Toyohiro Akiyama: Japan’s First Man in Space Was a Journalist
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 18, 2024
Toyohiro Akiyama pressed his face against the glass of the small, round window on his space module and gazed down at Earth from 350 kilomete...
Showing posts with the label Japan
5 Times Weather Played Foul For An Invading Army
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 1, 2024
Throughout history, weather has played a significant role in military campaigns, sometimes altering its course and reshaping the destiny of ...
Dejima: The Island That Was Once Japan’s Only Connection To The Outside World
Kaushik Patowary
Dec 7, 2023
For over two centuries, spanning from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Japan adopted a strict policy that prohibited foreigners, particularly...
The 72 Seasons of Japan
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 11, 2023
We are all familiar with the four seasons of the year—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—based on the changes in weather, ecology, and the n...
5 Historical Figures Who Were Assassinated in The Lavatory
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 24, 2023
When a person is on the toilet, moving bowels, they are in a particularly vulnerable position. They are exposing parts of their body that ar...
Masabumi Hosono: The Disgraced Titanic Survivor
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 7, 2023
In 1997, on the eve of the release of James Cameroon’s blockbuster movie Titanic , a curious story from Japan came to light. It was about Ma...
Matsugaoka Tōkei-ji, The Divorce Temple
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 6, 2023
For over six hundred years, the Matsugaoka Tōkei-ji, in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, had served as a refugee for wome...
Ryōunkaku: Japan’s First Skyscraper
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 4, 2022
For more than thirty years, the Ryōunkaku—Japan's first Western-style skyscraper—was a popular sight in the urban landscape of modern To...
Shizo Kanakuri: The Man Who Took 54 Years To Finish a Marathon
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 5, 2022
Shizo Kanakuri was not a slow runner. In fact, he reportedly set the world record by completing a 40-km marathon run in 2 hours, 32 minutes,...
Kugelpanzer: The Mysterious Nazi Ball Tank
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 25, 2022
When the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Red Army recovered a strange vehicle from the pos...
Why Japan Made Human Sacrifices Before Building Bridges
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 1, 2021
Until the 16th century in Japan, major constructions like castles and bridges began with human sacrifices, with victims buried alive within ...
The World’s Oldest Operating Company is 1,400 Years Old
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 2, 2021
Kongō Gumi Co., Ltd., a Japanese company that was then acquired by Takamatsu Construction Group, for which it continued to operate as a subs...
Japan’s Acrobatic Noodle Delivery Cyclists
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 19, 2021
These photographs taken in the middle of the 20th century on the streets of Tokyo show how food delivery looked like before the onslaught of...
The Ni'ihau Incident
Kaushik Patowary
May 28, 2021
Ni'ihau is the smallest of the inhabited islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, privately owned since the 19th century and which would hav...
The Richest Ancient Shipwreck
Kaushik Patowary
May 26, 2021
In 1975, a fishing boat working in the southwestern sea of Korean peninsula, near the Shinan Islands, caught six pieces of Chinese ceramic w...
Sunomata Castle: The Castle That Was Built on a Single Night
Kaushik Patowary
Dec 2, 2020
Sunomata Castle stands at the confluence of the Sai and Nagara rivers, in the city of Ōgaki in Gifu Prefecture. It’s a typical Japanese cast...
Bōsai Musen: Japan’s 5 PM Chime
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 16, 2020
The loudspeaker of Japan’s national disaster warning system in Owkudani Hakone, Japan. Photo: WAN CHEUK NANG/Shutterstock.com For those ...
Ama: The Freediving Fisherwomen of Japan
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 23, 2020
In ancient times, the only way to gather food and other resources, such as sponge and pearl, from the sea bed was to hold one’s breath and d...
Where is Ground Zero in Nagasaki?
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 24, 2020
On the morning of August 9, 1945, six B29 bombers took off from Mariana Islands, located more than 2,100 kilometers north of Tokyo. One of t...
Slovak Radio Building: The Inverted Pyramid
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 11, 2020
Some call it ugly. Others defend it for its architectural features. Whichever faction you side with, you can’t deny that it is an exceptiona...
