About a year ago, I was looking at Edo-period book illustrations and reading name cartuoches – until I stumbled upon two which did not actually contain a name! I was working behind the scenes of an exhibition at my former university (Goethe-University Frankfurt Main, Germany[1]), which owns a small but very well-preserved collection of mid-…
Category: History
Japan’s Warrior Women
The one characteristic that sets women apart from men has shaped how women are treated in most societies. No, I am not referring to boobs. There is something about childbirth that relegates women to the role of property in most agricultural societies. Perhaps it is because most agricultural societies have the idea of land ownership…
The Japanese National Railways Incidents–Enduring Mysteries from Post-War Japan
Modern Japan is known the world over for her rail system. The famous bullet trains allow commuters to cross the main island at lightning speeds. Trains played a large role in Japan’s transition from a medieval nation to a modern nation in the late 19th and early 20th century, knitting the country together and allowing…
Samurai Baseball: A Look at the History of Japanese Baseball
“…there will never be a war with Japan.” –Connie Mack “…hope every Jap that mentions my name gets shot – and to hell with all Japs anyway.” — Babe Ruth In 1853, Admiral Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open to the United States. Just 20 years later, baseball crossed the Pacific. Japan has not…
Kidnapping, Extortion, and Cyanide-laced Candy: The Strange Case of the Monster With 21 Faces
The anime and manga Ghost in the Shell is highly regarded as one of the finest ever produced. The show (I will focus on the anime because it is what I am personally familiar with) focuses on the exploits of Section 9, an elite cyber crime unit that is part of Japan’s public security apparatus….
Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan
Japan and the United States share a unique relationship on the global stage. This site has covered some historical aspects of that relationship, from the post war reconstruction of Japan that bred a work culture resulting in the phenomenon of karoshi to the infamous kamikazes of World War II and how they came to be…