Portal:Japan/Did you know
- ... that the Yūshūkan (pictured), a Japanese military and war museum owned and operated by Yasukuni Shrine, has been at the center of an international controversy?
- ... that the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Kamikaze was one of the few larger Japanese warships to survive the Pacific War without significant damage?
- ... that Roujin Z is a 1991 Japanese anime film about a computerized hospital bed with its own built-in atomic power reactor?
- ... that Masako Katsura's participation in the World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament of 1952 was the first time any woman ever competed in any billiards tournament for a world crown?
- ...that a suikinkutsu is both a type of Japanese garden ornament and a music device?
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- ...that Shuri Castle (pictured), designated a national treasures of Japan and used as a military headquarters during World War II, was shelled by U.S. Navy ships (including the USS Missouri) for three days, and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
- ... that the Imperial Japanese Army's Type 89 I-Go medium tank (pictured) was the first diesel-powered tank to be mass-produced?
- ... that the Sakuradamon Incident (pictured) of 1932 was an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Emperor Hirohito of Japan by a Korean nationalist?
- ... that in the 1430s, the feudal lord Ashina Morihisa kept Aizu Matsudaira's Royal Garden (pictured) as a villa believing it to be a sacred place?
- ... that the Tokyo Big Sight convention center (pictured) looks like four upside-down pyramids?
- ... that the Yūshūkan (pictured), a Japanese military and war museum owned and operated by Yasukuni Shrine, has been at the center of an international controversy?
- ... that the 430-foot-tall (131 m) Kyoto Tower (pictured) is the tallest man-made structure in the city of Kyoto, Japan?
- ...that Kotetsu (pictured), a Japanese ironclad battleship, was originally intended to be Stonewall of the Confederate States Navy but was not delivered until after the end of the American Civil War?
- ...that the samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga (pictured) led the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the Americas and Europe in 1615?
- ...that the Toyota 7 (pictured) was the first sports prototype racing car built by Toyota Motor Corporation, debuting at the 1968 Japanese Grand Prix?
- ...that, according to Shinto tradition, four kami, including the soul of Emperor Meiji, are enshrined at the Shinto shrine Hokkaidō Shrine (pictured) in Sapporo, Japan?
- ...that the Sapporo Factory (pictured) in Sapporo, a building complex with a shopping mall, offices, a multiplex movie theatre and a Meissen porcelain museum, was originally constructed as a brewery?
- ... that, at 248.1 metres (814 ft), Midtown Tower (pictured) is the tallest building in Tokyo?
- ... that the name of Shichirigahama (pictured), a beach in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, means "Seven Ri (approximately 27 km/17 mi) Beach" in Japanese, but it is only about one-tenth of that in length?
- ... that despite pioneer Japanese journalist Kuga Katsunan's (pictured) advocacy of Japanese nationalism, government censors shut his newspaper down 30 times between 1889 and 1896?
- ... that the Shinbashi Enbujō (pictured) in Ginza, Japan, today a major kabuki theatre, was originally built to serve as a venue for geisha dances?
- ... that eight Kaba class destroyers (pictured) of the Imperial Japanese Navy were based in Malta in World War I?
- ... that Yuzuru Hiraga (pictured) was a Japanese naval architect, noted for work on innovative warships such as the cruiser Yubari and Yamato for the Imperial Japanese Navy?
- ... that the U.S. devised tactics to defeat Japan's Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane from the 1942 capture of an intact example dubbed the Akutan Zero (pictured)?
- ... that Shigeko Higashikuni (pictured) was the elder sister of Akihito, the reigning Emperor of Japan?
- ... that 99 percent of Japanese municipalities collect and recycle steel cans despite not being required by law, giving the country one of the world's highest recycling rates for these cans? (Japanese recycling bins pictured)
- ... that when a Japanese honeybee hive is invaded by a giant hornet scout, the honeybees "bake" the hornet in a ball of about 500 bees (pictured)?
- ... that Kutani ware (pictured), first produced about 1656 near the current city of Kaga, is a type of Japanese porcelain known for its use of multicolored glazes in bold designs?
- ... that Sakae Menda (pictured) was the first person in the history of Japan to be exonerated while on death row?
- ... that Takashima Shūhan (pictured) was the first major proponent of Western firearms at the end of Japan's Seclusion period in the 19th century?
- ... that the 19th-century artillery of Japan (example pictured) utilized widely disparate technologies, from primitive wooden cannon to state-of-the-art breech loaders?
- ... that a six-year-old boy was killed in 2004 when his head was crushed in a revolving door at the entrance of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower (pictured) in Tokyo?
- ... that Egawa Hidetatsu (pictured) designed and built in 1853–54 the artillery batteries of Odaiba at the entrance of Edo (modern Tokyo), to prevent an intrusion by the United States fleet of Commodore Perry?
- ... that the firearms of Japan (pictured) go back to the 13th century, but were almost totally abandoned for 200 years during Japan's Seclusion period?
- ... that in the Sakuradamon incident in 1860 (pictured), Japan's pro-foreign Chief Minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated by xenophobic samurai?
- ... that Tokugawa coinage (pictured) in Medieval Japan used a triple monetary standard, with gold, silver and bronze coins, each with their own denominations?
- ... that eleven of the Twelve Heavenly Generals at Shin-Yakushi-ji temple (hon-dō pictured) in Nara, Japan, are made of clay and date to the 8th century while the wooden statue of Haira was made in 1931?
- ... that U2's experience in Shinjuku, Tokyo (pictured) at the conclusion of the Zoo TV Tour was the inspiration for the Passengers' song "Slug"?
- ... that tanbo art (example pictured) is a Japanese practice where giant pictures are created in rice fields?
- ... that Japanese currency started in the 8th century with the minting of the Wadōkaichin coin (pictured)?
- ... that Blanfordia (pictured) have colonized land in Japan in an area with heavy snowfall?
- ... that a kichō (pictured) is a portable multi-paneled silk partition used in aristocratic households during and following the Heian period in Japan?
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War-related
[edit]- ...that the Battle of the Bismarck Sea was a devastating Japanese defeat during World War II?
- ...that the 1939 Battle of Halhin Gol between Soviet Red Army and Japanese Guandong Army soldiers in the village of Nomonhan is thought to have contributed to the Japanese decision to carry out the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ...that Battleship Row bore the brunt of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that troops of Tadayoshi Sano, a lieutenant general for the Imperial Japanese Army, were reported to have committed atrocities against civilians in Hong Kong and British prisoners of war?
- ... that the Mitsubishi Type 73 Light Trucks were made bulletproof for the Japanese military deployed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq?
- ... that the U.S. Third Fleet sank all of Japan's remaining undamaged battleships and heavy cruisers during the bombing of Kure in July 1945?
- ... that the 1945 loss of German U-boat U-864 during Operation Caesar, a secret mission to deliver technology to Japan, is the only known incident of one submerged submarine sinking another?
- ...that pre-dreadnought battleships saw their most notable service in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905?
- ...that Navajo codetalkers directed naval gunfire onto Japanese positions in the Battle of Saipan?
- ...that Kaiyō Maru, a Japanese steam warship, was the flagship of Admiral Enomoto Takeaki of the rebel Republic of Ezo in the Boshin War?
- ...that Takashi Sakai, an Imperial Japanese Army general during World War II, was sentenced to death on August 27, 1946 for atrocities committed against civilians and surrendered soldiers in Hong Kong?
- ...that Ten-gō sakusen was the last major Imperial Japanese Navy operation in World War II?
- ...that the Battle of Bun'ei in 1274 was Mongol emperor Kublai Khan's first attempt to invade Japan?
- ... that the Kamikaze class destroyer Shiratae was one of the few ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to have been lost in combat during the Battle of Tsingtao?
- ... that Kamio Mitsuomi, an Imperial Japanese Army general, was in command of Allied ground forces at the Battle of Tsingtao in WWI?
- ... that the Umikaze class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy were the first large destroyers designed for open ocean service to be built in Japan?
- ... that Admiral Naokuni Nomura, World War II Japanese naval attache to Berlin, returned home on U-511, a submarine that had been presented by Adolf Hitler to Japan in 1943?
- ... that Japanese admiral Misu Sotarō lost his left eye while commanding the Nisshin at Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War?
- ... that the Export Control Act of 1940 ceased the exportation of military equipment to pre-WWII Japan which pushed the United States and Japan closer to war?
- ... that Japanese admiral Mitsumi Shimizu authorized the midget submarine operation during the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that the Urakami class destroyer Kawakaze of the Imperial Japanese Navy was built in Scotland, sold to the Regia Marina of Italy and sunk as a ship of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany?
- ... that Japanese admiral Ogasawara Naganari, close confidant and biographer of Fleet Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, was tutor to Emperor Hirohito on naval matters?
- ... that Rear Admiral Minoru Ōta, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Okinawa, had earlier been earmarked to command Japanese landing forces at the Battle of Midway?
- ... that the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Kamikaze was one of the few larger Japanese warships to survive the Pacific War without significant damage?
- ... that after being saved from the scrapyard by a U.S. delegation, two Japanese warships of the Amagi and Tosa classes, Akagi and Kaga, were converted to aircraft carriers and took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that in the Battle of Sio, Papuan Corporal Bengari and his five companions ambushed 29 Japanese soldiers and killed them all before they could fire a shot?
- ... that though they had lost all strategically and economically important locations of Luzon in the Battle of Luzon, pockets of Japanese forces held out until Japan surrendered in World War II?
- ... that Admiral Shigeyoshi Miwa commanded Imperial Japanese Navy submarine forces during the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that Imperial Japanese Navy submarine Commander Takakazu Kinashi was awarded the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler for his role in the sinking of the American aircraft carrier Wasp?
- ... that the Japanese American internment during World War II cost Seattle's Lincoln High School the presidents of its two service clubs and the editor of its school newspaper?
- ... that violence in the 1970 Koza riot against US military presence in Okinawa was directed specifically against white servicemen, while care was taken to avoid attacking black MPs?
- ... that during the Japanese conquest of Burma in 1942, the heavily defended Taukkyan Roadblock was unexpectedly abandoned overnight, allowing the Allied forces to escape safely from Rangoon?
- ... that Togo Tanaka publicly called Japan's government "stupid" the day after Pearl Harbor for starting an unwinnable war but was one of 10,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to the Manzanar camp?
- ... that the Japanese ammunition ship Kashino was specifically designed to transport the Yamato class battleships' main battery to the shipyards where they were being built?
- ... that Aritsugu, a supplier of swords to the Imperial House of Japan during the 16th century, now produces cooking knives and utensils?
- ... that the bioluminescent crustacean Vargula hilgendorfii, named after Franz Hilgendorf, was used as a light source by Japanese soldiers in World War II?
- ...the Imperial Japanese Army 14th Division made Chinese dumplings a specialty of Utsunomiya upon returning from Manchuria?
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Anime, manga and video games
[edit]- ... that when the Japanese visual novel Memories Off was released for the PlayStation Portable, it shared its opening theme song with the visual novel Memories Off 2nd for the same system?
- ... that Japanese mangaka Ken Akamatsu received Kodansha's Freshman Manga Award for his debut manga Hito Natsu no Kids Game?
- ... that before the release of the Japanese visual novel Sora o Tobu, Mittsu no Hōhō, there was a similarly based manga series by Kensha Shimotsuki?
- ... that when the Japanese visual novel Suika was released for the PlayStation, it was retitled as Water Summer?
- ... that the Japanese virtual 3D massively multiplayer online social game Ai Sp@ce launched in summer 2008 featuring interaction with bishōjo game characters?
- ... that the Japanese visual novel Yotsunoha allows the player to navigate in a top-down perspective similar to a console role-playing game?
- ... that Roujin Z is a 1991 Japanese anime film about a computerized hospital bed with its own built-in atomic power reactor?
- ... that the Japanese visual novel 5 has been described by its development team as a "noisy northern province love comedy"?
- ... that the Japanese visual novel Sakura Sakura allows the player to navigate in a profile side-view perspective similar to a two dimensional platform game?
- ...that the Japanese manga character Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo can command his own body hair to perform various martial arts?
- ...that the children's anime series The Littl' Bits has aired in Japanese, English, Spanish, Polish, German, and Italian?
- ...that the titles of the thirteen episodes of the Japanese animated television series Gunslinger Girl were given in Italian as well as Japanese?
- ... that the Japanese visual novel Twinkle Crusaders received three manga adaptations before its release?
- ... that the opening theme of the eighth season of the Bleach anime, "After Dark", was provided by the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation?
- ... that the Japanese manga Black God was created by a manhwa team of Koreans who do not know the Japanese language?
- ... that American singer Becca provided the closing theme "I'm Alive!" for the episodes of the 2008 Japanese anime Kuroshitsuji?
- ... that Nausicaä, the main character from the Hayao Miyazaki manga and film, is based on Nausicaa from the Odyssey and "The Princess Who Loved Insects", a Japanese folk hero?
- ... that Taishō Baseball Girls is a light novel series about an all-girl baseball team set in Taishō era Japan?
- ... that Keizō Tsukamoto set a Guinness World Record by creating the cover art for more than 1,900 issues of Weekly Manga Times starting in 1970?
- ... that the Japanese band Daisy × Daisy provided the song "Brave your truth" as the opening theme song of the episodes of the Chrome Shelled Regios anime?
- ... that "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran served as the opening theme for the Japanese anime Speed Grapher though FUNimation was unable to obtain its license for US release?
- ... that while the anime adaptation of the Japanese visual novel White Album began its broadcast in 2009, it was actually first considered in 1998?
- ... that two of the three character designers of the Japanese visual novel Flyable Heart have illustrated the Shakugan no Shana light novels and manga series, respectively?
- ... that AfterEllen.com praised the yaoi manga series The Moon and the Sandals for illustrating "the challenges gay men face in Japanese society"?
- ... that Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, a manga about a blind samurai, won the 1968 Shogakukan Manga Award?
- ... that Queen Millennia was combined by Harmony Gold and Carl Macek with another Leiji Matsumoto series, Captain Harlock, to create Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years?
- ... that Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933 and directed by Kenzō Masaoka, was the first "talkie" animated film in Japan?
- ... that Japanese manga Red Colored Elegy has an eponymous single performed by Morio Agata, which ranked seventh in Japan's Oricon charts in 1972?
- ... that Cencoroll is a 2009 30-minute Japanese animated science fiction film nearly singlehandedly written, designed, directed, and animated by manga author Atsuya Uki?
- ... that Summer Wars was the first Japanese animated film to be included for competition at the Locarno International Film Festival?
- ... that the Japanese animated television series Last Exile uses terms from chess in its episode titles?
- ... that the Japanese visual novel Princess Lover!'s anime adaptation was first exhibited as a video hosted by Television Kanagawa prior to its televised broadcast?
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Biographies
[edit]- ...that the story of Sada Abe, a woman who cut off her dead lover's genitals and carried them around with her for days, is one of Japan's most notorious scandals?
- ... that Japanese Governor Murayama Tōan led a failed invasion of Taiwan in 1616?
- ... that Japanese anime director Rintaro has worked in animation for 50 years and co-founded the animation studio Madhouse?
- ... that Matsuura Takanobu was an early host and patron to the Jesuits, whom he hoped would influence an increase in trade between European traders and Japan?
- ... that Yukiko Iwai, at 4' 11'' (150 cm), was the shortest member of the 1980s all-girl Japanese pop group Onyanko Club?
- ... that Japanese mathematician Yozo Matsushima received the Asahi Prize for his research on continuous groups in 1962?
- ... that Harvard Japanologist Susan Pharr was recently awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government?
- ... that over the course of five decades, Toshio Masuda directed 16 films which made the top ten list at the Japanese box office, a record surpassed by only one other director?
- ... that Haruji Matsue was the first person to manufacture the sugar cube in Japan?
- ... that one of the humanoid robots created by Japanese roboticist Tomotaka Takahashi was listed in Time’s Coolest Inventions in 2004?
- ...that Luis Sotelo was a Spanish Franciscan friar who died as a martyr in Japan in 1624?
- ...that Yamada Nagamasa was a Japanese adventurer who played a key military role in 17th-century Thailand?
- ...that Léonce Verny was a French naval engineer who directed the construction of the Yokosuka arsenal in Japan from 1865 to 1876, thus helping jump-start Japan's modernization?
- ...that Yoky Matsuoka, a neuroscience and robotics researcher, was once the 21st ranked tennis player in Japan?
- ... that an oil painting by Ryūsei Kishida was auctioned for 7.731 billion yen, the highest price ever achieved for a Japanese painting?
- ... that Yamamoto Tatsuo, former head of the Bank of Japan, was the first businessman to become a cabinet minister in Japan?
- ... that Ōe Taku, after spending 12 years in prison for treason, was elected to the lower house in the Diet of Japan in 1890?
- ... that American Joe Lutz became the first foreigner to manage a team in Japanese professional baseball when he was selected to manage the Hiroshima Carp in 1975?
- ... that in 1976, Japanese pink film actor Mitsuyasu Maeno carried out a kamikaze attack on multi-millionaire and ultra-nationalist leader Yoshio Kodama?
- ... that Japanese jūdōka Shokichi Natsui became the first World Judo Champion in 1956?
- ... that Minori Kimura made her professional manga artist debut at the age of 14 in the 1964 Spring Special issue of Ribon, a magazine published in Japan by Shueisha?
- ... that after his death, the amateur manga collection of the manga critic Yoshihiro Yonezawa was made into a library by his alma mater, Meiji University?
- ... that singer-songwriter Tatsuo Kamon began studying with rakugo master Tsuruko Shōfukutei at age 16?
- ... that Takeo Kimura made his feature film directorial debut at age 90?
- ... that during the Second World War, the Japanese-American family of Tsuyako "Sox" Kitashima were interned in a horse stall?
- ... that Makiko Esumi won the 1995 Rookie of the Year Award at both the 19th Annual Japan Academy Prize ceremonies and at the 38th Blue Ribbon Awards for her debut acting role in the 1995 film Maborosi?
- ... that of Japanese band Supercell's eleven members, only one of them makes the music and the rest are illustrators and designers?
- ... that Japan's incoming First Lady Miyuki Hatoyama claims to have been abducted by aliens in a triangular-shaped UFO and to have known Tom Cruise when he was Japanese in a prior incarnation?
- ... that Chisho Itoh, the winner of the 1988 Yokohama Film Festival Best New Director Award, went on to a career as the hardcore Japanese adult video director Tohjiro?
- ... that Japanese theoretical physicist Kazuhiko Nishijima is well-known for developing the concept of strangeness in particle physics?
- ... that the Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiji attempted to walk to Xanadu?
- ... that Japanese electrical engineer Hisashi Kobayashi was appointed the founding director of the IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory in 1982?
- ... that Japanese pink film/sexploitation producer-director Kan Mukai gave Academy-Award winner Yōjirō Takita his first work in the film industry?
- ... that Yishan Yining, a Zen master who pioneered Gozan Bungaku literature in 14th-century Japan, was originally a Buddhist monk on a diplomatic mission from China?
- ... that in 1967 Kōji Seki directed Perverted Criminal, Japan's first 3-D film and the world's first 3-D sex film?
- ... that in the 1960s, Yōji Kuri was regarded as the creator of Japanese animation most known to the West?
- ... that Masako Katsura's participation in the World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament of 1952 was the first time any woman ever competed in any billiards tournament for a world crown?
- ... that Kurao Hiroshima was a two-time Olympian, two-time Japanese marathon champion, and two-time winner of the Fukuoka Marathon?
- ... that Japanese film critic Nagaharu Yodogawa did not miss a single appearance in his 36 years as the host of TV Asahi's Sunday Western Movie Theatre until a week before his death?
- ... that two of the members of Japanese idol group HKT48 are in elementary school?
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Other
[edit]- ...that more than 50 members of the Diet of Japan were involved in the Recruit Scandal of the 1980s?
- ...that Japanese Imari porcelain was made specifically for export to Europe?
- ... that relations between Japan and The Netherlands date back 400 years when the first formal trade relations were established in 1609?
- ...that a suikinkutsu is both a type of Japanese garden ornament and a music device?
- ... that delay certificates issued by railway companies in Japan and Germany to passengers for tardy trains are considered valid reasons by superiors for reporting late to school or work?
- ... that one of the first recorded Japanese-Siamese contacts occurred in 1593?
- ...that the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize, for achievements in medical research and services to combat diseases in Africa, is named after a Japanese scientist whose portrait can be found on recent ¥1000 banknotes?
- ... that of the eleven Japanese films accepted as nominees for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since its inception, none have won it?
- ... that Ichitaro Kanie grew Japan's first tomatoes in 1899, founding the ¥157 billion Kagome tomato empire?
- ... that the final twenty minutes of the 1941 documentary film Kukan shows an air attack by Japanese bombers against Chongqing, the World War II capital of China?
- ... that the 1946 earthquake in Nankaidō caused a 6-meter (20-ft) tsunami that destroyed 2,100 homes?
- ... that Japanese director Kei Kumai's Sandakan No. 8 lost the 1975 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film to a film by another Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala?
- ... that a 15th-century bell from the Gokoku-ji Buddhist temple in Japan was sent to the U.S. in 1854 and rung when the Naval Academy at Annapolis won the annual Army–Navy football game?
- ... that 22-year-old Ling Ling was the oldest panda in Japan at the time of his death in April 2008?
- ...that toilets in Japan are among most technologically advanced toilets in the world today?
- ...that the Japanese Paleolithic includes the earliest known examples of polished stone tools in the world, dated around 30,000 BCE?
- ...that the history of sushi shows that although sushi is famous for its use in the Japanese cuisine, it actually originated in China in the 3rd or 4th century BCE, more than 900 years before its first known appearance in Japan?
- ...that Boneless Fish is a Japanese frozen food made from fish, which is deboned by hand and then glued to its original shape using a food-grade enzyme?
- ...that Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) signed an agreement in 1963 with Japanese company NEC which gave the latter partial ownership of PTV's network?
- ...that in the 1896 Yamagata-Lobanov Agreement negotiations, Japanese Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo proposed dividing Korea at the 38th parallel, should Japanese and Russian troops occupy the peninsula?
- ... the Safety Promotion Center, established by Japan Airlines after the worst single aircraft accident in history, has passengers' farewell letters and wreckage on display to educate employees about safety?
- ... that Matsukata Kojiro, president of Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation, implemented Japan's first eight-hour work day in 1919, after a strike by 30,000 workers threatened to bring down the government?
- ... that a Japanese sea spirit named shōjō with red hair and a fondness for sake is featured in Noh and Kabuki plays?
- ... that in Shinto, a gongen represents a manifestation of a buddha from India to guide the Japanese people to salvation?
- ... that there are 30 million smokers in Japan, making the country one of the largest tobacco markets in the world?
- ... that the Japanese novel Kanikōsen is one of the best-selling books of 2008, despite being published in 1929?
- ... that Japanese author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki attributed his phobia of earthquakes to the collapse of his family house in the 1894 Meiji Tokyo earthquake?
- ... that in his 1933 essay In Praise of Shadows, Junichirō Tanizaki includes monastery toilets in his reflections on Japanese aesthetics?
- ... that Hitachi Zosen Corporation built the first oil tanker in Japan in 1908 per an order by Standard Oil Company?
- ... that in 1969, Toyota Motor Corporation imported McLaren M12s and installed their own V8 engines in a bid to better compete against Nissan in Japanese Group 7 races?
- ... that Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations in April 1952, one of the first such treaties by Japan after World War II?
- ... that oil company Idemitsu Kosan is exploring the potential for geothermal power in Japan?
- ... that the gokenin, Japanese feudal lords at the top of the power pyramid, were named after a semi-slave caste?
- ... that from 1945 until 1978, cars in Okinawa Prefecture drove on the right side of the road until a switch to left-hand drive as part of the 730 Conversion Plan, to match the rest of Japan?
- ... that in Japan during the Muromachi era, the shogun's representative would go to Wakamiya Ōji Avenue in Kamakura once a year to walk around a certain Shinto gate seven times?
- ... that Natsume Sōseki's 1905 novel Kairo-kō is the earliest, and only major, prose treatment of the Arthurian legend in the Japanese language?
- ... that the Heian period Japanese story Torikaebaya Monogatari is the tale of a man who lives as a woman and his sister who lives as a man, who eventually swap places in order to lead happy lives?
- ... that the Nameless Book is the oldest existing Japanese work of literary criticism?
- ... that the first chapter of Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari, an eleventh-century Japanese tale, no longer exists?
- ... that Karatsu ware is a style of Japanese pottery which is considered one of the top choices for implements used in the Japanese tea ceremony?
- ... that the 1914–1944 Japanese presence in the Marshall Islands resulted in about 10% of the present-day islanders having some Japanese ancestry?
- ... that Japanese settlement in Palau dates back to the 19th century?
- ... that the Nikkatsu Roman Porno film Love Hunter (1972) was confiscated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and became the last film to be tried for obscenity in Japan to this day?
- ... that mainstream Japanese film journal Kinema Junpo chose director Tatsumi Kumashiro's The World of Geisha as one of the best ten Japanese films of 1973 despite its being in the softcore Roman porno genre?
- ... that the Toi gold mine in Japan houses the world's largest pure gold bar, weighing 250 kilograms (550 lb)?
- ... that Japanese pop R&B singer-songwriter Mai Kuraki's 2009 album, Touch Me! became her first album in five years to top the Japanese album chart?
- ... that 120 earthquakes and tremors in total were felt in Edo, Japan during the Ansei Great Earthquakes of 1854–55?
- ... that the rare, "almost legendary" Japanese lates was considered to be the same fish as the barramundi until 1984?
- ... that Vespula flaviceps larvae are considered a delicacy in Japan?
- ... that the film 10 Promises to My Dog is based on a novel that was inspired by The Ten Commandments of Dog Ownership?
- ... that the Japanese art film Megane, described as "an ode to the pleasures of unhurried living", was given its name after the director realized most characters wore glasses?
- ... that River is the first film to deal with the 2008 Akihabara massacre incident?
- ... that the single "My Girl" by Arashi currently holds the third largest first-week sales of 2009 in Japan?
- ... that the 2006 Japanese film Hula Girls is set in the coal mining town of Iwaki in the 1960s when a Hawaiian spa resort was built to resolve the community's faltering fortunes?
- ... that the trailer for the Japanese horror film Henge was described by a reviewer as "a minor work of art"?
- ... that the music video of the title track in AKB48 's single Give Me Five is 34 minutes long?
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