Essay
The Geisha Who Took Down a Prime Minister
In 1989, Uno Sōsuke burst onto the scene as the new prime minister of Japan. Only 69 days later, he’d resign – and all because of a geisha named Nakanishi Mitsuko.
July 30, 2023
In 1989, Uno Sōsuke burst onto the scene as the new prime minister of Japan. Only 69 days later, he’d resign – and all because of a geisha named Nakanishi Mitsuko.
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Were Japan’s World War II-era kimonos depicting images of war a propaganda tool – or a natural outpouring of support?
She was a symbol of prewar prosperity – and controversy. How the “modern girl” of Japan’s roaring 1920s defined a new path for women.
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In Taisho era Japan, Tamura Toshiko emerged as one of the preeminent writers of the “New Woman” movement. Her legacy extends farther still, beyond Japan’s borders.
In 1938, a disaffected young man stalked his mountain village, killing dozens of his neighbors. Was the Tsuyama Massacre the first incel mass murder?
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