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​WWII

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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with North Korean servicemen on Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025
Putin hails troops in Ukraine as allies attend WWII parade
President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday that Russia would win in Ukraine as the Soviet Union had in World War II.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV waves on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2025
Heads of hibakusha groups urge Pope Leo to promote abolition of nukes
They expressed hopes that the new pontiff will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis, who visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019.
The Peace Statue at the Peace Park in the city of Nagasaki
JAPAN
May 9, 2025
Nagasaki to invite envoys from Russia, Belarus and Israel to peace ceremony
The city had not invited the top Russian and Belarusian envoys since 2022, while the Israeli ambassador was not invited last year.
Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Shoji Nishida answers questions from reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025
LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida refuses to retract remarks over WWII exhibits
Nishida said that descriptions at a monument to commemorate the "Himeyuri" nursing corps who died in the Battle of Okinawa had rewritten history.
The Osaka Expo, which opened last month, runs through mid-October.
JAPAN
May 8, 2025
Man admitted to 2025 Osaka Expo with 85-year-old ticket
Previous expos in Japan have had similar policies of giving "invitation tickets" to people holding passes for the 1940 event, expo organizers said.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrive to greet guests at a spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 7, 2025
Emperor's family to visit Okinawa in June
During the trip, they will pray for the more than 200,000 people who lost their lives eight decades ago in the Battle of Okinawa.
Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, planted saplings from a persimmon tree that survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025
Saplings from a tree that survived atomic bombing planted at U.N. headquarters
The planting comes as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer host a VE Day 80th Anniversary street party on Downing Street, central London, on Monday.
WORLD
May 6, 2025
U.K. kicks off party to mark 80 years since the end of World War II
Tens of thousands defied the damp weather on the Union Jack-lined Mall to watch the parade, which began with Winston Churchill's 1945 victory speech.
A student from Hiroshima Jogakuin University (center) makes paper cranes with event attendees at the Peace Memorial Park on Monday in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025
Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument marks 67th anniversary
Students from Hiroshima Jogakuin University, which organized the ceremony, placed about 7,000 paper cranes at the monument.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in a video message on Saturday to a gathering of people in Tokyo who support revising the Constitution.
JAPAN / Society
May 4, 2025
Rallies held on Japan's Constitution Day
Citizens opposed to revising Japan's Constitution rallied in Koto Ward, while advocates of a constitutional amendment held an event in Chiyoda Ward.

Longform

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