May 30th

On this day - May 30th 1972 - The Lod Airport massacre 

The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack at the airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. The terrorists were 3 members of the Japanese red army (a militant communist group founded in 1971) who had been recruited by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-External Operations, a Palestinian group. Two of the terrorists were killed in the attack, while the third, Kozo Okamoto, was captured.  The airport was prepared for a Palestinian attack, but the three Japanese men with violin cases on the plane from Rome received very little attention by the guards. When they reached the waiting area unpacked the terrorists assault riffles from their violin cases and started shooting. 26 people were killed and another 80 was injured. One of the attackers were accidentally shot dead by one of the two others, while the second attacker to die did so by his own grenade. Okamoto was sentenced to prison but has since been released. He is still today a wanted man by the Japanese government. 

May 22nd

On this day - May 22 1980 - The first version of the arcade game "Pac-Man" was released

Pac-Man is a Japanese invented arcade game which was popular in the 80s. I was developed by Namco and created by Toru Iwatani. The game was first released in Japan on May 22nd, and in the US in October the same year. The games reception was just lukewarm in Japan, but it became an instant hit to everyones surprise in the US. The game is still being played today. Several other merchandise such as films have also been created about the yellow figure hunted by ghosts. Pac-man is considered as a land mark in the video game history and it is one of the most successful games of all time. Over 30 official spinn of games with bases in Pac-Mah has been released since 1980. The maximum score possible to achieve in Pac-Man is 3,333,360, and the current world record holder managed this in under 3 and a half hour.

February 21st

On this day - 21st of February 1986 - The first Zelda game 

The first game the Legend of Zelda was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Zelda franchise is one of Nintendos main franchise. A new Nintendo platform is never complete without a Zelda game. The main character of Zelda games is usually Link and many people wrongly claims Link is Zelda but Zelda is the princess that Link is trying to rescue from Ganon. Zelda games are hugely popular with over 75 million copies of Zelda games sold. The Zelda games are known for clever puzzles,the music, and a character that gradually grows into the main hero. Like in the Nintendo64 game, you start as the young Link and later in the game you play as the adult Link. The entire series is known for its beautiful music Koji Kondo (composer of most of the music) is known for his music as one of the legends in video games creation. The puzzles sometimes even include the music as in the N64 game where you play melodies that causes changes in the game or even warps you to other places.  Shigeru Miyamoto the main game designer is known as one of the most influential game creators. With the beautiful music, clever puzzles and memorable moments Zelda games are games that we look forward to.  

Link in the first 3D Zelda game on Nintendo 64

January 24

On this day - January 24th 1990 - Hiten lunar probe launched 

The Hiten spacecraft was built by the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science(ISAS). It was the first lunar probe built by any other state than USA or Russia. On its first swing-by Hiten released a smaller orbiter called Hagoromo into orbit. The orbiter failed to transmit home but it was visually confirmed to be in orbit from Earth. After the eight swing-by Hiten successfully used the aerobraking technique. It was the first deep space probe to do such a maneuver. Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit (apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit(periapsis). The resulting drag slows the spacecraft. When the main mission was over Hiten was placed in lunar orbit and then deliberately crashed into the moon on April 10th 1993. 

December 13th

On this day – 13^th  December 1937 – The start of the Nanking massacre

The Nanking (Nanjing) massacre, also known as the rape of Nanking, was a mass-murder and mass-rape conducted by the Japanese troops during the second Sino-Japanese war. It started on the 13^th of December after the fall of Nanking, and lasted until January. Somewhere between 40.000 and 300.000 Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were killed in the six weeks the mass-murders lasted. Widespread rape and looting was also common among the Japanese soldiers, thereby naming the events the Rape of Nanking. It is estimated that around 20.000 women were raped, and several of them systematically where the soldier would go from door to door to look for females to rape. The inaccuracy of the number of victims during the six weeks is due to most of the Japanese records being destroyed after the war. The events are still creating political controversies and Japanese nationalist argues that the event have been exaggerated or even fabricated and the events still affect the relationship between Japan and its surrounding countries. The Japanese government and several veterans have, however, admitted to the killings of large amounts of people.    

A war criminal tribunal was held in 1946. Prince Asaka, the commander for the troops and the officer who allergically provided official sanctions for the crimes, escaped execution because he signed an agreement with the allied forces. Four other Japanese officers were executed, including the two officers who had a contest to be the first one to kill 100 people with a sword.  

December 10th

On this day – 10^th December 1968 – The biggest unsolved robbery in Japan

The “300 million Yen robbery” was the largest heist in history in Japan. The robbery happened in the morning on the 10^th when four bank employees transported 294,307,500 Yen (about 817,520 US dollar at the time). A uniformed officer who claimed their bank officer’s house had been blown up stopped their car and told them he had to look for dynamite under the car. The employees believed him due to the bank previous experiences with threats and exited the car. The officer crawled underneath to look for the dynamite. Moments later, smoke and flames erode from under the car and the police officer shouted at the employees that the car was about to explode. While they moved as far away as they could get, the officer got into the driver’s seat and stole the whole car and all its money.

The fire under the car turned out to have only been from a warning flare the thief had ignited himself. He changed his car, and the police was not able to trace him. 120 pieces of evidence was left behind by the robbery, but most of them were left on purpose just to confuse the police. A seven-year investigation was conducted, but never led anywhere. The robber can, however, probably count himself as one of Japans most successful robbers of all time. No one was hurt, the robber happened I broad daylight and he got away with 300 million yen, and his identity is still not known. 

December 7th

On this day – 7^th December 1941 – Japan attacked Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was an American navy base in Hawaii.  The Japanese forces attacked in an effort to keep the US to stay out of Japanese expansion in Asian territories. 2403 Americans were killed in the attack and only 64 Japanese died. The Japanese attack on Perl Harbor was a significant event during the Second World War. This attack led the US to declare war on Japan and thereby they got involved in World War II. Germany declared war on the US on December 11^th, a declaration that the US shortly after reciprocated. The attack removed all American support non-intervention in the war. The involvement of the US helped the allied forces to win the war in 1945. The attack of Japan on American soil also got dire consequences for Japan, who are still the only country to have experienced the impact of nuclear bombs, when two of them were dropped over major Japanese cities in an American effort to end the war.  

Several fictional movies and stories have been made about the events at Perl Harbor. 

Pearl Harbor from 2011 is probably the most famous

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