Japan
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Ancient Ghost Stories- Eastern Style
We have discussed the similarities of how the afterlife and ghosts are viewed in the Western World in our previous post. There are also similarities that run through how these subjects are addressed in Eastern cultures, however, there are a few twists that mark them out as different. As in the West, the ghosts of ancestors could appear to their descendants to give warnings or advice. However, in China this was taken to another level as ancestor worship was widely practiced. The Chinese afterlife was a journey for the soul to cross a bridge over an abyss. There the soul was judged and if it was found worthy, it drank…
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Yonaguni Monument- Japan’s Atlantis or Myth
Yonaguni Jima is an island that lies near the southern tip of Japan’s Ryukyu archipelago, about 75 miles off the eastern coast of Taiwan. It is a popular place to dive as it is home to a large population of hammerhead sharks during the winter. During a dive in 1987, Dive Tour operator Kihachiro Aratake found a series of strange rock formations on the seabed, which resembled man-made buildings. He reported his find, and a group of scientists directed by Masaaki Kimura of the University of the Ryukyus began surveying the area. What they found was a series of ten structures, which resemble a castle, temples and a huge stadium.…
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Yu Gwan-sun- Korea’s Joan of Arc
In 1904, Korea allied with Japan during the first Russo-Japanese war and lent its territory for Japan’s military operations. This was only a stepping stone to the Japanese occupation of Korea. They came and never left. This was the government’s plan to make Japan a world power. Tough luck for anyone in Korea that wasn’t fine with this plan. On March 1, 1919, the Korean independence movement began. The so called March 1st Movement started with demonstrations mainly made up of students and Christians as all other political groups had been disbanded by the Japanese government. The rebels created a Declaration of Independence, which was signed by thirty-three representatives. Then…
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João Rodrigues- The Interpreter
Japan was a land of mystery for westerners for many years. Marco Polo had written about it, but never been there. It was one of the destinations of Christopher Columbus as he sailed West in 1492. However, it was still very much an unknown in the 16th century, when Portuguese merchants and missionaries arrived on the coast of Japan in 1577. They had traveled to India in 1574 when Rodrigues was only 14 and served as a cabin boy. No one is exactly sure why this young man made the dangerous trip from Lisbon to the East via the Cape of Good Hope. He could have been filled with religious…
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Kamikaze and the Aborted Mongol Invasions of Japan
In Simon Schama’s History of Britain, he makes the comment that the weather bats for England. Apparently the weather has that same deal with Japan. The word “kamikaze” brings visions of suicide pilots from World War II, but the word actually means “divine wind”. In this case, the kamikaze defended the Japanese islands from invasion fleets. In the 13th century, the Mongols had swept through Asia and had finished bringing Goryeo, or Korea, into the empire. Kublai Khan had become the first emperor of the Yuan (or Mongol) dynasty of China. Now he cast his hungry eyes towards Japan. At this time, Japan was ruled by the Shogunate Regents of…
