Japan — Media Gallery

A Laughing Buddha in Narita.

Colorful kimonos in a Tokyo coffee shop.

Pathway leading down to an Okinawan beach.

Rugged grassy ridges known as the Sea Horse and the Galloping Horse can be seen from the top of a hill known as the Gifu or Mount Austen on Guadalcanal. This area was the scene of intense fighting from December 1942 to January 1943 as US Army units fought entrenched Imperial Japanese Army forces in what was the last major land battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign. Photo courtesy of the US Army/ Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon.

View from Asan Bay Overlook toward the War in the Pacific National Historical Park. This photo illustrates the perspective of the Japanese defenders when US forces landed on 21 July 1944. Despite an intense pre-invasion bombardment, the 3rd Marine Division encountered significant opposition as they came ashore on the beaches of Asan Bay. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service.

The remains of a Japanese 8-inch coastal defense gun mount sit on the point at Green Beach, Betio Island. Rising above the sand with its muzzle pointed inland, this was one of four 8-inch guns the Japanese emplaced on the island. Shrubs have overtaken the concrete and steel, and hundreds of red crabs race throughout the battlefield debris. Other than some graffiti and weathering, the area remains as it was following the Battle of Tarawa. Photo courtesy of the US Marine Corps/ Cpl. Aaron Hostutler.

The peak of Mount Austen on Guadalcanal, named the Gifu by Japanese defenders, was the scene of intense fighting between Allied and Japanese forces from December 1942 to January 1943. US Army units fought entrenched Imperial Japanese Army forces in what was the last major land battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign. Photo courtesy of the US Army/ Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon.

Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin (1545–98) in Seoul. Yi was a Korean admiral and military general famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin War (Japanese Invasions) from 1592-98. Yi became an exemplar of conduct for both the Koreans and Japanese. Incredibly, despite the fact that he had no prior naval training, Admiral Yi was never defeated at sea nor lost a single ship under his command to enemy action; military historians have placed him on par with Admiral Horatio Nelson as one of the greatest naval commanders in history.

The Piti Guns unit of the War in the Pacific National Historical Park is the site of three Vickers type Model 3 140mm coastal defense guns. During the Japanese occupation of Guam from 1941-1944, the Chamorro population was forced to work in building up these defenses. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service.

The US Marine Raiders Monument atop Edson’s Ridge, also known as Bloody Ridge and Raiders Ridge, on Guadalcanal. The Battle of Edson's Ridge, 12-14 September 1942, was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal Campaign. The Marine 1st Raider Battalion held off repeated assaults by a 6,000-strong Japanese force. While the Marines suffered more than 250 casualties, the Japanese Army sustained a staggering 800 casualties during the two-day battle. Photo courtesy of the US Army photo/ Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon.

Wake Island memorial to 98 civilian contractors killed by Japanese soldiers during their occupation of the island in World War II. Photo courtesy of the US Air Force.

Once a Japanese naval communications center, Fonte Plateau unit is located on Nimitz Hill, overlooking Asan Bay. Site of one of the more bitter battles between the US Marines and the Japanese, the high land of Fonte Plateau, later renamed Nimitz Hill, was once the CINCPAC headquarters for Admiral Chester Nimitz. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service.

War memorial at the southern Okinawan site where Lt. Gen. Simon G. Buckner Jr. was killed (one of the markers is on the exact site). His death took place in the closing days of the campaign; he was watching an attack on Ibaru Ridge in the southern part of the island a few miles from the coast.

Okinawan shoreline.

The Asan Bay Overlook Memorial Wall at the War in the Pacific National Historical Park. The Wall contains the names of 1,880 US servicemen who died in the 1941 defense of Guam against attacking Japanese armed forces and those who died retaking the island from Japan in 1944 along with the names of the 1,170 people of Guam who died and 14,721 who suffered atrocities of war from 1941-1944. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service.

Satellite image shows North and South Korea (upper left) as well as the Japanese island of Shikoku, nestled between Kyushu to the southwest and Honshu to the north. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Sea stacks along an Okinawan shore.

The distinctive, white, five-story Shimabara Castle keep in Shimabara, Hizen province (present day Nagasaki prefecture) dates to the 17th century.

Japanese war memorial and garden on Saipan.

The burial tradition on the Ryukyu Islands (of which Okinawa is the largest) is the use of domed burial vaults termed turtleback tombs. The bones of many generations of a particular family could repose in one such tomb. During the Battle of Okinawa, many Okinawan civilians sought refuge from the naval bombardment of the island inside their ancestors' turtleback tombs. Later, many of these tombs were used by the Japanese defenders of the island.

Old Town Hoi An, the city's historic district, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Japanese Bridge in the Old Town is considered the symbol of the city.

Mt. Fuji on the island of Honshu as seen from the space shuttle. The snow-capped inactive volcano, surrounded at lower levels by clouds in this image, lies several miles south of Tokyo. Image courtesy of NASA.

Sunrise over a verdant Okinawan shoreline.

Sunrise over a verdant Okinawan shoreline.

A rugged section of the Okinawa coastline.

Rocky beach and rugged cliffs along an Okinawan sea shore.

Red Beach was the original landing site of the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942; this was the Marines first offensive action against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The Marines seized a floatplane base and an airfield under construction. A monument at Red Beach marks the Division’s landing. Photo courtesy of the US Army/ Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon.

The haiden (hall of worship) at the Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The Shinto shrine was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan in various wars.

Lotus blossoms.

Layers of green foliage along the shoreline of a Japanese garden.

Satellite image shows North and South Korea (upper left) as well as the Japanese island of Shikoku, nestled between Kyushu to the southwest and Honshu to the north. Photo courtesy of NASA.

An ice sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival reproduces the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

The Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge in Tokyo.

This high-oblique, northeast-looking space shuttle photograph captures a portion of Southern Honshu Island and Shikoku Island of Japan. The darker areas show volcanic, mountainous terrain that comprises more than 80 percent of Japan; the lighter, more highly reflective areas of the coastal plains and valleys are urban and agricultural areas. Separated by the Seto Inland Sea are Shikoku Island to the south and the Osaka-Kobe industrial metroplex on Honshu Island to the north. Photo courtesy of NASA.

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The temple gable mimics the shape of Mt. Fuji in the background.

Shotoku-taishi-do Hall, Narita, Japan.

Equestrian statue of the famous samurai Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336) outside of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The haiden (hall of worship) at the Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The Shinto shrine was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan in various wars.

Monument at the atomic bomb hypocenter (ground zero) in Nagasaki.

A nighttime view of Tokyo, Japan from the International Space Station. The heart of the city is brightest, with ribbons of lights radiating outward from the center along streets and railways. The regularly spaced bright spots along one of the ribbons heading almost due west out of the downtown area are train stations along a public transit route. The lights of Tokyo are a cooler blue-green color than in many other world cities. The color results from the more widespread use of mercury vapor lighting as opposed to sodium vapor lighting, which produces an orange-yellow light. Photo: NASA.

Area comparison map

Gaku-do Hall in Narita.

Lt. Gen. Kenneth J. Glueck Jr., commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force and commander of Marine Corps Bases Japan, reviews the names on the Cornerstone of Peace at Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City, during the 2011 Okinawa Memorial Service for All War Dead June 23. Image courtesy of the US Marine Corps.

Starboard side view of the Mikasa pre-dreadnought battleship berthed at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka.