Today we look at the shared past of Nimitz Park and Sasebo Park as the Sasebo Chinjufu’s Kaiheidan. All history postcards are in my personal collection and all uncredited photography is by me. Photos/Videos of individuals taken with permission. Sakai…
The Godzilla Fighter: J7W1 Shinden
(For an embarrassment of detail photos, jump to the end after addresses and references. You’re welcome, modelers.) In a war-scarred and still healing 1947 Japan, Godzilla brings his unique brand of urban renewal to Tokyo once again. Disarmed and occupied,…
Beauty and Tragedy at Arasaki Beach
This is the fifth and final entry in a series on the Himeyuri Student Corps and related war sites on Okinawa. My trip through southern Okinawa to visit the Himeyuri-related caves and tunnels ended not in a dark hole in…
Visit Suzu’s House, a World War II Japanese Home at Showa Living History Museum
An old-fashioned wooden home hidden in an otherwise unassuming modern Tokyo suburb, Showa no Kurashi (Showa Living History Museum)* normally depicts post-war Tokyo life but for a limited time its taking visitors back to World War II to show life…
Nagasaki’s Atomic-Bomb Surviving School: Shiroyama Elementary School
The Atomic Bomb Museum, Peace Park and hypocenter are Nagasaki’s most well-known cluster of sites associated with Aug. 9, 1945 atomic bombing but less than 500 meters away there’s another place that’s less known but with its own unique perspective…
Okunoshima: Poison Gas & Bunnies Island
After dragging her through multiple atomic bomb ruined schools and two days of visiting bomb-centric Hiroshima museums I took my lightly traumatized wife to an island full of bunnies to recover. The island had beautiful, natural scenery and uncountable therapeutic…
Hidden War Brought to Light: Defunct Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Laboratory Museum for Education in Peace
In a corner of Meiji University’s Ikuta campus sits a small drab building. Well-maintained and completely non-descript it could be another classroom tucked away from the campus’ other towering facility. The only unusual thing about it is a large sign…
Hiroshima Survivors IV: Hiroshima Museum of History and Traditional Crafts
There’s something about turn of the century red brick buildings that excite me. I’m not sure if it’s the color, styling or the history, maybe it’s all of them but when I see one I have to check it out…