As the Japanese whaling fleet steam toward the Southern Ocean an ever increasing "Un-Welcoming Commitee" is lining up in Australia. Read more about the growing protest movement at Eye of the Dolphin: More on Japan Whaling

Apparently these vessels could not operate as they do in the Southern Ocean without access to Australian ports to re-supply.... seems like there really is a simple way to fight the Japanese whalers available... if the political will exists! (which it clearly doesn't right now)

Labels: Australia, japan, protest, Southern Ocean, whaling

On this day, August 27th, 1993, The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Tokyo's Shibaura Wharf and the island of Odaiba, was completed.

The bridge spans 570 meters (1870 ft) and carries three transportation lines: Metropolitan Expressway No. 11 Odaiba Route on the upper deck, and Route 357 (also known as "Rinkou Douro", Portside Avenue) and the Yurikamome New Transit on the lower deck.

The towers supporting the bridge are white in color, designed to harmonize with the skyline of central Tokyo seen from Odaiba. There are lamps placed on the wires supporting the bridge, which are illuminated into three different colors, red, white and green every night, using the solar energy obtained during the day.

Labels: japan, Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo

On this day, August 14th, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender in World War II and President Harry Truman announced that World War II was over.

After the completion of the campaigns in the Solomon Islands (late 1943) and New Guinea (1944), the Allied advance moved inexorably, in two lines that converged on Japan, through scattered island groups—the Philippines, the Mariana Islands, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. Japan, with most of its navy sunk, staggered beneath these blows. At the Yalta Conference, the USSR secretly promised its aid against Japan, which still refused to surrender even after the Allied appeal made at the Potsdam Conference. On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States first used the atomic bomb and devastated Hiroshima; on Aug. 9, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The USSR had already invaded Manchuria. On Aug. 14, Japan announced its surrender, formally signed aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2.

Labels: Admiral Halsey, Admiral Nimitz, Douglas MacArthur, japan, surrender, world war 2

On 30th June 2002 Brazil won it's fifth FIFA World Cup title, defeating Germany 1-Nil in the final.

Interestingly, this was the two country's first ever meeting in a World Cup match.

Labels: Brazil, germany, japan, soccer, south korea, world cup

On 21st June 1945 Japanese troops surrendered the Pacific Island of Okinawa to the United States after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II. An estimated 150,000 civilians died during the almost 3 month long battle, many via mass suicide or at the hands of their own army.

The first 2 videos below are all original footage taken during battle and depict the Japanese view of the battle. Warning: includes some graphic scenes of death and what "appears" to be a war crime, where an injured and unarmed solidier is shot.









This is a very detailed 105 minute UK documentary about the battle for Okinawa




Kamikaze attacks against the US fleet off Okinawa created so many American casualties the assault was almost halted before it began.

Labels: japan, kamikaze, okinawa, usa, world war 2

The Battle of Midway, fought Form the 4th to the 7th June 1942, over and near the tiny U.S. mid-Pacific base at Midway atoll, represents the strategic high water mark of Japan's Pacific Ocean war. Prior to this action, Japan possessed general naval superiority over the United States and could usually choose where and when to attack. After Midway, the two opposing fleets were essentially equals, and the United States soon took the offensive.

Japanese Combined Fleet commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto moved on Midway in an effort to draw out and destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier striking forces, which had embarassed the Japanese Navy in the mid-April Doolittle Raid on Japan's home islands and at the Battle of Coral Sea in early May. He planned to quickly knock down Midway's defenses, follow up with an invasion of the atoll's two small islands and establish a Japanese air base there. He expected the U.S. carriers to come out and fight, but to arrive too late to save Midway and in insufficient strength to avoid defeat by his own well-tested carrier air power.

Yamamoto's intended surprise was thwarted by superior American communications intelligence, which deduced his scheme well before battle was joined. This allowed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, to establish an ambush by having his carriers ready and waiting for the Japanese. On 4 June 1942, in the second of the Pacific War's great carrier battles, the trap was sprung. The perserverance, sacrifice and skill of U.S. Navy aviators, plus a great deal of good luck on the American side, cost Japan four irreplaceable fleet carriers, while only one of the three U.S. carriers present was lost. The base at Midway, though damaged by Japanese air attack, remained operational and later became a vital component in the American trans-Pacific offensive.

Labels: japan, midway, usa, world war 2

Sport is able to conjure magic. In the capital of South Korea, on Friday 1st June 2002, Senegal, at its first World Cup, beat France, the champion of the world and Senegal's former colonial master, 1-0. The solitary goal, scored by a big midfielder, Pape Bouba Diop., is featured as one of the best 10 of the tournament!

Labels: france, japan, senegal, soccer, south korea, sport