taisho era

HISTORY

Meiji Mura: A Journey to Japan’s Modern Past

In Japan, the recent past is often obscured beneath endless concrete. Meiji Mura is one of the few places to discover the…

HISTORY

Saboru: The Strange Origins of “Cutting Class” in Japanese

Mass strikes, the creation of the 8-hour workday, and an early 20th-century vogue for foreign words - all led to the most…

ENTERTAINMENT

Benshi: The Voice and Color of Japanese Silent Cinema

Once, professional live narrators for silent films in Japan were bigger stars than the actual actors onscreen. This is the story of…

FEATURED

Taisho Era: Five Facts About Japan’s Shortest Modern Period

The Taisho Era may have been short, but it was anything but uneventful. Learn more about this short but tumultuous era in…

FEATURED

The Spanish Flu in Japan and Its Parallels to COVID-19

How the 1918 Flu Pandemic (a.k.a. the Spanish Flu) affected Japan, how the country reacted, and what we can learn from history.