GenWeb
Japan
GenWeb is a global network of genealogy resources. If you have Japanese
ancestry, this is the place to start tracing your roots.
Tokyo
Firefighters Website
A group of men in the TFD used to keep this unofficial (but fully supported by HQ!)
site, with history of the department, famous fires, and the department’s museum of firefighting
equipment. Its parent domain is now down, but you can still find it on the Internet Archive.
100 Years of Japanese Motoring
First motor vehicle (a motorcycle), first automobile (French) and first Japanese-built
car. More historical information to come!
Dentsu Advertising Museum
Advertising in Japan, from the colorful prints promoting kabuki performances, to the
advent of Western-style department stores.
Orders and Medals of Japan
Collector’s site featuring military medals, commemoratives, enthronement medals,
badges and more. Warning: the menu is powered by a Java applet that may crash some browsers.
Trends in Vital
Statistics by Prefecture in Japan, 1899-1998
Prefecture-by-prefecture lists of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and infant
mortality.
The Jinrikisha Story
History of the human-pulled carriage that gave Tokyo its first traffic jams. Now on the
Internet Archive.
Japanese Fireworks
“Hanabi”
The Japanese way of making fireworks, with pictures of different kinds.
Girl Scouts of Japan
Scouting heritage in Japan.
History of Japanese Roads
Road-building in Japan, from the Edo era to today’s superhighways
History-Induced Stigma: the Role of
Tattoos in Japanese Society
Background on why tattooing is associated with social outcast groups.
Oriental Irezumi and
Occidental Tattooing in Contemporary Japan
Knowledgeable article on differences between Western and traditional Japanese
techniques and styles, how East and West have influenced one another, and changing trends in both
technique and design.
National Flag and Anthem
A new nation found unifying symbols in its ancient past. Now a pdf file; you will
need a pdf reader.
Miscellaneous Books:
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Rice as Self: Japanese Identities through Time. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-691-09477-2
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. The Monkey as Mirror: Symbolic Transformations in Japanese History and Ritual. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-691-02846-X
Grilli, Peter. Pleasures of the Japanese Bath. New York, Weatherhill, 1992. ISBN 0-8238-0253-8