Photo Essays
Microscopic Photos of the Elements
Ryoji Tanaka’s photographs may look like alien landscapes, but they are very much of this world. The organometallic chemist at Sagami Chemical Research Institute...
Mega Snow: James Whitlow Delano’s Buried Japan
Japan’s Aomori Prefecture might be at the same latitude as New York, but its climate can seem a lot more harsh. Nestled at the northernmost part of the country’s...
After Pearl Harbor: LIFE in the Pacific and on the Homefront
President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 — when Japan launched more than 350 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes against the U.S. naval base at...
Emperor of Ruins: Hirohito in Post-War Japan
History is written by winners. When a conflict ends and a truce is signed, the aims and philosophies of the vanquished — their justifications for fighting,...
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Photos From the Ruins
NOTE: This story and some of the images in the gallery originally appeared, in substantially different form, on an earlier incarnation of LIFE.com. One scene...
Typhoon Roke Hits Japan
Over one million people evacuate their homes in central Japan as the country witnesses its second typhoon in a month
Japan and the World
In the 150 years since the island cast aside its policy of isolation, Japan has fallen in and out of favor with the international community
Stealth Fleet in the South China Sea
TOKYO — Dozens of U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force warships gathered in the East China Sea last week as part of a major war exercise — but...
Photos: Japan's Disaster 6 Months Later
Another anniversary was marked on Sept. 11 as Japan is still struggling to rebuild after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country on...
Japan Then and Now
In 1989, Japan reveled in excess and seemed poised to rule the world. Twenty years later, the Japanese economy has been looking down for so long it's hard to...
V-J Day, 1945: A Nation Lets Loose
It is, arguably, the single most famous still image of the 20th century: a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day in August 1945. That simple,...
Self-Injury in Japan
Photographer Kosuke Okahara locates a world of deep despair among young Japanese women. Please note that this story contains some graphic imagery.
Japan's History of Massive Earthquakes
The Pacific nation, perched on the unstable Ring of Fire, has been rocked by frequent earthquakes in the past decade.
Typhoon Talas Lashes Western Japan
The tropical storm unleashes record rainfall, triggering landslides and flooding. Search and rescue members scramble to find survivors, as the death toll climbs...
Life in Japan's Evacuation Centers
Evacuees struggle to create a sense of normalcy after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and nuclear crisis
The Calamity of Japan's 9.0-Magnitude Quake
The country reels after a catastrophic earthquake rocked its northeastern coast on March 11, 2011
Surviving the Earthquake Aftermath in Japan
A humanitarian crisis unfolds as victims eke out an existence after the twin disasters decimated the northeastern coast
Meet the Tokyo Beatles
Anyone curious about the myriad and unpredictable ways that enormous success can translate into enormous influence need look no further than Tokyo in the summer...
Disaster from the Air: New Views of Japan's Tsunami Aftermath
Photographs by Greg Baker / AP
Japanese Design's Greatest Hits
The generation of young artists and designers working in Japan today have been inspired by half a century of their predecessors' visionary work. A few of Japan's...
