Showing posts with the label Japan

Dejima: The Island That Was Once Japan’s Only Connection To The Outside World

Dec 7, 2023

For over two centuries, spanning from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Japan adopted a strict policy that prohibited foreigners, particularly...

The 72 Seasons of Japan

Jul 11, 2023

We are all familiar with the four seasons of the year—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—based on the changes in weather, ecology, and the n...

5 Historical Figures Who Were Assassinated in The Lavatory

Apr 24, 2023

When a person is on the toilet, moving bowels, they are in a particularly vulnerable position. They are exposing parts of their body that ar...

Masabumi Hosono: The Disgraced Titanic Survivor

Apr 7, 2023

In 1997, on the eve of the release of James Cameroon’s blockbuster movie Titanic , a curious story from Japan came to light. It was about Ma...

Matsugaoka Tōkei-ji, The Divorce Temple

Feb 6, 2023

For over six hundred years, the Matsugaoka Tōkei-ji, in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, had served as a refugee for wome...

Ryōunkaku: Japan’s First Skyscraper

Nov 4, 2022

For more than thirty years, the Ryōunkaku—Japan's first Western-style skyscraper—was a popular sight in the urban landscape of modern To...

Shizo Kanakuri: The Man Who Took 54 Years To Finish a Marathon

Oct 5, 2022

Shizo Kanakuri was not a slow runner. In fact, he reportedly set the world record by completing a 40-km marathon run in 2 hours, 32 minutes,...

Kugelpanzer: The Mysterious Nazi Ball Tank

Apr 25, 2022

When the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Red Army recovered a strange vehicle from the pos...

Why Japan Made Human Sacrifices Before Building Bridges

Nov 1, 2021

Until the 16th century in Japan, major constructions like castles and bridges began with human sacrifices, with victims buried alive within ...

The World’s Oldest Operating Company is 1,400 Years Old

Aug 2, 2021

Kongō Gumi Co., Ltd., a Japanese company that was then acquired by Takamatsu Construction Group, for which it continued to operate as a subs...