This Day in History January 30, 1920

I have to admit that I have fond memories of Mazda as I was growing up.  It was the first car we got after my parents were reunited in marriage.  I remember the Mazda GLC, and it was an awesome little car.  That little car took us all over, including several road trips.  It was on this date in 1920, that Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., was founded in Japan.  It did not become Mazda until 1984, 

For more information:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japans-mazda-founded

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda

http://famousdaily.com/history/mazda-is-founded.html

This Day in History August 27, 1993

By Gussisaurio (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

I guess I somehow missed this milestone in Japanese history.  It was on this date in 1993, the Shuto Expressway No. 11 was completed.  Yes, this is a part of the famous Rainbow Bridge that began to be constructed in 1987.  It is a half-mile suspension bridge that carries three transit lines and has two levels.  There are also two walkaways on each side that lead to breath-taking views of Tokyo Bay and sometimes even Mt. Fuji.  Be sure to check out more breathtaking views of this amazing structure on some of the websites listed below.  There is also more information on each site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(Tokyo)

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/famous-rainbow-bridges-japan-101143.html

http://www.gojapango.com/tokyo/rainbow_bridge.htm

http://www.travellerspoint.com/guide/Famous_Bridges/

http://www.funonthenet.in/articles/japanese-bridges.html

http://famousdaily.com/history/rainbow-bridge-japan-completed.html

This Day in History February 15, 1942

On this date in 1942, it was a dismal day for Singapore.  Singapore had been under British rule, but it fell to Japan.  This has become the date that is known as the Total Defense Day when citizens of Singapore are encouraged to be self-reliant when defending their country.

It was a horrendous 2-month battle, and the British fought valiantly against the Japanese.  But in the end, they had no choice but to surrender.  And surrender they did!  And during the next three and a half years of Japanese occupation, civilians and combatants suffered at the hand of the Japanese.

There were prisoners of war that were sent to work on the Death Railway in Thailand, and civilians were forced to go without food and freedom.  September 12, 1945 was the date that Japan surrendered.

I had no idea that this ever happened, but then again, I have to admit that I know nothing about Singapore history until now. For more informaiton, please check out this site.

This Day in History January 5, 1945

I wish I had something cheerier for today's feature, but it was on this date in 1945 that the Japanese pilots received the first order to become kamikaze or "divine wind" pilots (suicide pilots).  Most of the good pilots were gone, and Japan was losing.  This was an assured way to kill the enemy--the Americans.

These ill-trained suicide bombers flew planes of explosives and crashed them into ships.  On this date, it was Okinawa.  They sank 30 ships and killed almost 5,000 Americans.  And it did nothing to help the Japanese win.  I think they must have known that, but they decided this was a "last-ditch" effort.

I cannot sanction what the Japanese did, nor do I sanction what our country did with the atomic bomb.  I do understand that desperate times do call for desperate measures.  Would anything else have ended the war?  If life was so expendable in the country of Japan, what else would have worked?  My mind cannot conceive of Japan and Germany during WWII, but it cannot conceive of terrorism and mass killing today.

The two sites where I gleaned my information are as follows:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kamikaze-pilots-get-first-order
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/january5th.html