World War II (Page 2)

Anime director under fire for anti-Semitic tweets intended for international community

Tweets made by Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, director of the anime Recovery of an MMO Junkie, claim that the Holocaust and Diary of Anne Frank, among other things, are fabrications.

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Osaka mayor won’t back away from ending San Francisco sister city status over comfort women statue

Move would end 60-year-old program between Japanese and American cities.

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Real-life Japanese adult film actresses listed as Imperial Army agents in Chinese period drama

Why you shouldn’t let your prop guy pick any random Japanese names he wants.

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Nagasaki Starbucks marks anniversary of World War II’s end with powerful message of peace

Coffeehouse chalkboard encourages customers to think about situations in coffee-growing regions of the world.

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What do Chicago hot dogs, a Japanese admiral, and a gold tooth have in common?

This is guaranteed to be the extra-credit question on your next history exam!

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Samurai sword in new Japan Self-Defense Force emblem causing controversy

Critics say that adding a katana to the insignia is offensively evocative of Japan’s World War II military aggression.

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Hiroshima requests removal of Pokémon GO facilities from Peace Memorial Park

Gyms and PokéStops found near sites including monument to children who died in the atomic blast and from related sickness.

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This map predicted how Japan would attack the US during World War II

On November 7, 1937, the Los Angeles Examiner published a prescient map predicting how Imperial Japan could attack the US during World War II.

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Zero Fighter to fly above Japan once more in demonstration this month

Kyushu event will be iconic aircraft’s first flight in Japan since the end of World War II.

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There are a lot of things that shock us about the anime world, but this is one thing that we never expected to see.

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“The Moomins” was originally brought to Japan by spies

Thanks to years of espionage and international intrigue, Hattifatteners and Snufkin were first brought to Japan.

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Unforgettable photos from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Under the South Pacific sun on December 7, 1941, troops serving the US fleet at Pearl Harbor began a calm Sunday morning unaware that Japanese bombers were headed toward America’s most important Pacific base.

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Chilling footage shows Hiroshima eight months after the atomic bombing【Video】

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this color footage of the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima should speak entire volumes.

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Police respond to explosion, suspected bombing at Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo

Bomb disposal unit finds remnants of suspected incendiary device at shrine for Japanese war dead in Chiyoda Ward.

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Sports car or fighter plane? American tuner’s Nissan GT-R looks like World War II’s Zero

Somewhere along the way, people started calling Nissan’s GT-R, the company’s flagship sports car, “Godzilla.” It’s a fitting nickname, since the GT-R is intimidatingly powerful, and also because with a curb weight of 1,740 kilograms (3,836 pounds), it’s not exactly svelte.

Still, one American turning shop thinks there’s an even more apt comparison to be made that to the King of the Monsters, and has created a customized GT-R with its appearance based on the Imperial Japanese military’s World War II Zero fighter plane.

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World War II ended 70 years ago — here’s the planned US invasion of Japan that never happened

On August 14, 1945, US President Harry Truman announced the unconditional surrender of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, thereby ending World War II.

The surrender came after months of bombing raids across the Japanese countryside, two atomic bombs, and the Soviet Union’s declaration of war on the island nation.

The iron resolve of the Japanese was a major factor the US anticipated while planning the invasion of mainland Japan. The culture known for literally putting death before dishonor with practices such as hara-kiri would not, by any stretch of the imagination, go softly into surrender.

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Jump back in time with this super high-quality video of Tokyo taken right after WWII 【Video】

This month marks the 70th anniversary of end of World War II. There’s a lot to remember from that time period, much of it horrific, some of it humorous, and some of it downright amazing. But perhaps the most powerful images from that time are just of ordinary people getting on with their regular lives.

And now, thanks to a Belgian DJ, we can catch of glimpse into the life of ordinary Japanese people in the years right after WWII. The background video to one of his songs is an absolutely beautifully recorded film of daily life in Tokyo. And this video is not your typical 1940s quality; it looks like it could have been recorded today!

So prepare to take a walk down the street of 1940s Tokyo and see how different, and similar, it is to now.

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Disney’s Japanese Twitter account calls anniversary of Nagasaki bombing “Nothing Special Day”

It’s hard to overstate what an excellent job Disney does with its marketing in Japan. In a country that produces more mainstream animation than anywhere else on the planet, Disney still manages to stand out from the domestically made competition, winning the hearts of Japanese audiences and turning them into life-long fans.

At least part of that success is thanks to the company’s willingness to adapt to local tastes, as Disney’s two Tokyo-area theme parks put a greater emphasis on shows, parades, and seasonal events than their counterparts in the U.S. On the merchandising end, there are not only high-class items created specifically for Japan, but entire retail divisions.

Still, everyone makes mistakes, and Disney made a big one when it sent out a message from its official Japanese Twitter account declaring the date of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki to be Nothing Special Day.

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Declassified photos show the US’s final preparations for the only nuclear weapons attacks in history

On August 6th and 9th of 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing significant death and destruction in both places. To this day, the bombings remain history’s only acts of nuclear warfare.

A lot has been established about the immediate preparations for the dropping of the bombs, known as “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” which were loaded onto airplanes on the North Field airbase on Tinian Island, part of the Northern Mariana Islands to the south of Japan.

Until recently few photographs were available of the final hours before the bombings. But newly declassified pictures shed additional light on the procedures leading up to the nuclear attacks, giving a chilling glimpse into how and where the most destructive bombs ever used in warfare were loaded.

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History crash course: Charming animation shows 80 years of Singapore history in 16 minutes【Video】

Singapore is an island country so small you can barely see it on the world map. But despite its modest size, Singapore is among the most globalised countries you’ll ever visit, one of the world’s major commercial hubs, and sees over 15 million tourists each year. And no, in case you were wondering, Singapore is not a part of China.

Some of you may have visited the city-state on a vacation or business trip, but do you know Singapore beyond its modern, bustling cityscape? In celebration of the nation’s 50th National Day, animation director Ervin Han and team created a 16-minute animation that looks back at the 80 years of ups and downs Singapore went through to get to where it is today. Get your history crash course after the break!

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