In the inter-war years, China and especially Shanghai had a large number of German expatriates. Anecdotal evidence suggests that more than a few were initially highly skeptical of Adolf Hitler, but in the end, once he had assumed power in Germany in 1933, they were unable or perhaps even unwilling to extricate themselves entirely from the embrace of his movement. Even the…
”Gongxi, gongxi” – ”Congratulations, congratulations.” That’s the name of a tune that will be played over and over again in the coming days as Chinese all across the world celebrate the Lunar New Year. Its association with the festival is as close as the one between “Silent Night” and Christmas in the west. What is…
Many foreigners who have spent some time in Taiwan and studied its modern history have noticed a curious phenomenon related to its recent past: Although the island was run as a colony by the Many foreigners who have spent some time in Taiwan and studied its modern history have noticed a curious phenomenon related to…
When Hiroo Onoda died at a Tokyo hospital at age 91 on Thursday, the world was once again reminded of the incredible story of a Japanese soldier who refused to believe that World War II was over and remained in hiding in the Philippine jungle for nearly three decades before finally surrendering in 1974, returning…
When US President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April 1945, the reaction in Japan was nothing short of astonishing. At a time when Japanese cities were being firebombed by American planes on a nightly basis, incinerating men, women and children; when Japan was preparing to defend the home islands to the last person; and when…
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe predictably stirred up a diplomatic storm when he visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on December 26. China in particular was up in arms over Abe’s decision to become the first Japanese prime minister in seven years to honor Japan’s war dead, including 14 Class A war criminals, at the shrine, which…
It is well-documented that Japan’s invasion of China in the 1930s was accompanied by horrendous atrocities against the civilian population. As was the case with the Nazi rule of terror in Eastern Europe, even children were not safe from the excesses of the foreign aggressors. Of course, this was a story that could not be…
For years Sarah Moran had tried to find out where her uncle was buried. She knew he had been killed in Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese battle in 1937, but she was not able to determine the exact location of his grave. Now her quest has come to an end. With the help of the British consulate…
Wedding photos are a huge business in China, and people from the middle class up are willing to pay serious amounts – sometimes thousands of dollars – for this special service. The problem is that there are also many businesses available to get the photos done, and in order to beat the competition they have to think outside the…
The photo of a Chinese baby crying after a Japanese air raid on the Shanghai South Station in late August 1937 is one of the iconic images of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was published in early October in Life magazine and carried by hundreds of major US newspapers. It was estimated that 136 million…
