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August 16, 2026
 

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HEIAN PERIOD

A print by Utagawa Kuniyasu (1794-1832) depicts a bustling scene at a fish market in Nihonbashi.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Oct 18, 2025
Of sound and silence in old Japan
While haiku poets like Basho extolled the virtues of tranquility, premodern Japan was likely a noisier affair than most people imagine.
Those who lived in Â鶹´«Ã½ Nara Period, which lasted from the year 710 to 794, by and large knew themselves to be blessed. It wasn¡¯t just those in power who felt it, either. From nobles to commoners, the poets seemed to have democratized joy itself.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jan 17, 2025
From Genji to ¡®hikikomori,¡¯ how we make peace with disappearing
Â鶹´«Ã½ reverence for impermanence reveals a profound connection between beauty and loss, from poetic musings to spiritual retreats, echoing in modern expressions of solitude.
After his family loses its political influence, Prince Takaoka leaves his life in Japan behind and embarks on an adventure across Asia in Tatsuhiko Shibusawa¡¯s ¡°Takaoka¡¯s Travels.¡±
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2024
¡®Takaoka¡¯s Travels¡¯: The fantastical romp of a real-life royal turned monk
Tatsuhiko Shibusawa¡¯s outlandish novel is based on a real-life Japanese prince who set out for India, only to go missing along the way.
Princess Aiko visits an exhibition featuring Japanese literature from the Heian period held at the National Archives of Japan in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2024
Princess Aiko visits Heian literature exhibition
It was the first time for the 22-year-old princess, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, to perform official duties alone.
Abe no Seimei (Kento Yamazaki), an apprentice at a school of mystic arts, gets wrapped up in a murder investigation in ¡°The Yin Yang Master Zero.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
¡®The Yin Yang Master Zero¡¯: Imaginative action film casts a dazzling spell
Shimako Sato¡¯s VFX-heavy, big-budget fantasy about practitioners of mystic arts goes beyond the genre standard.
An ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniteru depicts the assault of Asano Naganori on Kira Yoshinaka, an incident that triggered the tragedy of the 47 Ronin and one that was re-created in the play ¡°Chushingura.¡±
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 8, 2024
Revenge: A dish seldom served in Japanese history but still cold as ice
When Confucius was asked, ¡°Should we kill those who are evil?¡± The response came, ¡°What need is there for you to kill?¡±
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 18, 2023
Artistic beauty in the eye of a Neolithic beholder
From Neanderthal funeral rites to the temples of the Nara Era, art has been a part of our lives. At what point was beauty considered for its own sake, though?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jan 22, 2023
The Heian and Edo periods couldn¡¯t have been more different, which is why it¡¯s odd they ended in such a similar way
The transition from Heian Period peace to the war-prone Kamakura Period was a rough one. Surprisingly, the transition from conflict to the boardrooms of modern Japan were just as rough.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 18, 2022
A musical history told through centuries of Japanese literature
The modern ear, tuned to the aesthetics of a different timbre, may find that one era¡¯s beauty is another¡¯s cacophony.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 18, 2022
The journey that never was: A Viking explorer in Heian Japan
If a Viking ship had landed on the shores of Japan instead of North America in the 10th or 11th centuries, what would they have found and how would it have changed history?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 21, 2022
The ¡®mother¡¯ of the modern otaku charted her own bug-obsessed path
One of Â鶹´«Ã½ original eccentrics, the ¡®lady who loved insects¡¯ ignored the trends of her day and was content to be herself ¡ª a valuable lesson to the generations that followed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 2, 2022
Escape into the courtly Heian Period with Genji
As a new year dawns, find calm and beauty in the vanished world of Murasaki Shikibu¡¯s ¡®The Tale of Genji.¡¯
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 20, 2021
One era¡¯s eccentrics are another¡¯s model citizens
Would an outcast from the Heian Period feel more at home in the Edo Period? Or are there general characteristics that unites any society¡¯s eccentrics?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 19, 2020
Thoughts on healing from the Heian Period
The psychology of health in ¡®The Tale of Genji¡¯ suggests that enlightenment may be the cure for what ails you.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 20, 2020
Leaving the Heian: A sexual revolution in reverse
Â鶹´«Ã½ Heian Period courtiers displayed an attitude to sex unmatched in other societies of the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 16, 2020
The revolt against Â鶹´«Ã½ cultured courtiers
The Meiji Restoration changed Japanese society on a grand scale, but let¡¯s not forget another ¡®revolution¡¯ that turned things upside down.
CULTURE / Books / WORKS BY JAPANESE WOMEN
Apr 20, 2019
Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon: Two pioneering women in Japanese literature
The Works by Japanese Women series wraps up by examining the various English translations of two of Â鶹´«Ã½ greatest works of literature, both penned by women: ¡®The Pillow Book¡¯ by Sei Shonagon and ¡®The Tale of Genji¡¯ by Murasaki Shikibu.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 14, 2016
Has pacifism always been doomed to fail in Japan?
Japan had a pacifist ¡°constitution¡± long before 1947, when the current one went into effect. It was issued in the year 604, its author so esteemed, in his own time and since, as to merit the posthumous name Shotoku Taishi (Crown Prince Sage-Virtue). His lifetime (574-622) spanned an early phase of Â鶹´«Ã½...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 3, 2015
¡®Halo of Golden Light¡¯ reveals how Â鶹´«Ã½ ancient leaders harnessed Buddhist rituals
Like Britain¡¯s Queen Elizabeth II, the current Japanese emperor represents royalty in unbroken perpetuity, reformulated today into a fusion of timeless tradition and progressive democracy. And yet, the case of Japan is more complex, opaque and, at times, divisive.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 24, 2014
Mastering the art of incense takes longer than you think
If you find all this incense as intriguing as I did and are ready to sign up to become a master in the Way of Fragrance, then I suggest you start right away, if not 20 years ago.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Authorities urge continued caution after heavy rain in Chiba leaves eight dead
A local resident walks past a 7-Eleven convenience store in a flooded area after heavy rain in the city of Oamishirasato, Chiba Prefecture, on Friday.
Takaichi drops ¡®remorse¡¯ in her first war memorial address
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks onstage during a memorial service ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, at Budokan Hall in Tokyo on Saturday.
U.S. to tell partners they must pick sides in AI race with China?
People march as they protest against Pax Silica, a U.S.-led initiative, in Manila on Thursday.
Â鶹´«Ã½ inflation paradox is creating winners and losers
Chieko Sugai at her home in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture
How U.S. bombing survey in Japan shed light on civilian sentiments of WWII
Residents are seen walking beside rubble in the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in this undated photo taken soon after the end of World War II.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Takaichi needs Aso on her side to solidify position in LDP
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party meeting alongside LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (left) and LDP Vice President Taro Aso in Tokyo earlier this month
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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