Category Archives: Japan History

Katana: Curved Swords from China, India, Persia and Beyond

The katana is legendary, yes — but it’s part of a much bigger family.

Inside a Japanese Castle

Walk through one today, and you’re not just seeing walls and roofs. You’re stepping into

The Rise of the Yamato Clan and the Birth of the Japanese State

The Yamato story is not a single dynasty snapping its fingers into power, but a

From Jōmon to Yayoi: Japan Shifted from Foragers to Rice Farmers

How did an island chain of master foragers become a landscape of paddies, granaries, and

The Tokugawa Shogunate: Isolation and Cultural Renaissance

The Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868), also known as the Edo Period, was a transformative era in

Remarkable Onna-Bugeisha: Warrior Women of Medieval Japan

Medieval Japan’s cultural landscape was rich and complex, heavily influenced by Confucian ideals that imposed