HISTORY
Kyushu’s Samurai Vaccinators: The Fight Against Smallpox in Late Edo Japan
Faced with an epidemic, a forward-thinking group of doctors and samurai leaders launched a successful vaccination campaign in late Edo Japan.
Edo era
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HISTORY
HISTORY
Stronger than the Wave: Five Southern Tohoku Folk Traditions
The Tohoku region's endured a lot over the past 200 years. How five rich folk traditions capture the durability and diversity of…
FEATURED
Coffee in Japan: A Short, Tasty History
Did you know canned coffee is a Japanese invention? Learn how coffee went from foreign luxury to everyday staple in Japan.
ENTERTAINMENT
Kwaidan: A Filmic Venture into Uncanny Japan
Eerie and beautiful, Kwaidan is the perfect introduction to the classic ghost stories of Japan. Further revelations await those who look deeper…
FOOD
Samurai Cultivator: The Birth of Modern Apple Cultivation in Japan
Apples, such as the delectable fuji, are ubiquitous in Japan. Yet cultivation of the fruit began relatively recently - during the waning…
FOOD
A Forgotten Samurai Energy Drink
Hundreds of years before Red Bull, the samurai of the house of Date were drinking a powdered concoction said to replenish a…
HISTORY
A Forgotten Tohoku “Tree War” and an Enduring Rivalry
To this day, a rivalry exists between the northern Japanese prefectures of Aomori and Iwate. And its source? A bunch of trees.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Japanese Writing: Pronunciation Shifts in the Edo Period
How Japanese writing and Japanese written speech differed in the Edo period - and how pronunciation came closer to what's spoken today.