Japanese Mythology: Did you mean...?

The traditional house of ancient and medieval Japan (1185-1606 CE) is one of the most distinctive contributions that country has made to world architecture. While the rich and powerful might have lived in castles and...

Nagasaki, on the northwest coast of Japan’s Kyushu Island, was an important Portuguese trading base from c. 1571 to 1639, and the most eastern outpost of the Portuguese empire. The Portuguese presence transformed Nagasaki from...

The Battle of Okinawa (April to June 1945) was the largest amphibious assault and last major battle of the Second World War (1939-45). A massive naval fleet landed 170,000 US troops on the island, but it...

The Meiji period refers to the period in Japanese history from 1868 to 1912 during which the Meiji Emperor reigned. Following the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan's new leaders embarked...

The Kojiki ('Record of Ancient Things') is the oldest book of Japanese history and the oldest text of any kind from Japan. Compiled in 712 CE by the court scholar Ono Yasumaro, the work begins with the gods and the creation...

Buddhist monasteries have been part of the Japanese cultural landscape ever since the 7th century CE, and they remained both powerful and socially important institutions right through the medieval period. Today...

Relations between ancient Japan and China have a long history, and in certain periods the exchange of political, religious and cultural practices between the two was intense. China, the much older state and the...

The mythology of ancient Armenia is a rich blend of indigenous traditions with imported ideas from neighbouring cultures and migrating peoples added over the centuries. The legends and stories helped to explain natural phenomena...

The stories that make up what is known today as Norse mythology once informed the religious beliefs of the people of regions including Scandinavia and Iceland. To the Norse, the world was an enchanted place...

Kamikaze attacks were made by Japanese servicemen throughout the final, desperate year of the Second World War (1939-45). Planes, piloted rockets, and boats were packed with explosives with the intention...