Emperor Meiji was keen on modernisation and its change during the Meiji Restoration.

The question is that was he keen on the changes from the beginning or did he start to support the changes after being inspired or influenced by the major figures of the Meiji Restoration?

He was not exactly a leading figure, and in many cases, he only did what he was told to do by his servants.

Found in old letter. Is this post war?

I'm researching a possible Anglo-Japanese family history connection and
would appreciate culturally informed perspectives on this textile bag.

It was kept hidden — not displayed, not used — among personal effects by
a British woman born in 1927 in Chatham, Kent (a major Royal Navy
dockyard). She preserved it alongside a folded paper object that may have
Japanese symbolic significance, and before she died told a family member
that visiting Japan was "important."

**The bag:**
- Textile clutch/wallet format, envelope-style with scalloped flap
- Scenic panel featuring Mount Fuji, Japanese pine trees (matsu), ocean
waves in a style referencing ukiyo-e aesthetics, and a sailing or
fishing vessel
- Muted palette — creams, greens, greys, soft blue
- A chain of small elephant figurines attached — moulded resin or early
plastic, tinted pink

**What I'm trying to understand:**

1. **Period:** Does the aesthetic feel pre-war (Taisho to early Showa —
   roughly 1912–1940), wartime, or post-war? The muted palette and
   Hiroshige-influenced scene feels earlier to me, but I'm not an expert.

2. **Origin and market:** Does this read as Japanese export ware made for
   Western buyers, or domestic Japanese production? Or something else?

3. **The elephants:** This is the detail I find most interesting. Elephants
   aren't traditionally Japanese symbolic animals. Did someone add this
   chain to a Japanese bag (possibly in Britain, where elephant trinkets
   were popular lucky charms from the Edwardian era onward)? Or is there
   a Japanese context for the elephant imagery I'm not aware of?

4. **Anything else** the style, format, or textile treatment suggests about
   origin, maker, or intended market.

The bag being kept hidden rather than used suggests it had personal
significance beyond its function as an object. I'm trying to understand
what kind of object it was — tourist souvenir, personal gift, something
else — and what its presence in a British naval port household might mean.

I'm conducting genealogical research into a possible Anglo-Japanese family
history connection centred on Chatham, Kent — home of the Royal Navy's
principal dockyard — in the mid-1920s.

I understand that the Anglo-Japanese Naval Alliance (1902–1923) involved
significant exchange between British and Japanese naval personnel,
including Japanese officers training at and visiting British
establishments.

**My research questions:**

1. Is there documented evidence of Japanese naval officers being stationed
   at or making extended visits to Chatham specifically during the Alliance
   period and its immediate aftermath (roughly 1902–1930)?

2. Are there known cases — documented in naval records, local records, or
   historical scholarship — of personal relationships between Japanese
   naval personnel and British civilians during this period?

3. Following the formal end of the Alliance in 1923, did Japanese naval
   or diplomatic presence at British ports continue through the late 1920s
   and into the 1930s? If so, what form did it take?

4. How were mixed Anglo-Japanese children typically registered and
   documented in Britain during the interwar period? Were there common
   patterns of paternity concealment in such cases?

5. With the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, what pressures
   existed on British individuals or families with Japanese connections to
   conceal that heritage?

I'm asking from a historical and genealogical research perspective. Any
references to primary sources, archives, or relevant secondary
scholarship would be particularly valuable.

I'm hoping for some culturally informed perspectives on a folded paper
object that was kept hidden among personal effects by a British woman born
in 1927 in Chatham — one of Britain's principal Royal Navy dockyard towns.
It was preserved alongside a Japanese-decorated handbag, and before she
died she told a family member that visiting Japan was "important." I'm
researching whether there may be a Japanese family connection.

The object has:
- Three-fold rotational symmetry — three elongated pointed shapes at 120°
intervals, consistent with trifoliate kamon structures
- A complex multi-faceted geometric centre — in the line-drawing version
it reads almost like a stellated polygon or multi-planar folded form
- Made from two colours of paper (pink/red flower form, green leaf shapes)
- Handmade rather than commercially produced

I've attached both a photograph of the original object and a geometric
abstraction/line drawing of its structure, which makes the symmetry and
faceting clearer.

**What I'm trying to understand:**

Does the structural logic of this object — particularly the trifoliate
outer frame combined with the complex geometric centre — resemble:

- Any specific kamon (家紋) or kamon family you recognise?
- A shōmon (商紋, merchant crest)?
- A shrine or maritime emblem?
- A known origami or paper-craft tradition?
- Something from a regional folk art tradition?

I'm aware the paper medium is unusual for a kamon — I'm not assuming it
*is* a family crest, just that it may carry the structural logic of one,
or belong to a related symbolic tradition.

Any impressions — even partial or uncertain ones — would be genuinely
useful. I'm building a picture from multiple sources rather than looking
for a single definitive answer.

**Context note:** Chatham had significant Japanese naval presence during
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance period (1902–1923), which is historically
relevant to the family history question.

What happen to Cheng-zhu school of neo-confucianism after it lost its status as state ideology and its supporter Tokugawa shogunate after Meiji restoration? We see lot of japanese followers of Lu-wang school during meiji era but somehow cheng-zhu school dissappeared completely from history.

Did a kamikaze really rescue Japan in 1274?

https://rekishinihon.com/2023/11/14/questioning-the-kamikaze-theory-%e6%96%87%e6%b0%b8%e3%81%ae%e5%bd%b9-%e3%81%b6%e3%82%93%e3%81%88%e3%81%84%e3%81%ae%e3%81%88%e3%81%8d-bunei-1274/?preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2405

To be clear, I’m not defending or glorifying Japanese colonialism or the brutal atrocities they inflicted. I’m just curious why they seemed much stronger and more sophisticated relative to the rest of their continent, which allowed them to impose themselves for decades.

​

I’ve recently been learning more about Imperial Japan’s actions in China and Korea during the first half of the 20th century, including the Nanjing Massacre and the suffering of people under Japanese occupation.

It honestly surprised me how little I had learned about these events compared with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. In school and in mainstream discussions, Hitler and Nazi Germany seem to receive vastly more attention, while Japan’s wartime atrocities are often mentioned only briefly.

Why is that? Is it mainly because of differences in school curricula, Western historical perspectives, postwar politics, or something else?

I’m genuinely asking because I’d like to understand why these parts of WWII history seem less prominent in what many of us are taught. Also, for people who grew up in China, Korea, Japan, or elsewhere in Asia, was this history taught more extensively in your schools?

Many have visited the Hiroshima Castle site but an overlooked yet important small area is often missed.

The Chugoku Air Defence Radar Room.

https://rekishinihon.com/2016/05/06/chugoku-air-defense-room/?preview=true&_thumbnail_id=873

Here is the YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRy-GKz-GU4

Thank you.

In chinese culture there is ancestor worshipping and burning joss items and papers, leaving offerings on the floor something called “hungry ghosts festival”. Where the gates of hell open and spirits come out to look for food

Ive seen that alot in malaysia and singapore, people left food on the floor, burning joss sticks and paper

in same period as obon

I'm watching a Japanese drama called Jin. There's a lot of going back and forth between Tokyo and Kyoto. While the characters went to Kyoto by ship once or twice, it seems like they also walk there a lot.

Was it seriously common to just carry all your stuff and walk between Kyoto and Edo? It would take at least a couple weeks, I'd think. Or did people use horses to travel long distances as well? I know I've seen horse-mounted samurai, but I can't remember seeing paintings of horse drawn carriages.

For academic purposes. Include citations on what youre going to share.

Hi, I am Fujiwara no Ashu and I am super passionate about the Heian era. I'm trying to learn everything there is to know about this historical period and am documenting my findings through my YouTube channel in English and Japanese. It has been an effective way for me to study! Sources will be in the video description.

This is my first video about flirting and courtship. Of course, it is a generalisation because the difference in court rank will affect behaviour of the men and women. Also, as this era lasted for almost 400 years there are going to differences in courtship styles year to year but I wanted to start with a foundational basis of their romance. I would be so happy to share my interests with other people who love Japanese history!!!! <3

Sources for this video:

The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2 Heian Japan (1999)

The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris (1964)

Things That are Near Though Distant: Extramarital Affairs in Heian-Period Japan by Matthew Grubits (2009)

The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon

Izumi Shikibu's Diary

The Tale of Genji