Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass is unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the Tokyo trials.

Japanese Christians re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, c.1880s. Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo.

Christianity’s Bloody History in Japan

Japan has had a vexed relationship with Jesus ever since European missionaries arrived on its shores. Banned until 1873, successive leaders have asked whether love of the ‘two Js’ is compatible.

Why Japan Stopped Fighting

After a disastrous Second World War, Japan abolished its armed forces and embraced pacifism. With renewed tensions in East Asia, can it last?

Japan’s Charles Dickens

The visit of Natsume Sōseki to London at the turn of the 20th century suggested ways of successfully combining western industrialism with ‘Japanese Spirit’.

What were the wartime Japanese thinking?

According to western stereotype, the Japanese at the time of the Second World War were passive and obedient automatons. Yet the realities of daily life in imperial Japan were complex and politically charged.