Search - history

 
Menu
Search
 
June 09, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
32,693 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 22, 2023

Samurai Japan fans rise early to witness baseball history

Public viewing events were held at numerous locations and attracted scores of supporters eager to root for Samurai Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 8, 2023

Macron is trying to get back on the right side of history — and NATO

The French leader has shifted gears, aiming to speed the eastward expansion of both NATO and the European Union by clearing a pathway to membership for Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2023

The American economy is teetering on the edge

The U.S. economic situation is precarious and much will depend on fiscal and monetary policy. Still, many forecasters expect that a minor recession is coming.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2010

Why the oppressed must tell their own story

SEATTLE — When American historian Howard Zinn died recently, he left a legacy that redefined our relationship to history. Professor Zinn dared to challenge the way history was written. He defied the conventional construction of historical discourses by the pen of victors or elites.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Textbooks in the service of the state

CENSORING HISTORY: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany and the United States, edited by Laura Hein and Mark Selden. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 301 pp., $24.95. History loomed over the recent visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji like a threatening storm cloud. But other than some scattered...
JAPAN / History
Dec 11, 2015

Fifty Japanese scholars attack McGraw-Hill, U.S. academics on 'comfort women' issue

The “comfort women” dispute heats up as 50 Japanese scholars chide the author of a U.S. textbook and his backers for “errors” they claim no Japanese scholar would support.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2004

China reconstructs past to chart future

NEW DELHI -- How folklore guides Chinese foreign-policy interests was brought out by Beijing's recent spat with South Korea over the ancient kingdom of Koguryo, which was founded in the Tongge River basin of northern Korea and, at its height, included much of Manchuria.
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Feb 14, 2002

Lawmakers' views of past still plague relations

An education ministry panel's approval last April of a history textbook, which critics denounced as attempting to glorify Japan's wartime past, drew a quick response from South Korean politicians.
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2001

Close the book on censorship

Since the end of World War II, the censorship of history textbooks in Japan has raised political and diplomatic issues. Recently, a social-studies textbook edited by a nationalist group again stirred controversy, offending the Chinese and South Koreans.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
May 25, 2018

Michael Socolow explores evolution of global sports broadcasting through prism of 1936 Berlin Olympics in award-winning book

With a sharp eye for detail, American author and media historian Michael Socolow combines elements of geopolitical intrigue, Olympic history and sports broadcasting exploration infused with vigorous enthusiasm for rowing in his notable November 2016 book "Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2015

Israel's neglected Holocaust survivors deserve better

The Israeli government virtually ignores the nation's Holocaust survivors, a quarter of whom live in poverty.
COMMENTARY
Jun 27, 2005

Perceptions that defy amity

On a recent Korea Air flight from Narita to Inchon, South Korea, I was surprised when they showed images of air routes on the in-flight video system. The Tok-do islets in the Sea of Japan, the source of a Japan-South Korea territorial dispute, were shown as prominently as Tokyo and Seoul. The islets,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jul 31, 2022

The centuries-old mines stirring South Korea-Japan tensions

Some of the gold and silver mines of Sado are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Post-Coronavirus Briefing
Sep 7, 2020

All-out effort needed to learn successful virus response

Japan risks losing its status as an advanced nation unless it survives the pandemic and comes out on top.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / japan since the Meiji Restoration
Nov 26, 2018

Drawing a 150-year story line

Beset by an aging, shrinking body, Japan must find the means of rebuilding its 'character' if it is to survive the challenges ahead.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2017

The October Revolution in post-truth Russia

With the centenary of the October Revolution this year, the clash between Russia's official history and the memories of the people will move to the center of public life.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 13, 2016

Slim majority see no need for Obama to apologize for atomic bombs: Japan Times poll

Earlier this week The Japan Times polled its readers about U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Hiroshima. A total of 1042 people from 90 countries responded to the question: "Do you think President Obama should apologize for the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945?"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2016

Japan's epic samurai dramas are in a tight spot

Japanese can roughly be split into two camps: those equipped with an encyclopedic knowledge of history and those who have only a vague idea of who the samurai were or that a Shogun once lived in what is now the Imperial Palace. The history geeks on one side and those who couldn't care less on the other....
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2015

Much potential in new courses

The education ministry should strive to follow the new study outline for primary and secondary education, which stresses active learning to nurture independent thinking.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 23, 2013

Rookie trio make for a leadership deficit in East Asia

With three new leaders taking power over the past year — in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing (and a fourth in Pyongyang two years ago) — 2013 was never likely to be a banner year for regional diplomacy. But I didn't expect it to get quite this bad.
Scarred by the wildfire but still sprouting new leaves, the 150-year-old banyan tree, which for some has become a symbol hope and resilience, in the center of Lahaina, island of Maui in Hawaii, on Aug. 11.
WORLD
Oct 22, 2023

For Maui future, native Hawaiians push for honoring its past

The history of Lahaina is complicated, intertwined with the painful loss of land and sovereignty for Native Hawaiians.
Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.
“The Secret Lives of Numbers” co-author Kate Kitagawa discovered the power of storytelling as a research assistant for a professor in Japanese history. Since then, Kitagawa has been dedicated to using storytelling to show that humans are able to unlock the greater secrets of the universe through collaboration, not competition.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2024

'The Secret Lives of Numbers' reveals the unsung figures of mathematics

The book’s core message of creative collaboration leading to great discoveries is the brainchild of co-author Kate Kitagawa, a leading expert on the history of math.
History recorded the thoughts and actions of rulers and warlords, but what did the average folk think in that time? Were their days filled with angst, passion or poignancy?
JAPAN / History
Sep 17, 2023

Writers find a new muse in the 20th century: the ordinary person

The past at its very best spread its benefits thinly, leaving the masses to make the best of things beyond the reach of civilization’s light.
Reiko Okada shows her ink paintings that depict female students making paper balloons as she talks about her wartime experience on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 25, 2024

The stories behind Japan's WWII 'balloon bombs'

Former students are detailing wartime work that had the potential to unleash devastation.
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

The “Masukagami,” a 14th-century historical chronicle, offers a wrenching account of the emperor’s struggle for power — and eventual downfall.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation after eight years in office on New Year’s Eve, 1999. His chosen successor was then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who succeeded him.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024

Putin’s search for a usable past

Money was the one thing that would animate his reign. It was clear from the start that the businessman took precedence over the politician in Putin’s personality.
Negro Leagues uniforms are displayed at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
BASEBALL
May 30, 2024

Negro Leagues stats added to MLB record book in landmark move

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick hailed the move as a "major milestone in baseball history."
Japan won’t wait for G7 summit for possible U.S. trade deal
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top negotiator in tariff talks with the U.S. speaks to reporters at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
Japanese universities step up to help international students after Harvard ban
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University. U.S. President Donald Trump has barred Harvard from accepting international students, prompting Japanese universities to offer support.
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Victims mourned 17 years after Akihabara indiscriminate attack
A mourner prays for the victims of an indiscriminate fatal attack on a street of Tokyo's Akihabara area on the 17th anniversary of the incident on Sunday.
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.

Podcast

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

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER