Japan Yesterday
Ralph Ellison makes himself visible in 1950s Japan
On Sept 2, 1957, Japan’s 60-year-old foreign minister, Aiichiro Fujiyama, stood on the stage of Tokyo’s Sankei Hall. The Corsica Daily Sun reported at the time that in front of him — and among hundreds of Japanese patrons — sat an audience of “170 PEN [Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and… Read
Audrey Hepburn casts a spell over post-war Japan
On April 19, 1954, the image of Audrey Hepburn first appeared at the Hibiya Movie Theatre. The film, "Roman Holiday"— given a five-week-run, according to scholar Zen Yipu — had just been awarded three Academy Awards, one of course for Hepburn's performance — her debut. Hollywood had never put forth… Read
Bertrand Russell’s blinding Japanese resurrection
On March 29, 1921 the Japan Advertiser of Tokyo newspaper published a report stating that British philosopher, mathematician and sociologist Bertrand Russell, at the age of 49, had died of pneumonia while teaching at a university in Beijing. There was just one minor problem with this report, however — Russell… Read
Birth control advocate Margaret Sanger brings 'dangerous thoughts' to Japan in 1922
On March 10, 1922, the passenger ship Taiyo Maru docked at Yokohama Bay. On board was women's rights and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger and her 14-year-old son Grant. Her visit was sponsored by the magazine Kaizo (or “Reconstruction”). The respected publication had bankrolled a series of visits from leading… Read
The Sultan of Swat Babe Ruth visits Japan
In 2018, when people hear the name “Babe Ruth” they think baseball and then America. For many sports fans, he is the greatest home run hitter to ever play the game, while others think of him as a man who lived out the excesses of fame, smoked cigars, drank too… Read
Helen Keller brings hope and light to Japan
Often, when I write, I try to put myself in the subject’s shoes and imagine seeing life from their perspective or hearing the sounds around them. This can’t be the case for Helen Keller. I did attempt to place myself on the tenji buroku, or the bumpy yellow lines for… Read
American President Ulysses S Grant talks peace in Meiji-Era Japan
One of the most important conversations in the history of the Meiji-era occurred on Aug 10, 1879. For two hours, former U.S. president and Civil War general Ulysses S Grant talked with Emperor Meiji (personal name: Mutsuhito) via a translator about the future of Japan. At the Nakajima Tea House… Read
Mrs and Mr Marilyn Monroe honeymoon in Japan
On Feb. 1, 1954, at 3:55 p.m., a Pan American B-377 Stratocruiser arrived at Haneda airport. Unlike your average plane, passengers could descend a spiral staircase and have drinks at a bar. After a bit of liquor and chatting, passengers could then catch some shut eye in a single bed,… Read
Charlie Chaplin tramps his way past a Japanese coup d’état
You’d be surprised at the number of famous people in history who’ve visited Japan over the last 150 years — notable figures you might not think had ever been here. In our monthly history series Japan Yesterday, we’ll introduce times when notable figures visited Japan for the first time and… Read
When Albert Einstein formulated his Japanese cultural equation
You’d be surprised at the number of famous people in history who’ve visited Japan over the last 150 years — notable figures you might not think had ever been here. In our new monthly history series, Japan Yesterday, we’ll introduce when notable figures visited Japan for the first time and… Read
