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November 08, 2025
 

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THE LIVING PAST

Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 25, 2022
Watanabe Kazan: One scholar’s equivocal rebellion
Watanabe Kazan discovered a talent for drawing early on and became a hack artist, painting on demand for pennies. It kept starvation at bay.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 16, 2022
A tragic narrative for women persists even as times change
A Heian Period text reads, 'Ladies must often depend on men who are nothing to them — it is the way of the world.' In Japanese literature, not much has changed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 19, 2021
The prince and the prophet
Their paths may be different, but the devotion to God and gods that two men display in different parts of the world changes the religious landscapes of both.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 21, 2021
Loyalty before love in the tales of Saikaku’s samurai
A group of travelers comes to a river and must decide whether or not to cross. Scornful of danger, the young lord among them proceeds u2026 and samurai politics soon come into play.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 17, 2021
Saikaku pens five tales to inspire lovers in the Edo Period
Born in the mid-17th century, during the earlier days of the Edo Period, novelist Ihara Saikaku explored love in 'Five Women Who Loved Love.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 22, 2021
The first chapter in a long tale of Japanese romance
From the coupling of gods to form Japan to a female samurai dying on the battlefield, stories of love have always been intertwined with history.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 22, 2021
A tradition built on faith is put out to sea
In 1565, a temple abbot sets out on a journey at the age of 61 as is expected of him. Alone, he goes berserk and alters a tradition.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jul 18, 2021
Teach a nation to write and the classics will follow
An era of “great reform” sees Japan introduced to the wonders of Chinese literature and, not so long after, produce its own masterpiece in the “Manyoshu.”
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 20, 2021
One era’s eccentrics are another’s model citizens
Would an outcast from the Heian Period feel more at home in the Edo Period? Or are there general characteristics that unites any society's eccentrics?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 17, 2021
When Japan's pioneers migrated north to Ezo
As Japanese discovered the vast northern part of their lands, a pioneer spirit took hold. How long would the Ainu tolerate them?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Apr 18, 2021
Driven to murder by poverty and racial prejudice?
A gifted child's talents go to waste as a result of his ethnicity. Falling into a life of despair, he lashes out in revenge. How would his situation be treated nearly 100 years later?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 22, 2021
Archetypes of the 'modern girl' from Japan's 'jazz age'
People thronged European-style cafes and breathed new air with new lungs. At the center of it all were the 'mobo' and 'moga': modern boys and girls, respectively.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 20, 2021
Matsuo Taseko: It’s myth vs. reality for Japanese nationalism
Inspired by the u2018Manyoshu,' a peasant-poet took the Japanese capital by eloquent storm.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 16, 2021
Matsuo Taseko: A poet caught up in nationalist fervor
When nine swordsmen stormed a temple in 1863 they cut the heads of three statues, making a political statement that reverberates to this day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 19, 2020
Thoughts on healing from the Heian Period
The psychology of health in 'The Tale of Genji' suggests that enlightenment may be the cure for what ails you.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 16, 2020
A charm offensive in the Yoshiwara pleasure district
Life in the pleasure district was fun, if you were capable of mustering up the right amount of charm.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 17, 2020
Japan and Russia: The chivalrous war erupts
A key figure in the Russo-Japanese War, Gen. Maresuke Nogi was both a soldier and a poet.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 19, 2020
Japan and Russia: Sharing a view of the West
There are striking affinities between Japan and Russia, noticeable even before either country was fully aware of the other.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 15, 2020
War ends and humanity remains resilient
Chaos, destruction u2026 humanity endures and yet, we seem stuck in repeating the same mistakes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jul 18, 2020
A thousand years of walking through Japan
The act of walking was one that Saigyo, Basho and Matsuo turned into poetry.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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