Japan

The first Christian missionary to the country, Francis Xavier, departed from Japan on November 21st, 1551, having made perhaps some 2,000 converts.

Japan's 124th Emperor was born on April 29th, 1901

Charles Maechling argues that the Japanese attack, which took place on December 7th 1941, was partly a response to the country's limited energy resources.

Paul Doolan describes the unique 400-year-long trading, intellectual and artistic contacts between the Dutch and the Japanese.

Gavan McCormack analyses the attempts by the Japanese nation to deal with its uncomfortable past.

Mariya Sevela gathers oral recollections from the people of Karafuto, a Japanese colony on the island of Sakhalin from 1905 until the arrival of the Soviet army forty years later.

Ronan Thomas takes a look at the cultures of Korea after becoming independent from Japan in 1945.

Alonzo Hamby considers Harry Truman's First World War experiences and explores the dilemmas that influenced his decision to drop atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What was it like to be a 'boiled octopus' in the silk mills of Japan before the First World War? Janet Hunter looks at the life and conditions of the women who bore the brunt of Japan's rapid industrialisation.

From isolation to Great Power status: Richard Perren explains how a mania for Westernisation led to Japan's transformation at the turn of the century.