History

Tsunami recovery efforts in Sendai have unearthed a canal relay station and a point of local transit history.
Who's a good boy? For many in Japan, the answer is Hachiko. Learn about the dog who touched a nation's heart.
Boss Coffee is turning 30 years old. Learn about the history of canned coffee, its recognizable logo, and those Tommy Lee Jones ads.
An online campaign raises enough money to recover a piece of history: an anchor from the attempted 13th century Mongol invasions of Japan.
How an unfortunate gear shift led to one worker at a Japanese temple accidentally taking out a historically significant toilet.
Japan is often described as a one-party, conservative state - and yet, for over a decade, a highly popular socialist led the government of Tokyo. Meet Governor Minobe.
Divorce in Japan's Edo era was a simple affair...if you were a man. For women, "divorce temples" provided a way out.
A stone thought to contain Japan's oldest known writing now appears like it might just be the result of sample contamination.
In Japan, the recent past is often obscured beneath endless concrete. Meiji Mura is one of the few places to discover the atmosphere of modernizing, turn-of-the-century Japan.

Before You Go...

Let’s stay in touch. Get our free newsletter to get a weekly update on our best stories (all human-generated, we promise). You’ll also help keep UJ independent of Google and the social media giants.

Want a preview? Read our archives.

Read our privacy policy