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July 16, 2025
 

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History
Ex-serviceman Izumi Murakami speaks of his experience during World War II, when he was still a child, in an interview in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Man inspired as a boy by WWII-era commando questions Japan's past actions
Izumi Murakami, now 92, joined the Air Self-Defense Force, but he concedes now that "there is nothing good that comes out of war."
JAPAN / History
Memory of detention in Mongolia still fresh for 107-year-old Japanese man
As they make a state visit to Mongolia, the imperial couple will offer flowers at a memorial for Japanese who were captured and detained in Mongolia after World War II.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Japan Times 1950: Kyoto’s ‘Golden Temple’ burns to the ground
The historic Kinkakuji was destroyed in an act of arson in July 1950, a shocking event that would serve as the inspiration for a novel by Yukio Mishima.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a ceremony in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / History
Jun 23, 2025
Okinawa marks 80th anniversary of end of ferocious ground battle
By Eric Johnston
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke of the horrific ground war involving Okinawan residents, noting that 200,000 lives were lost, or about one in four Okinawans.
A statue of Mohandas Gandhi in Tetsugakudo Park, Tokyo. The Indian nationalist saw lessons for humanity in the trajectory of modern Japan and the violence wrought by — and perpetrated upon — the nation.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jun 21, 2025
Gandhi and Japan: Turning away from ‘brute force’ and toward love
By Michael Hoffman
“I did not move a muscle when I first heard that an atom bomb had wiped out Hiroshima.”
A diary entry written by Yoko Moriwaki on Aug. 5, 1945, the day before she died in the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed by a message written by her father when he returned to Japan after the war.
JAPAN / History
Jun 15, 2025
Diary of a teenage A-bomb victim donated to Hiroshima museum
The diary also includes a message from her father, who only knew of her death upon returning from China after the war.
A replica of a suicide note left behind by a surgeon involved in the 1945 vivisection of U.S. prisoners of war is seen on display at Kyushu University in the city of Fukuoka on May 17.
JAPAN / History
Jun 11, 2025
Documents of 1945 vivisection of U.S. POWs on exhibit at Fukuoka museum
The documents relate to the experimental surgeries performed on eight captured U.S. soldiers at Kyushu Imperial University in the late stages of World War II.
Tokyo police declared that Japanese young men and women were simply "not accustomed to one another’s society" due to their cultural upbringing — and thus freewheeling dance venues and foreign customs needed to be reined in.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 4, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ‘social dances’
In June 1925, concern over “the moral effects of the Western dancing” on Japanese youth led to restrictions on social venues.
A city government official airs out the register of people who died as a result of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Thursday for its upkeep in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
JAPAN / History
May 22, 2025
Hiroshima opens up stone chamber containing register of A-bomb victims
The register, which contains the names of 344,306 people who died on or before Aug. 5 last year, was given an airing to remove moisture and inspected for damage.
Ashikaga Takauji was a 14th-century warrior whose shifting alliances had a profound impact on the turbulent politics of his day. More than 500 years later, imperial loyalists were moved to channel their lingering fury at Takauji's betrayal of Emperor Go-Daigo.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
May 17, 2025
The emperor and the shogun: A power struggle across the centuries
By Michael Hoffman
For imperial loyalists of the late Edo Period, the experiences of Emperor Go-Daigo from five centuries past were an inspiration — and a warning.

Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
Japanese scientists discover clue to why women burn more fat than men
Scientists say a recently-published study could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions and may lead to new therapies that target calorie-burning mechanisms.
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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