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April 28, 2024
 

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THE LIVING PAST

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 Times
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 20, 2020
Leaving the Heian: A sexual revolution in reverse
Japan's Heian Period courtiers displayed an attitude to sex unmatched in other societies of the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 16, 2020
The revolt against Japan's cultured courtiers
The Meiji Restoration changed Japanese society on a grand scale, but let's not forget another 'revolution' that turned things upside down.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Apr 18, 2020
The dogs have their day in old Edo
The Laws of Compassion that Tokugawa Tsunayoshi issued trickled down to the lowest rungs of Edo Period (1603-1868) Japan, which included the capital's many feral dogs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 14, 2020
The Edo Period: An era of utter weirdness
The Edo Period (1603-1868) was a bizarre time that visitors to Japan could not help but comment on — the countless laws, the brutal punishments ... and the dogs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 8, 2020
Engelbert Kaempfer on the old roads of Japan
'Japanese travel more often than other people,' wrote Engelbert Kaempfer, the 17th-century physician, scholar, naturalist and explorer whose 'History of Japan' (1712) was the first full-length foreign-language portrait of the nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 18, 2020
Kukai: Sowing the seeds of Shingon Buddhism
'Some say that though Kobo Daishi (Kukai) left this life he did not die, that he lies uncorrupted in (his tomb on Mount Koya) under these ancient trees, awaiting the coming of the future Buddha who will signal the salvation of the world' — Oliver Statler, 'Japanese Pilgrimage' (1983)
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 14, 2019
Poetic escapism for the end of the year
If the year-end seems less festive than foreboding, escape through the poems of the 'Koshinsu,' Japan's earliest poetic anthologies.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 16, 2019
Gazing in wonder at the many faces of the moon
Why do the sun and the moon see so little of each other?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 19, 2019
Be a frog and jump into Basho's pond
We must know, 'that a haiku does not express ideas but that it puts forward images reflecting intuitions.' — Daisetsu T. Suzuki
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 14, 2019
The swift rise and fall of Japanese anarchism
Sakae Osugi — born 1885, murdered 1923 — fanned the flames of the peasant Rice Riots in Japan's short-lived age of anarchy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 17, 2019
In the anarchy of Japan's industrial revolution
Japan's Meiji Era (1868-1921) industrial revolution set a scene of chaos for the nation's advocates of political and social change.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jul 20, 2019
Hideyo Noguchi: Under the microscope
Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928) may be Japan's most famous scientist. His face adorns the u00a51,000 bill. His life story is legendary, folkloric.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 15, 2019
Oshio Heihachiro: Confusing Confucianism
In 1837 famine raged: In Europe, socialist consciousness was dawning, but in Japan, shut tight for two centuries against the outside world, revolt against the established order was Confucian.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 18, 2019
Go-Daigo's mysterious and most loyal warrior
'No famous character in all Japanese history is quite as obscure as Kusunoki Masashige,' writes historian Ivan Morris on 14th-century Emperor Go-Daigo's most loyal samurai.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Apr 20, 2019
Emperor Go-Daigo: The pride before a fall
The anonymous 14th-century chronicle 'Masukagami' ('The Clear Mirror,' translated by George Perkins), dramatically details the trials and errors of Emperor Go-Daigo, the 96th emperor of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 16, 2019
Culture bred in the midst of famine and war
'We may even be tempted to conclude that no man in the history of Japan had a greater influence on the formation of Japanese taste,' wrote Japanologist Donald Keene. But still, he continues, 'Yoshimasa may have been the worst shogun ever to rule Japan.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 16, 2019
There are many sides to a great warrior
Almost nothing is known of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's early years with warlord Oda Nobunaga, but by 1570 we see him commanding a detachment, 3,000 strong, in battle against a Nobunaga rival. The peasant boy has come a long way.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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