Articles tagged as Japan | Smithsonian Magazine

The hole in the grate below the pressure vessel in reactor 2, possibly caused by melted nuclear material

The latest measurements are over seven times the previously measured high—enough to fry a robot in two hours

February 6, 2017

President Clinton presents Fred Korematsu with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998. Korematsu's legal challenges to civilian exclusion orders during World War II helped spur the redress movement for Japanese-Americans.

Fred Korematsu Fought Against Japanese Internment in the Supreme Court… and Lost

Nearly 75 years later, the infamous decision has yet to be overturned

January 30, 2017

A mug shot of Iva Toguri D'Aquino, taken in prison in 1946.

Iva d’Aquino Toguri Remains the Only U.S. Citizen Convicted of Treason Who Has Ever Been Pardoned

She was an American DJ who served six years in prison for her wartime radio broadcasts from Japan

January 19, 2017

Yellow Landscape, Isamu Noguchi, 1943, magnesite, wood, string, metal fishing weight

To Bear Witness to Japanese Internment, One Artist Self-Deported Himself to the WWII Camps

The inhumanity brought on by Executive Order 9066 spurred Isamu Noguchi to action

January 19, 2017

Sending teensy satellites into space isn’t just an experiment in cute—it’s an effort to reduce the cost of sending tech into space

January 16, 2017

On a chilly day in Tokyo, customers slurp hot ramen at the Tsukiji fish market.

Atlas of Eating

You’ve Been Slurping Ramen All Wrong

In Japan, ramen is a culinary touchstone that goes way beyond food

January 13, 2017

Kiyoshi Katsumoto at his home in El Cerrito, California, 2015

American Incarceration

The Injustice of Japanese-American Internment Camps Resonates Strongly to This Day

During WWII, 120,000 Japanese-Americans were forced into camps, a government action that still haunts victims and their descendants

January 2017

After a 2011 version of this statue was installed outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, they began to pop up around the world.

She’s a silent reminder of the plight of hundreds of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II

January 3, 2017

A dog eats a special Christmas cake in Tokyo, celebrating with the festive red and white dessert. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Why the Japanese Eat Cake For Christmas

A tradition beginning in war and ending in cake

December 23, 2016

This Great Pumpkin Heralds the D.C. Arrival of Yayoi Kusama

The Hirshhorn’s 65-year retrospective boasts six mirror rooms by this hugely popular artist

December 21, 2016

Cool Finds

Japan Testing “Space Tether” to Knock Junk Out of Orbit

The KITE experiment will use a half-mile long cable to guide some of the 500,000 chunks of space junk out of orbit

December 12, 2016

The Sikiorsky JRS-1 "was right in the middle of it,” Robinson says. “She went out along with other airplanes from the (Navy) Utility Squadron One searching for the Japanese fleet.”

At Pearl Harbor, This Aircraft Risked It All to Find the Japanese Fleet

The Sikorsky JRS-1 flew right through the middle of it on December 7, 1941

December 6, 2016

The shipworm, scourge of sailors everywhere, is actually a kind of ghostly saltwater clam.

How a Ship-Sinking Clam Conquered the Ocean

The wood-boring shipworm has bedeviled humans for centuries. What’s its secret?

December 5, 2016

The attack on Pearl Harbor was the worst day in the U.S. Navy’s history and the shock of a lifetime for just about any American who had achieved the age of memory.

How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor

The high-stakes gamble and false assumptions that detonated Pearl Harbor 80 years ago

December 2016

People crossing a Tokyo street are caught in a mirror. As the country's foreign population grows, racism is thought to be on the rise.

Just how widespread is racism in Japan? An unprecedented survey aims to find out

November 1, 2016

Cool Finds

Toyota Hopes This Adorable Robot Will Make Japan Less Lonely

Meet your $390 best friend

October 6, 2016

Katsuren Castle in Okinawa, Japan is an unlikely place for a cache of ancient Roman coins.

Cool Finds

Archaeologist Finds Ancient Roman Coins in 12th-Century Japanese Castle

East meets west

September 29, 2016

Cool Finds

World’s Oldest Fish Hooks Discovered in Okinawa

The 23,000-year-old barbs are made from snail shell. The discovery shows that early people had the resources to survive on the isolated island

September 20, 2016

Behind the scenes at Nissan Motor's factory in Kyushu, Japan

How Eight Conglomerates Dominate Japanese Industry

Each keiretsu can have as many as 30 sub-companies—from breweries to camera and auto makers

September 7, 2016

While the role is ceremonial, abdication could mean a political battle

August 8, 2016