Tag - wwii

 
 

WWII

Emperor Naruhito speaks during a news conference at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday ahead of his visit to Mongolia together with Empress Masako from Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025
Emperor to mourn Japanese detainees who died in Mongolia
The Emperor last visited Mongolia in 2007, when he was Crown Prince.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speak as they stand with Mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui in front of the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima in May 2023.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025
Hiroshima mayor urges Trump to visit after atomic bomb comments
U.S. President Donald Trump should visit Hiroshima to see the effects of nuclear weapons, the city's mayor said.
Hiroshi Masuda (left), head of the Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025
Japanese war memorial network unites to pass on memories to youth
The facilities will work on strengthening their capabilities to disseminate information and provide content for schools.
According to the welfare ministry, the number of hibakusha survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost 80 years ago has fallen below 100,000 for the first time.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Number of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors falls below 100,000
According to the welfare ministry, the number of hibakusha with victim certificates stood at 99,130 as of the end of March, down by 7,695 from a year before.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons hopes the online memorial will "spur action for the total abolition of nuclear weapons."
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Anti-nuclear group creates online memorial for children who died in atomic bombings
The online memorial features more than 400 profiles with details of the children's lives.
The Nagasaki Peace Park in the city of Nagasaki
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025
Russian envoy to attend peace ceremony in Nagasaki
In May, Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said that his city would invite Russian and other ambassadors to this year's ceremony.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
Comparing U.S. Iran strike to Hiroshima, Trump plays down intelligence report
The U.S. president argued that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive.
Members of the Coastal Surveillance Unit participate in a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the Self-Defense Forces' Yonaguni Garrison in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2017.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Okinawa locals wary as SDF presence grows amid China threat
The SDF buildup has spurred concerns across the political spectrum in Okinawa, and many residents remain deeply worried over its growing presence.
Yoshiko Goya speaks of her wartime experience during an interview in Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 23, 2025
Battle of Okinawa 1945: Memories of fire, flight and loss
As an 8-year-old, Yoshiko Goya fled her birthplace with six other family members and relatives. In the end, only three survived.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a ceremony in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / History
Jun 23, 2025
Okinawa marks 80th anniversary of end of ferocious ground battle
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke of the horrific ground war involving Okinawan residents, noting that 200,000 lives were lost, or about one in four Okinawans.
Former boy soldier Yoshimitsu Zukeyama speaks of his wartime experience during an interview in May in Ogimi, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2025
Battle of Okinawa turned child into a 'ghost soldier' still haunted by memories
Emotionally and physically depleted, the boy began to unravel after the war ended, with locals calling him a “ghost soldier.”
A statue of Mohandas Gandhi in Tetsugakudo Park, Tokyo. The Indian nationalist saw lessons for humanity in the trajectory of modern Japan and the violence wrought by — and perpetrated upon — the nation.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jun 21, 2025
Gandhi and Japan: Turning away from ‘brute force’ and toward love
“I did not move a muscle when I first heard that an atom bomb had wiped out Hiroshima.”
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025
Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead
Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
Katsuya Toji looks at Jizo statues, which his father Kentaro had installed in his garden to honor the men he had executed, on May 13. The statues have been moved to a different location in the city of Fukuoka.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
Diaries of a Japanese war criminal reveal 'how irrational war truly is,' son says
“It felt like I was sinking quietly into the bottom of a deep sea,” the convicted war criminal wrote after hearing of his death sentence.
Takeshi Yamaguchi, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa Prefecture, speaks during an online interview on June 3.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
Okinawa remains at mercy of armed forces, says expert
The prefecture hosts many U.S. military bases, following its occupation by U.S. armed forces after Japan's defeat in the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet upon their arrival at Hiroshima Airport on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Japan's emperor and empress arrive in Hiroshima
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako traveled to the city to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
Social activists and artists remove graffiti from the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on June 10, after days of protests against federal immigration sweeps.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Japanese American museum criticizes Trump order
U.S. authorities issued orders to put up notices for exhibitions, movies and others that are deemed to disparage U.S. history.
A U.S. military plane takes off at the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture in August 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden
On June 23, Japan’s southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung ahead of their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis in Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2025
South Korea's Lee touts ‘inseparable’ Japan ties after Ishiba meeting
Seeking to ride the momentum that has pushed the neighbors closer following years of chilly ties, the pair also reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral cooperation with the U.S.
A diary entry written by Yoko Moriwaki on Aug. 5, 1945, the day before she died in the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed by a message written by her father when he returned to Japan after the war.
JAPAN / History
Jun 15, 2025
Diary of a teenage A-bomb victim donated to Hiroshima museum
The diary also includes a message from her father, who only knew of her death upon returning from China after the war.

Longform

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