Japan

General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito at the US embassy in Tokyo, 27 September 1945. NARA. Public Domain.

After Hiroshima: The US Occupation of Japan

Following Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, the US aimed to rebuild the nation in its own image – for better or worse.

Kikunae Ikeda, early 20th century. Smithsonian Institution Archives. Public Domain.

Kikunae Ikeda’s MSG Revolution

On 25 July 1908 chemistry professor Kikunae Ikeda gave name to an elusive new taste: umami.

The Otsu Incident

On 11 May 1891 the future Tsar Nicholas II narrowly escaped assassination on a trip to Japan.

Still from Nazi German propaganda film The Daughter of the Samurai, 1937. GermanFilms.net.

An Uneasy Propaganda Alliance

The doomed film collaboration between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan resulted in two very different features serving the same fascist agenda: The Daughter of the Samurai and The New Earth.

Ginza, Tokyo in the aftermath of the firebombing, March 1945. NARA. Public Domain.

The Firebombing of Tokyo

American air raids on Japan’s capital burned the city in March 1945, killing 80,000 people in one night alone. ‘Had to be done’, said the general who ordered it.

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.

Miyamoto Musashi duelling Sasaki Kojiro, by Yoshitori Utagawa, 1843-47. Private Collection. Public Domain.

Death of a Samurai Legend

Miyamoto Musashi was finally defeated on 13 June 1645, but it wasn’t a sword that laid the formidable samurai low.

Tokugawa Ieyasu – shogun at the time of William Adams’ voyage to Japan – by Kanō Tan’yū, hanging scroll, early 17th century. GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.

William Adams: English Adviser to the Shogun

How did English navigator William Adams become one of the shogun’s most trusted advisers?

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.