Japan

Blue Eye Samurai: historian explains what the Netflix series gets right and wrong about real Edo-period Japan

Blue Eye Samurai: historian explains what the Netflix series gets right and wrong about real Edo-period Japan: Warning: this article includes spoilers for Blue Eye Samurai. Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai is an anime series set during the opening decades of Japan’s Edo period (1603–1867), also known as the Tokugawa period. Among other subjects, the series …

Japan: Myths to Manga – Young V&A exhibition celebrates nature’s influence on Japanese culture

Japan: Myths to Manga – Young V&A exhibition celebrates nature’s influence on Japanese culture: Japan: Myths to Manga at the Young V&A is loosely divided into four parts: sky, sea, forest and city. The underlying theme of the exhibition is showcasing how traditions developed in these contexts relate to contemporary Japanese culture. Japan’s dramatic natural …

South Korean president’s anti-communist taunts are opening up deep divisions as country ponders alliance with Japan and US

South Korean president’s anti-communist taunts are opening up deep divisions as country ponders alliance with Japan and US: Recent heated debate in South Korea about how its colonial-era independence movement should be remembered has exposed the deep faultlines that run through the country’s politics, between the conservative and liberal-progressive camps. At the end of August, …

Why Japan has started pumping water from Fukushima into the Pacific – and should we be concerned?

Why Japan has started pumping water from Fukushima into the Pacific – and should we be concerned?: Japan’s decision to release water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has been greeted with horror by the local fishing industry as well as China and several Pacific Island states. China – which together with Hong Kong imports …

How preventive healthcare could save the NHS – lessons from Finland, Japan and Singapore

How preventive healthcare could save the NHS – lessons from Finland, Japan and Singapore: If it’s true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, preventive healthcare might really save the embattled NHS – now celebrating its 75th anniversary. By promoting healthy lifestyles, early disease detection and timely treatment, the NHS could …

Kenzabur? ?e: a writer of real humanity and the real Japan

Kenzabur? ?e: a writer of real humanity and the real Japan: The death at 88 of Japanese writer and Nobel prize winner Kenzabur? ?e on March 3 leaves a deep wound in his readers. But also in the Japanese community, which has lost one of its most powerful voices and critics. ?e was a literary …

Japan is paying families 1 million yen to move to the countryside – but it won’t make Tokyo any smaller

Japan is paying families 1 million yen to move to the countryside – but it won’t make Tokyo any smaller: Denys Nevozhai | Unsplash The Japanese government has announced a fresh round of incentives for people to move out of the Tokyo region. From April 2023, families seeking a new life in greener pastures will …

Noise pollution: how the sounds of the city were redefined as ‘urban music’ in 1920s Japan

Noise pollution: how the sounds of the city were redefined as ‘urban music’ in 1920s Japan: Cash machines, elevators and escalators that talk. Jingles in department stores, train stations, supermarkets and shopping arcades. Loud speaker warnings about the dangers of riding on the bus or train, overlayed by sirens, car horns, traffic and pedestrians. “For …