Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Friday, October 23, 2026

Saturday, October 23, 1926. Trotsky and Kamenev get the boot.

Trotsky and Lev Kamenev were booted out of the Politburo.  They'd ultimately meet the same fate.

A motion for a new trial for Sacco and Vanzetti was denied.

It was, of course, hunting season, and the New Yorker dedicated its cover to hunting with its characteristic weird art style





Japan's Meiji Jingu (Shrine) Stadium opened to the public and a home run was hit on the same day in the stadium's inaugural game.  The stadium is still in use.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 16, 1926. Fighting in Eastern China.

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Thursday, October 22, 1936. Worsening conflicts

Spanish General José Miaja was put in charge of the Republican defence of Madrid, where things were getting overall worse in general.

Contrary to the common assumption, about 40% of Spanish Army officers remained loyal to the Spanish Republic.


And it wasn't just in Europe where things were getting worse.


The far political right wasn't just on the march in Spain. The Belgian far right wing Rexist Party announced its intention to march on Brussels in order to "sweep out the Paul van Zeeland government and its corruption" in a move inspired by Mussolini's march on Rome.  Van Zeeland declared martial law.

The News issued its awards it its photo contest.


And a cartoon shows how some common comments I'll hear from some people today were common ninety years ago.


University education was expanding, but was far from what it is now.  It's interesting to see the contempt of youth for professors expressed here.  

I don't think that's a common view, but I have heard it from the time I was in university, up to now, from time to time, probably most recently when Chuck Gray's current campaign manager just went off on how professors at the University of Wyoming were all left wing, coming from a person whose views are closer to those who were advancing on Madrid on this day in 1936.

Last edition:

Friday, October 16, 1936. Siege of Oviedo broken.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Monday, October 21, 1946. Law for the Special Establishment of Independent Cultivators

The American drafted Japanese "Law for the Special Establishment of Independent Cultivators" passed.  It would reduce the percentage of Japanese farmland farmed by sharecroppers renting from landlords from 46% to 10%.

The American occupation of Japan was heavily Distributist.

Chiang Kai-shek visited Taiwan for the first time.  Ruled by the Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895, the island had been a Japanese territory from 1895 until 1945, when it was returned to China.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 20, 1946. Partido Independista Puertoriqueño.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Friday, October 13, 1911. Reactions to Revolution.

A company of Marines landed at Hankou, in Hubei, to protect the property and employees of the Standard Oil Company as the revolution in China started to spread.

Qing Dynasty Minister of War Prince Yin-chang secretly requested Japanese assistance in putting down the ongoing nationalist uprising.

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, was sworn in as the new Governor General of Canada.

Ford Motors opened its first plant in the United Kingdom.

President William Howard Taft at the laying of the cornerstone for the Oakland City Hall, Oakland, California on October 13, 1911

Mendocino Coast, October 13, 1911.

'Mid the redwoods of Mendocino County, California, October 13, 1911.


Wendling (now Navarro), California, October 13, 1911.

Last edition:

Thursday, October 12, 1911. Revolution in China spreads.

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Monday, October 7, 1946. Japan renounces war.

The MacArthur influenced Constitution of Japan was approved by the House of Representatives of Japan. 

The instrument renounced war as a Japanese political and diplomatic option.

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox 3–0 at Sportsman's Park in Game Two of the 1946 World Series.

Last edition:

Friday, October 4, 1946. Truman's announcement on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Monday, September 6, 1976. The defection of Viktor Belenko.

It was Labor Day in the U.S.

I would have been 13 years old. We probably went dove hunting, and maybe fishing.

Mig 25.

Soviet Air Force Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected with his Mig 25 to Japan.  He would receive asylum in the United States, where he lived for the rest of his life, during which he constantly feared being assassinated by the Soviets/Russians.  He died in 2023 in Illinois at age 76.

The Mig 25 was widely feared by Western nations and the defection was a windfall and a deflation as the plane turned out to be much cruder than imagined. For a time there was suspicion that the defection was itself a deception operation by the Soviet Union.

I recall this event occurring.

Vietnam disclosed the names and fates of twelve Missing In Action aviators who had been killed after being shot down during the Vietnam War.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 5, 1976. The Muppet Show.

Monday, August 24, 2026

Saturday, August 24, 1946. Portents and changes.

Norma Jean Baker adopted the name of Marilyn Monroe for the firs time in a contract at the suggestion of Ben Lyon of 20th 'Century Fox.

For her stage name, she adopted the names of actress Marilyn Miller, and her mother, Gladys Monroe, who was a tragic figure.

Marilyn Miller

Miller had died in 1936 at the age of 37.  Hardly anyone remembers her now.  The choice of her name was a portent.  Miller, who was married four times (her first husband died leaving her a widow), had a sinus condition made worse by her alcoholism, which lead to her early death.

She was a major star of her day, but not like Monroe, who remains one to this very day.

May they perpetual light shine upon both Baker and Miller.

Philippine Communist leader Juan Feleo was stopped by a large band of "armed men in fatigue uniforms" in Gapan, Nueva Ecija and killed, in something that would result in fueling the Hukbalahap Rebellion.

The Japanese House of Representatives approve the new MacArthur drafted constitution.

Last edition:

Friday, August 23, 1946. British create North Rhine-Westphalia.

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Friday, July 23, 1976 Sadaharu Oh becomes the third professional baseball player to hit 700 home runs.

 


Last edition:

Thursday, July 22, 1976. Japan's last payment to the Philippines. A President has a sane day.

Tuesday, July 23, 1946. Last of the POWs sent home.

The United States released the last of 375,000 German POWs it had held in the United States, embarking 1,385 of them on the General Yates after transporting them from Camp Shanks, New York.

About ten POWs who had escaped during the war remained at large and were never accounted for.

The Zaibatsu, the Japanese corporations that had financed Japan's war effort, were abolished.

Many of them would be reconstituted starting in 1953, including Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo.

Frances Ramsden and her standard poodles were on the cover of Look.


Ramsden was a model who had a very brief acting career, appearing in only three films. She later married Egyptian millionaire Adel Sabit, a cousin of King Farouk, but had to abandon Cairo due to that association. She divorced in 1975 and returned to California, where she spent the remainder of her life, passing away in 2000 at the age of 80.

The prior day's bombing of the King David Hotel made the front page of American newspapers.


It's interesting that the press referred to the Irgun as "terrorists".  The label is appropriate in varying degrees, but the attack on the King David Hotel might have been a legitimate attack, in the context of a legitimate war, if this war is regarded as that.  Terrorism itself is never justified.

The original goal of the mission was to destroy materials that identified those who had participated in the destruction of bridges a bit earlier in the uprising.

Of course, the ultimate question is whether the uprising itself was justified.  I don't feel that it was.  It's certainly the case that the failure to accommodate both the Arab and Jewish populations has resulted in 80 years of strife, although such an accommodation may not have been possible.

United Airlines addressed its customers.



United is in the news again today, looking for a solution for its customers who do not wish to fly into Insurrectionist Seditionist Narcissist International Airport in Palm Beach.

An interesting surplus item.



Last edition:

Monday, July 22, 1946. The bombing of the King David Hotel.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Thursday, July 22, 1976. Japan's last payment to the Philippines. A President has a sane day.

Japan made its final reparations payment to the Philippines for its actions in World War Two.

President Ford's day:



A couple of observations.

First of all, nice to see a daily Presidential agenda that wouldn't read like today's must:

7:15:  President had Coca Cola and goes into a hate filled Tweet rage

8:00:  President claims Joe Biden stole his Coca Cola.

8:15:  President falls asleep. . . 

Secondly, this was election season and Ford was contacting some state delegates, including some from Wyoming, none of whom I've heard of.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Friday, June 28, 1946. First Hāfu (ハーフ).

The first recorded birth in Japan of a baby born of a Japanese mother and a father who was an American soldier occupying Japan, was announced on Japanese radio, barely more than nine months after the U.S. commenced occupation of Honshu.

The number of such children born during the American occupation from 1945 to 1952 is unknown, but best estimates put it at less than 5,000.  Small additional numbers had British and Australian fathers, with their fate being particularly harsh as British occupation authorities strictly prohibited liaisons with Japanese females and marriage was not an option.  Many of their children were given up for adoption as orphans.  In contrast,45,000 Japanese women became American war brides.

The entire matter was controversial in Japan, as generally it broke a strict cultural taboo regarding interacting with foreigners in this fashion. Cross cultural marriages were enormously looked down upon in Japan at the time and still somewhat are, albeit to a lesser degree.  The occupation period is the only instance in which Japanese women breached the taboo on a large scale.

In this case, the extremely rapid nature of the conception raises real questions about the nature of consent in the matter.

Comedian Gilda Radner was born in Detroit.

Actress Antoinette Perry form whom the Tony Awards are named died at age 58 of a heart attack. There were signs that it was coming, but as a Christian Scientist, she refused to see a doctor.  

She had been born in Denver, Colorado.

The Family Circle magazine featured a photograph of a cat in a wedding dress on the cover.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 26, 1946. The Nationalist Chinese Strike.

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Monday, May 24, 1926. National Parks created. Oil concessions extended. Tokachi erupts.

The U.S. Senate passed bills creating Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.

You can tell the likes of Harriet Hageman and Deseret Mike Lee weren't in Congress at the time.

The Kingdom of Iraq extended the "D'Arcy Concession" of the oil fields in the Diyala Governorate for an additional 35 years past its scheduled expiration date of May 27, 1961. In reality, events would cause the concessions to be renegotiated after World War Two and expire in 1958, the year that the Kingdom of Iraq itself expired.

Most of the concession territory was in Iran and was cancelled in 1932.

Mount Tokachi erupted in Hokkaidō, Japan, killing 140 people.

The volcano is located within the Daisetsuzan National Park.

Last edition:

Thursday, May 20, 1926. Trains and Planes.

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Sunday, May 19, 1946. Food protests in Japan.

Protests against the Japanese government occurred in the form of the People's Rally for Obtaining Food.

The news did appear in the Rocky Mountain News, but the aversion of a rail strike is what was on the front page.



Last edition:

Friday, May 3, 1946. War Crime Trials in Tokyo and the Battle of Alcatraz

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Monday, April 29, 1946. Indictment of Japanese leaders.

Former Japanese Prime Ministers Hideki Tojo, Hiranuma Kiichirō, Kōki Hirota, Kuniaki Koiso, and 24 co-defendants were indicted in Tokyo for war crimes.


James White, the discoverer of Carlsbad Canyon, died at age 63.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 24 1946. Firsts.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Wednesday, April 17, 1946. Syria becomes independent. Protests in Japan.

Syria became fully independent.

Largescale protests in Japan broke out against the U.S. selected Prime Minister, Kijūrō Shidehara in favor of Ichirō Hatoyama, leader of the Liberal Party that won a majority in the April 10 election.  The latter had been prohibited from taking office by the US on the basis of his having served the former wartime government.

Last edition:

Monday, April 15, 1946. Introductions.