Japan

Can Japan-Korea Relations Resolve Historical Disputes?

The government of South Korea has dropped its demand for Japanese companies to pay victims of forced labor during World War II. Many Koreans have called the concession a national humiliation, and some surviving victims say they won't accept compensation from Korean sources. 

How Ambassador Joseph Grew Tried to Prevent the Pacific War

by Steve Kemper

Caught between Japanese militarism and the State Department's inflexibility, Joseph C. Grew worked for a decade as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to try to avert a war he saw looming long before Pearl Harbor. 

The War Beat, Pacific: How the American News Media Went to War Against Japan

by Steven Casey

Censorship, technological limitations, and competition with news from Europe in World War II made the early part of the Pacific theater a "shrouded war," but not for lack of effort by war journalists. 

South Korean Court Orders Japan to Pay Compensation for Wartime Sexual Slavery

A South Korean court ordered the Japanese government to pay direct restitution to 12 women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. Japan has rejected the court's authority.

He Escaped Death as a Kamikaze Pilot. 70 Years Later, He Told His Story.

"As the generation who lived through the war fades away, Japan’s opposing political sides are vying to reinterpret the kamikaze for a public still divided over the conflict’s legacy."

Hiroshima (1953, Hideo Sekigawa)

View a segment from, and read about, Hideo Sekigawa's 1953 film "Hiroshima."

Witnessing Nuclear Carnage, Then Devoting Her Life to Peace

Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima 75 years ago this month, has used the power of her personal story to try to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

After Atomic Bombings, These Photographers Worked Under Mushroom Clouds

Photographs commissioned by Japanese newspapers in the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were suppressed by American occupation authorities in both countries. A new book offers Americans a new opportunity to grasp the physical and human toll of nuclear weapons. 

75 Years Later, Purple Hearts Made for an Invasion of Japan are Still Being Awarded

by D.M. Giangreco

There has been much debate about how close the United States was to victory in the Pacific before the atomic bombs were dropped 75 years ago this week. But in 1945, the military ordered so many Purple Heart medals in anticipation of an invasion of Japan that medals from that supply are still being awarded today.

Unconditional Surrender: The Domestic Politics of Victory in the Pacific

by Marc Gallicchio

The terms on which the United States pressed Japan for surrender were shaped by American domestic politics; New Deal Democrats and their liberal allies succeeded in convincing Harry Truman that it was necessary to dramatically rebuild Japan's society along more social-democratic lines. 

‘Irresistible Weapon’: Historians Say American History Oversimplifies Atomic Bombings On Japan

Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., author and blogger on atomic bomb history, said time has smoothed the wrinkles and simplified the facts that are often taught about the first and, so far, only wartime use of atomic weapons.

What Europeans Believe about Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and Why it Matters

A European's belief that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity that ultimately saved lives correlates with less acceptance of nuclear disarmament. History is important for citizens' ability to judge issues related to the dangers of nuclear weapons. 

New Statues Stoke Sensitivity Between South Korea, Japan

A pair of new statues in South Korea of a man kneeling in front of a girl symbolizing a victim of sexual slavery by Japan's wartime military is the latest subject of diplomatic sensitivity between the countries, with Tokyo's government spokesperson questioning whether the male figure represents the Japanese prime minister.

Did the Atomic Bomb End the Pacific War? – Part II

by Paul Ham

Japan's surrender was hastened by imminent invasion by the Soviet Red Army, a crippling US naval blockade and conventional bombing, and a diplomatic promise to protect the Japanese Emperor from execution, argues Paul Ham. Granting undue credit to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki excuses atrocity. 

Did the Atomic Bomb End the Pacific War? – Part I

by Paul Ham

Many people, including historians, believe that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan's unconditional surrender, saved a million American lives, and was the least morally repellent way to end World War II. Paul Ham contends that none of this is true. 

Late 'Comfort Woman' Recognized for Lifelong Human Rights Activities with Amnesty Award

Kim Bok-dong, a former sex slavery victim-turned human rights activist received a posthumous award from Amnesty International.

The Atomic Bomb, War Room Intrigue and Emperor Hirohito's Decision to Surrender

by David Dean Barrett

The record of the Imperial Conferences makes clear two salient facts: that Emperor Hirohito ended the war, and he ended it because of the atomic bomb.

Have the Olympics Ever Been Canceled? Here's the History

Since the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, only three have been abandoned.

History's Deadliest Air Raid Happened in Tokyo During World War II and You've Probably Never Heard of It

With a death toll as high as 100,000 people, mostly civilians, the firebombing of Tokyo on March 10th, 1945 should be a more widely-known part of World War II history.

‘We Hated What We Were Doing’: Veterans Recall Firebombing Japan

American airmen who took part in the 1945 firebombing missions grapple with the particular horror they witnessed being inflicted on those below.