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The wako pirates are typically portrayed as Japanese pirates, but the reality was more complex. Depiction of a pirate ship sailing on the ocean against a golden sky. Source: Gasi / Adobe Stock

The Notorious Wako Pirates of Japan

The wako (also called wokou or waegu) were a group of marauders that dominated the seas of East Asia for centuries. They have been seen by Western historians and culture as a kind of Japanese pirate...
The Tomb of Jesus in Shingo, northern Japan. Source: smoke / Adobe Stock

One Japanese Legend Claims That Jesus Christ Lived and Died in Japan

A small village in northern Japan attracts thousands of visitors each year claiming to be the site of the true tomb of Jesus Christ. Local legend has it that he visited Japan during his lost years ,...
Japan’s Okunoin Cemetery, Est. 816 AD: Graveyard for 200,000 Monks

Japan’s Okunoin Cemetery, Est. 816 AD: Graveyard for 200,000 Monks

Nestled in the mountains of Wakayama prefecture a couple of hours southeast of Osaka, Japan by car lies a world-famous cemetery that is home to the graves of over 200,000 Buddhist monks who are said...
Jujutsu practitioner tightening their belt. Source: Soloviova Liudmyla / Adobe Stock

The Battleground Origins of Jujutsu

It’s likely that if you’ve ever seen a Hollywood action film you’ve probably heard of jujutsu. Thanks to films like The Matrix and the John Wick franchise, jujutsu is more in the public eye than ever...
Two men practicing karate	Source: Andrey Burmakin / Adobe Stock

Friends to Foes: The Surprising Origin and Evolution of Karate

When you think of martial arts, karate is probably one of the first that comes to mind. It has appeared in countless action films, TV shows, and video games. Today, parents all over the world send...
Outside picture, taken in 2020, of Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan a hot spring hotel in Hayakawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (Boltor / CC by SA 4.0)

Hot Spring Hotel in Japan Has Been Run by the Same Family for 1,300 Years!

Now this is family dedication – a hotel that has been passed down 52 generations of one Japanese family over more than 13 centuries! The hot spring Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan hotel in Japan’s Yamanashi...
Illustration of a dream-eating Baku monster from Japanese mythology. Source: Fair Use

Baku: The Legendary Dream Eating Monster of Japanese Mythology

The Baku, otherwise known as the dream eater, is a mythological being or spirit in Chinese and Japanese folklore which is said to devour nightmares. The Baku cannot be summoned without caution,...
The 1274 and 1281 AD Mongol invasions of Japan were well equipped and favored overall but both times the samurai and their “magical” storms won the day! Two Samurai with a dead Mongol at their feet from a votive image (ema) at the Komodahama Shrine on Tsushima, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. Source: Public domain

When Mongols Met Samurai: The Two Failed Mongol Invasions of Japan

Throughout time, there are a few instances where the weather became a determining factor in the outcome of a battle. The Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 AD have often been cited as salient...
The Mongol invasion of Japan. Kamikaze of 1274 and 1281. Source: Fair Use

Kamikaze – The Divine Winds that Saved Japan

The Mongols attempted two major invasions of Japan during the 13th century, in 1274 and 1281 AD, led by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan . On both occasions however, a massive typhoon (tropical...
After 900 years the cursed prophecy of the broken Killing Stone has come true in Japan, and many are worried about what comes next!		Source: ITmedia

Japan’s Killing Stone Has Cracked, Sparking Widespread Fear

A legendary volcanic rock in Japan associated with an ancient evil vixen-demon, has split in two. While geologists assure the occurrence is natural, others are convinced the chaotic fox spirit has...
Mermaid image with inset image of the Japanese mummified mermaid. Source: yukinya / Adobe Stock and Asahi Shumbun Company / Youtube

Mummified “Mermaid” CT Scanned by Japanese Scientists

The origins of a bizarre creature that resides in a Japanese temple are being studied. While the so-called mermaid is worshipped as such, a folklorist suspects this is another P. T. Barnum special...
Self-Mummified body of Body of Chukai (Image: © Dr Ken Jeremiah)

Sokushinbutsu: Tales Of Living Buddhas’ Self Mummification

Immuring themselves in an underground stone chamber, sealed tight, waiting to die: that is what more than 24 known individuals did in northern Japan from the 1200s until the 19th century, though it...
Aerial photo of the Daisenryo Kofun , the largest of the Mozu tombs, a group of megalithic tombs located in Sakai, Japan. Source: TM / Adobe Stock

Satellite Images Reveal Japanese Kofun Tombs all Aligned to Rising Sun

A team of scientists has mapped the alignments and orientations of hundreds of ancient Japanese Kofun keyhole-shaped burials, only to discover that not some of them, but all of them, face towards the...
Flat throwing stones with sharpened corners, an early form of ninja weapons, unearthed at the ruins of the Owada jinya administrative headquarters in Saitama, Japan.		Source: (Saitama Prefectural Ranzan Historical Museum

Ninja Weapon Prototypes Found in Japan

After analyzing artifacts collected from three locations in the Saitama Prefecture, which is located just north of Tokyo, a Japanese archaeologist has announced findings that shed new light on the...
Imperial succession in Japan is up in the air as the choices get more complicated: could be a woman or a young man. Japanese Emperor Naruhito at his enthronement ceremony in Kyoto, October 2019.		Source: Imperial Household Agency / CC BY 4.0

Japan’s Succession Crisis: No Male Heirs Means Ancient Monarchy May Soon Disappear!

The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous monarchy in the world, but it faces a clear succession crisis in the 21st century. Imperial descendance and inheritance is only passed through male...
Japan’s world-famous sumo wrestling has always been connected with its origins as a shrine spectacle offering to please the gods. With the rise of the Japanese merchant class in the 17th century sumo became the spectator sport it is today.		Source: AQ-taro Images / Adobe Stock

Sumo Wrestling: From Ritual Origins to Honorable Sport

It is hard to think of Japan without sumo wrestling. This unique and very old sport has been one of the indivisible aspects of Japanese identity for over 1,500 years or more! Granted, sumo wrestling...
The outlines of the legendary but lost royal pavilion of Kyoto known as the Tokaden pavilion, which was built in ways that were still different from Tang dynasty Chinese foundations.		Source: Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute

Five Post Holes Reveal Legendary Japanese Empress’s Royal Pavilion.

A team of Japanese archaeologists have discovered what they consider to be the remains of is the legendary Tokaden royal pavilion. Until the early 8th century the Japanese court was peripatetic,...
Caricatures by Katsushika Hokusai (Wellcome Images/Public Domain)

From Frescos to Manga: The Ancient History of Comic Books

Debuted in 1825, The Glasgow Looking Glass - later renamed The Northern Looking Glass - was a satirical publication which lampooned the fashions and politics of the time. The Glasgow Looking Glass...
Portrait of Native American man. The study of Native American origins has long obsessed archaeologists and anthropologists. Source: Chinnachote / Adobe Stock

Study of Ancient Teeth Reveals Native American Origins Lie in Siberia

A team of researchers has launched another attempt answering questions about Native American origins, in other words when and how the Americas were first populated. By analyzing DNA samples and a...
One of the ancient Japanese skulls from which DNA was extracted. Credit: Shigeki Nakagome / Trinity College Dublin

Ancient DNA Rewrites Story of Japanese Ancestry

The archipelago nation of Japan has been occupied since the Upper Paleolithic period (36,000 BC), and dual genomic Japanese ancestry has been the dominant theory, up until now. A new study carried...
A geisha. Source:  juripozzi / Adobe Stock

World of the Geisha, Japan’s Enigmatic Entertainers

Japan is a nation rich in history and old, venerated traditions. The enigmatic geisha are considered as one of the cornerstones of that iconic Japanese tradition, and are certainly admired all over...
Study Reveals Extensive Hyper-Violence in Japan’s Ancient Yayoi Period

Study Reveals Extensive Hyper-Violence in Japan’s Ancient Yayoi Period

A new archaeological study in Japan, published in the August issue of Journal of Archaeological Science , has produced evidence supporting the idea that population growth can lead to an increase in...
Bakeneko or Nekomata types of wicked Japanese yokai

Beware of the Cat: Tales of the Wicked Japanese Bakeneko and Nekomata – Part 1

Who knew innocent little Fluffy could be so devious? Cats’ reputations have often swayed from good to evil over the years as they have been both revered and feared around the world. One of the most...
The Japanese population is descended from the Minatogawa man, depicted here in an artistic reconstruction. Source: Teruya Yamamoto / National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo

Did Japanese Population Originate with this Minatogawa Man?

A new scientific report published in Nature has concluded that the modern Japanese descended from the Minatogawa people of the Paleolithic era. This is based on a DNA study of a 20,000-year-old human...

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