Kofun – The mystery of japan’s ancient  burial mounds

Kofun – The mystery of japan’s ancient burial mounds

Kofun are one of the best things about living in Japan―especially when you live in Kansai and you’re surrounded by them. Southern Nara and Eastern Ōsaka in particular are riddled with kofun to the point you feel like Indiana Jones just walking down the street. Some have been turned into parks, some museums and others have been reconstructed to appear the way archaeologists believed them…

The History of sushi

The History of sushi

Sushi is ubiquitous. With almost 200,000 Japanese restaurants worldwide, most of them serving some form of sushi, and the fact that sushi is ranking in more ‘Most popular foods’ lists than ever before, it’s arguably the most famous Japanese food in the world. But sushi didn’t always exist in the form we know it today. In fact, it has only existed in this form since…

The Eastern and Western armies clash at Sekigahara

Ten battles that changed the course of Japanese history

Japan has experienced many battles in many forms over its long and varied history, from small personal skirmishes fought between political rivals and samurai clans to full-scale conflicts between groups of 100,000+, and even wars that lasted as long as a decade. Most had little to no impact on the country’s history and remain in the history books purely to give us a deeper insight…

Japanese history overview Pt. 11: The Taishō/Shōwa eras

Japanese history overview Pt. 11: The Taishō/Shōwa eras

We’ve reached the final part of this overview. For those of you who have stuck with it from the very beginning, thank you! For those of you who jumped in here for information on the Taishō/Shōwa eras, you have no idea how long this thing has been!! I was really hoping to keep it to ten parts, but Japanese history wouldn’t allow it; it’s just…

Japanese history overview Pt. 9: The Edo era Pt. 2

Japanese history overview Pt. 9: The Edo era Pt. 2

Welcome to part two of this overview of the Edo era. Whereas in part one we focussed on central administration and foreign policy, this time we’re going to be paying attention to labour issues, taxes and the economy. The second half of the Edo era was characterised by three major reforms, the need for which was brought about by depleting gold and silver supplies, an…

Ōsaka castle

Japanese history overview Pt. 7: The Azuchi-Momoyama era Pt. 2

Welcome to part 2 of this overview of the Azuchi-Momoyama era. I really thought I’d be able to sum up this thirty-year period of Japanese history in one short article. How naïve I was. It turns out even two decently-lengthed articles isn’t enough to write half of what I want to say! Not to worry though; I plan on going into much greater detail on…

Japanese history overview Pt. 6: The Azuchi-Momoyama era Pt. 1

Japanese history overview Pt. 6: The Azuchi-Momoyama era Pt. 1

We’ve reached the 6th part of this overview of Japanese history. This part covers the Azuchi-Momoyama era, and that means the rise of Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful and, arguably, influential samurai of all time. When it comes to samurai, people tend to have a very specific image: lavish kabuto helmet decorated with gold ornaments, demonic masks, plated armour and long tachi swords. This is…

Japanese history overview Pt. 5: The Muromachi era Pt. 2

Japanese history overview Pt. 5: The Muromachi era Pt. 2

Congratulations on reaching part two of the Muromachi era overview. I had to split this one into two because there’s so much to get through. It’s such a complicated era, the majority of which consists of non-stop fighting for control of the shōgunate and, by extension, the country(which, to be fair, doesn’t differentiate it much from the era that came before it). Luckily, the Ōnin…