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While taking refuge on Mount Kasagi from the shogunate’s forces, Emperor Go-Daigo had a prophetic dream that eventually led him to secure the support of military strategist Kusunoki Masashige.

JAPAN / History / The Living Past

Apr 19, 2025

‘I scud before the autumn wind’: Emperor Go-Daigo’s fall from grace

By Michael Hoffman

The “Masukagami,” a 14th-century historical chronicle, offers a wrenching account of the emperor’s struggle for power — and eventual downfall.

On April 23, 1925, The Japan Times ran a story about the principal clauses of the new Peace Preservation Law that was enacted to suppress ideologies deemed dangerous by the state.

JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By

Apr 5, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Peace law has several teeth

The Peace Preservation Law was a means of ideological suppression that grew tighter over time until it was repealed by Allied authorities following World War II.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Friday.

JAPAN / History

Mar 28, 2025

Ishiba to visit Iwo Jima to honor soldiers who died in fierce WWII battle

He will be the first sitting prime minister to visit the island since April 2013, when then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a stopover.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to set up an expert panel as early as April to reflect on lessons learned from Japan's defeat in World War II.

JAPAN / History

Mar 27, 2025

Ishiba eyes expert panel to reflect on lessons learned from WWII

The prime minister is unlikely to release a government-adopted statement to mark the 80th anniversary this year of Japan's surrender in the war.

A university student reads out the names of victims of U.S. air raids on Tokyo during World War II, during a memorial ceremony held in the capital on Thursday.

JAPAN / History

Mar 21, 2025

Names of Tokyo air raid victims read out in ceremony

About 80 people spent about five hours reading out the names of 4,138 victims.

After multiple failed attempts, Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) and his loyalists overthrew the Kamakura shogunate and restored imperial power — for a time.

JAPAN / History / The Living Past

Mar 15, 2025

Divine authority and mortal desires in the turbulent 14th century

By Michael Hoffman

The literary monk Kenko yearned for an “uncontaminated world,” even during the tumultuous rule of Emperor Go-Daigo, who toppled the shogunate and consolidated imperial power.

On March 21, 1925, a front page headline announced that the Tokyo Radio Broadcasting Bureau, the precursor to NHK, had begun operations with a communications range of 50 kilometers.

JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By

Mar 1, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Government sanctions official broadcasting station, the precursor to NHK

Japan’s first official broadcasting station began operating 100 years ago, setting a new precedent for the speed of communication and news.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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