Tag - wwii

 
 

WWII

Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, depart from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Wednesday for Okinawa to mourn those killed in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II 80 years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Emperor's family arrives in Okinawa
On Thursday, the family will offer flowers at a monument in Naha for the victims of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship.
Yasuhiko Morine (left), Esperanza Morine (center left), Lydia Morine (center right) and Naoaki Morine on the island of Linapacan in the western Philippines on May 25
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Some descendants of Japanese in Philippines still without Japan nationality
As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the government is strengthening support for those seeking Japanese nationality based on their ancestry.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offers a flower during a ceremony to pay respects to unidentified war dead from World War II at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on May 26.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025
Ishiba faces political and diplomatic quandary ahead of WWII anniversary
There is fierce opposition among conservatives to any form of official reflection on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
The entrance to a cave on Okinawa’s main island where a former Japanese soldier confessed to having killed a mother and child during World War II
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 2, 2025
How the scars of war in Okinawa are being healed by a psychologist
A clinical psychologist has formed grief care groups for survivors of war across Okinawa to help try to heal their emotional scars.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks during an event held on Ie Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday to read aloud the names of people killed in fierce battles in the prefecture during World War II.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Event to read aloud names of victims of Okinawa battles begins
"I sincerely hope that Okinawa's wish for peace will spread" through the event, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in an opening speech.
Akie Abe (right), the widow of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025
Putin praises Abe, saying the late prime minister wanted a peace treaty
No treaty was ever signed between the two countries as they could not resolve a dispute over what is known in Japan as the Northern Territories.
Representatives of bereaved families lay flowers at a memorial service held at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
May 27, 2025
Remains of 368 Japanese war dead laid to rest in National Cemetery
The number of people laid to rest at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery now totals 371,008, including some who died after the war as detainees in Siberia.
Mika Sasaki (center) checks a scene of her film "Bougainvillea no Yume" ("Bougainvillea Dream") while shooting it in Kolkata, India, in February.
JAPAN
May 27, 2025
Japanese student in India reflects on her grandfather while filming World War II movie
The filmmaker's late grandfather is believed to have survived one of the fiercest battles during the war in India, though he never spoke of it.
The beach on Aka Island, Okinawa Prefecture, where U.S. forces first landed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 26, 2025
How a remote island escaped mass suicide in Battle of Okinawa
Residents had been told that, if captured, women would be assaulted and men mutilated by U.S. soldiers.
Author Kazuo Ishiguro (left) and director Kei Ishikawa pose during a photocall for the film “Toi Yamanamino Hikari” ("A Pale View of Hills") at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2025
Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel premieres at Cannes
The author says that adapting the novel — which he wrote when he was 25 — was different from bringing his other books to the big screen.
A spokesperson for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry has expressed regret that Taiwan was not invited to this year's peace memorial ceremony in Nagasaki, which will be held on Aug. 9 to mark the anniversary of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025
Taiwan voices regret over Nagasaki peace ceremony snub
Taiwan remains determined to continue cooperation with like-minded partners and to protect regional peace and stability, said spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei.
Lists containing the names and details of members of biological warfare units that the former Imperial Japanese Army had stationed in China
JAPAN
May 21, 2025
Name lists of former Imperial Japanese Army biowarfare units released
The National Archives has disclosed details of the members of two units based in China to researchers looking to uncover the mysteries surrounding them.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures during an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday. Officials in Tokyo are closely watching Lee’s remarks for hints of how bilateral relations could shift if he is elected.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2025
South Korean presidential front-runner says he's not hostile toward Japan
Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has in recent months sought to highlight a more centrist agenda ahead of the presidential election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office to Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki over LDP member Shoji Nishida's inappropriate remark about war-related exhibits in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 20, 2025
Ishiba apologizes over LDP member's remark on World War II exhibits
LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida called descriptions on a monument commemorating the Himeyuri corps of female students who died in the Battle of Okinawa "a revision of history."
Teru Hasegawa, Esperanto name Verda Majo, wrote leftist political essays during WWII.
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2025
A window into the mind of Esperantist and political activist Teru Hasegawa
During WWII, a young Japanese woman resisted her country's descent into fascism by writing leftist essays, now collected and translated in "Whispers of a Storm."
Akemi Tao talks on behalf of late hibakusha Masahiro Kunishige during an event to pass down the memories of the atomic bombing experiences at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 20, 2025
'Memory keepers' pass on Hiroshima A-bomb survivors' stories
Becoming a memory keeper requires about two years of training. Applicants study the realities of the U.S. nuclear attack and practice public speaking skills.
Hiroshima Victims Memorial Cenotaph in the Peace Memorial Park
JAPAN
May 20, 2025
Japan's emperor and empress to visit Hiroshima in June
The imperial couple will visit the city of Hiroshima to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
Netflix has announced it will start streaming "Hotaru no Haka" (Grave of the Fireflies), an animated film produced by Studio Ghibli, from July 15 in Japan.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 16, 2025
Netflix to stream Studio Ghibli's 'Grave of the Fireflies' in Japan
It will be the first work by the Japanese anime powerhouse to be streamed on Netflix in Japan.
"Federal funding typically accounts for about 10% of our annual operating budget, which is significant," said Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025
Japanese American museum head laments Trump-led cuts to financing
The Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has stopped funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, which financially supports museums.
Terumi Tanaka, one of the representatives of 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, speaks during the prize ceremony in Oslo in December.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025
Nobel Institute to hold event in Tokyo to call for nuclear disarmament
The Norwegian Nobel Institute plans to hold an event in Japan in July to call for nuclear disarmament, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

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