Questions tagged [japan]
An island country in the western Pacific, located east of the Asian mainland.
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What is the story of this kamon?
I see that you have a lot of knowledge and I have been looking for information for several years. Do you know the story of this kamon? It is worn by my wife's family. It's Maruni ken Hanabishi; it is ...
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Why did no one take Siberia over before the Russians, and how did they do it?
I realize that Russia had ambitions in the east and they took over Siberia. However Siberia was just north of the Mongols really and its islands were easily accessible to Japan in history. They even ...
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1answer
161 views
What caused the decline of Buddhism in Japan? [closed]
I'm trying to find fairly detailed information on the causes of the decline of Buddhism in Japan. The most detailed information I could find so far is Wikipedia, but it doesn't appear to go too in-...
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1answer
173 views
What did Japanese architecture look like with heavy materials such as stone, mortar and clay?
In the Wikipedia article on Japanese architecture, it says in the Heian era, and I quote, "Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, with simple wooden ...
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1answer
143 views
How common were fires in pre-Edo Japan?
It is well known that Edo-era Japan had many fires, but I want to focus on something else.
I cannot seem to find much information on fires in Japan before Edo. For example, when I google "feudal ...
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Were there high-ranking Japanese POW as witness at the Trinity Atomic Bomb Test? [closed]
One argument was that providing a demonstration on an unpopulated island ran the risk of failure in front of Japanese observers. But I have not read any suggestion of using a Japanese POW of high ...
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2answers
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Could someone help to identify this Japanese mon found on what appears to be a late Edo Period Jingasa?
I am trying to identify the following Japanese mon:
My research has hinted that the tortoise-shell shape may be of Shinto influence and that the triune division is a form depiction of the tomoe, but ...
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1answer
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Did Japanese modernisation have an effect on Ethiopia?
On his wikipedia page, Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, "the primary author of Ethiopia's July 1931 constitution" the article calls him a
politician and intellectual of the Japanizer school
...
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3answers
357 views
Were the Japanese “Kongo” class battlewagons advanced for their time?
Built in the early 1910s, Japan's Kongo class battlecruisers had eight 14-inch guns, a speed of about 30 knots, and a displacement of about 26,000 tons. This gave them advantages over British ...
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1answer
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What kind of football was played in 645 Japan?
In the book History of Japan by Richard Mason, the author states in chapter 3:
In the year 645, opponents of the Soga leaders struck back. The final coup was preceded by careful preparations that ...
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104 views
What are the outer vests/jackets that samurai wear?
What are the outer vests/jackets that samurai wear some sort of jacket, what are they called?
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2answers
280 views
Why were Japanese escort ships not numerous at the battle of Bismarck Sea?
During the battle of Bismarck sea, Allied units performed air attacks that resulted in the nearly destruction of Japanese fleet.
I understand the reasons why the Allies obtain such a success, namely:
...
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What went into an Edo-era Hyakkumonogatari Kaidankai?
I was looking for information on the Edo-era parlour game hyakkumonogatari kaidankai. I found a lot of academic sources about kaidan themselves (the history, spread, adaption, influence, etc.) But at ...
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1answer
166 views
How did the Japanese populace view the emperor during the Edo Period?
What was the context behind the Sonnō Jōi (尊皇攘夷, "revere the emperor and repel the barbarians") movement?
To my understanding, the Edo Shogunate was a typical feudal society with strict ...
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0answers
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What is the flag on Shinzo Abe's suit? [closed]
and are random a photos from a performance of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. The emblem number 1, as I understand, is the Imperial Seal. But I couldn't find any information about the emblem ...
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2answers
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Did the US really consider demonstrating the atomic bomb to the Japanese by “blowing the top” off of Mt. Fuji?
In reading this Washington Post article titled Five myths about the atomic bomb, it's mentioned:
The decision to use nuclear weapons is usually presented as either/or: either drop the bomb or land on ...
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126 views
Who did Murasaki Shikibu fall in love with?
A line from Donald Keene's introductory text about The Tale of Genji piqued my curiosity:
We know little else about Murasaki’s early years, though her poems suggest that she fell in love at least ...
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1answer
201 views
How old was Murasaki Shikibu when she married her second cousin? And why did she marry him?
From Wikipedia:
Aristocratic Heian women lived restricted and secluded lives, allowed to speak to men only when they were close relatives or household members. Murasaki's autobiographical poetry ...
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223 views
Why did the USA stop expanding westwards into East Asia?
Why did the USA stop expanding westwards into East Asia? The USA initially started on the east coast of North America, and gradually expanded westwards to reach the Pacific Ocean through a combination ...
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1answer
179 views
What did the Edo samurai bureaucracy actually look like?
While researching the Japanese Edo period, the Samurai class are frequently described as bureaucrats and the government is described as a "sophisticated bureaucracy", often with detailed ...
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309 views
What led to Japan committing war crimes in WWII? [closed]
Japan committed cruel war crimes during World War 2.
According to this article WW2 Japanese war crimes - Japanese Invasion of China 1937-1944 (World war II two -Asian Holocaust)
and this The Asian ...
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1answer
200 views
Why are some school systems from September–July versus others that go April–March?
I've heard from colleagues and on-line sources that the Japanese school system starts the school year on 1st of April and I've heard the same used to be true in Germany. In Belgium, where I live, I ...
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To what extent is the flora and fauna on Guadalcanal edible?
At the battle of Guadalcanal,, the initial wave of 11,000 Americans were stranded with something like two weeks' worth of food (five days worth of "landed" rations, nine days worth of ...
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1answer
272 views
Why were the Marines so badly outnumbered at the critical point at Guadalcanal?
Prior to the battle of Guadalcanal,, the Americans had landed 11,000 men on the island in August, 1942. This compares to the 5,000 or so men that the Japanese had on the island by the first week of ...
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What was the political context of the Japanese “North Ezo” explorations?
Mamiya Rinzō explored Sakhalin in 1808. This seems to have been the culmination of a series of explorations, which started in the 1770's, and in which the Japanese discovered much of the northern ...
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What are the hay effigies in this Japanese movie?
I am moving this question from Movies.SE in hope of getting the answer here
The movie The Blind Swordsman Zaitochi (2003) takes places somewhere in a small town in Japan, probably around the 19th ...
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What did the Japanese military do to maintain their fighting edge during the Edo era/Bakufu (1603-1868)?
After Tokugawa unified Japan, it entered a long era of militarized peace 1603-1868, with very limited warfare, a severely isolationist attitude and strict limits to weaponry (guns were essentially ...
asked Jul 29 '20 at 18:07
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
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What is the source of “the three most useless things in the world are the Great Wall, pyramids, and the Yamato”?
I watched 'Naval Legends: Yamato' yesterday, and it included a phrase that was attributed to the crew of the ship: "The world's three most useless things are the Chinese Great Wall, Egyptian ...
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1answer
311 views
How dangerous was it to be a coast watcher during the Pacific War?
The movie, South Pacific featured two "coast watchers" as heroes, the American, Lt. Joseph Cable, and the Frenchman, Emil de Becque, who observed, and reported on Japanese naval movements. ...
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Did the Japanese use native Camellia species before Camellia sinensis was introduced from China?
According to Wikipedia the first known references to tea occured in the 9th century, when Buddhist monks introduced tea, a drink made from Camellia sinensis to Japan.
The Camellia variety sinensis is ...
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Why was the wording on war in Japan's postwar constitution so much stronger than in Germany's or Italy's?
From Hathway and Shapiro (2017):
The Allies supervised the drafting of new constitutions for each of the Axis powers and enshrined the prohibition on war into each state’s own governing documents. ...
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What is the Diet when referring to Post-War Japan? [closed]
I'm currently doing a study on America's influence on Post-War Japan and it mentions a lot about a group called 'The Diet' and I can't find any information on who they actually are. Can anyone help ...
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What was the main purpose in Japan trying to capture the Dutch East Indies oil fields intact?
The Dutch East Indies campaign saw Japan try to capture the Dutch East Indies oilfields intact, i.e. before the local troops destroyed them:
After these main objectives in Borneo were completed, the ...
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How did himuros operate for storing and transporting ice in Heian Japan?
I'm trying to learn more about himuros (ice houses) and ice transportation in 1000 AD Japan. Does anyone have good articles, or can describe in more detail what they looked like, and how ice was ...
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Were taiko drums used to determine village sizes?
Were taiko drums used to determine village size? If so, when was this practice in use?
In 'Full Circle', Michael Palin says that the taiko drums were used to determine village sizes in pre-industrial ...
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1answer
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Which crown features on the Japanese Order of the Precious Crown?
The Order of the Precious Crown features a crown on its badge. I cannot determine which crown this is.
The order was founded in 1888 by Emperor Meiji, who I cannot find depicted wearing or with any ...
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What was Higo domain's relevance with respect to the Meiji Restoration and later (internal) politics?
Normally, when the Meiji Restoration is considered, the "victors" are listed as Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa. This materialised in Satsuma and Choshu leading Imperial Japan's Army while Satsuma and Tosa ...
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Was it possible for a young Japanese woman to end up enslaved in Great Britain in the mid-1600s?
I'm inspired to ask this by the horror visual novel The Letter, which chiefly regards a haunted building called the Ermengarde mansion, in the fictional English town of Anslem, near the equally-...
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2answers
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Did the leaflets from the US to Hiroshima/Nagasaki civilians on bombing cities reduce the civilian casualties of the two nuclear bombs in August 1945?
I read on Wikipedia
Various leaflets were dropped on Japan, three versions showing the names of 11 or 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other side contained text stating ...
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What is the origin and significance of karahafu (唐破風)?
The karahafu (唐破風) is perhaps the most instantly recognisable Japanese architectural feature, yet it's origins are not well established in Western literature. Folk etymology suggests that the style ...
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Did the Japenese consider the atomic bomb no worse than any other bomb? [duplicate]
I read another article asserting that the US needlessly dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, but this one had a different spin: the Soviets had already defeated the Japanese. It basically lays out the ...
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How did Soviet soldiers resist tanks during the battle of Shumshu?
During the battle of Shumshu, it is claimed in the Wikipedia article that forces ratio was as follow:
Japan side: 8 500 personnel (combatant and non combatant?) and 77 tanks
Russian side: up to 9 000 ...
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2answers
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Why did animation become so huge in Japan compared to other countries?
I'd like a general explanation of the historical/cultural reasons that have made anime in Japan so big.
There's clearly disproportion between the Japanese population (I doubt that at any moment since ...
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How did Japan build an extensive rail network in Greater Tokyo?
Their rail network is like a spider web and also wondering how most of the lines are at-grade or eleveted excluding Tokyo Metro/Toei Subway lines, even though the suburbs are very dense with buldings. ...
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Why the Ottoman Empire failed to match Europe whereas Japan managed to? [duplicate]
It seems as if the overall result of the numerous 'reforms' instituted to 'develop and revive' the heavily declining Ottoman Empire eventually was nothing more than to imitate European lifestyle in ...
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Are there incidents of ronin travelling outside Japan as soldiers of fortune?
There are time periods where large numbers of ronin flocked to Edo, and roamed the Japanese countryside looking for some source of income; generally during and right after the Senegoku period and ...
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Why would anyone from Japan be in Northern India in early 1900s?
I am trying to write a fictional history novel.
Can someone tell me why a young man from a wealthy, samurai family from Japan would be in Northern India in the early 1900s (after WW1, before WWII).
...
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What evidence is there of tank-vs-tank combat in Asia during the second world war?
It has been known that the Japanese army during the Second World War did not value tanks highly and as such they were not always used effectively and had significantly worse characteristics than ...
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How did British aircraft fare against Japanese aircraft during the Second World War? [closed]
It goes without saying that both the Supermarine Spitfire used by the UK and the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero are iconic fighter aircraft of the Second World War. But how did these aircraft fare when they ...
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If the Allies had invaded Japan in 1945, would they have been fighting the “weakest” Japanese troops?
Sources such as Basil Collier's "The Second World War: A Military History" list the Japanese forces during the war as being 6 million. My understanding is that the background of these troops is ...
