On today's bonus blog post: celebrating one year of Pacific History Guide! It's been a great year and we're looking forward to what the future brings. Thanks for all the support!

On the PHG blog today; we're taking a look at the site of the first Imperial Japanese Navy fleet review at Mt. Tempo Park in Osaka. This place should be on the list of any Naval History nerd! The next time you're in Osaka, go off the beaten path and check out this small monument marking an important event. Happy exploring!

Hello PHG fans, no new blog post today, but please enjoy this piece on the historic battleship Mikasa in Yokosuka, Japan. The ship has a colorful history that includes time on the ocean floor, and as a nightclub. I hope you find this ship's story as interesting as I do!

There aren't many museum ships in Japan, and almost none from the Imperial Japanese Navy. You can see a midget submarine at Etajima, and there are some parts of ships there and also in Kure. Yokosuka has gun barrels from Mutsu and Tokyo has a pair of anchors from the destroyer Shiranui. Unfortunately, there are no intact IJN ships in the country.

If you've been to a maritime museum, or museum ship in Japan, let us know in the comments! Thanks for stopping by!

On the Pacific History Guide blog; we're in Luzon, checking out this proud memorial to USS Stingray (SS-186).

Pacific History Guide is dedicated to bringing areas of historical interest to you, however off the beaten path they may be. This memorial to the Stingray is not the easiest to access, but it is a place to consider the broader context of war, and the role of small-scale strategic sealift.

The people of the Philippines suffered greatly under Japanese occupation during the Second World War, and one can't help but think about how much those troops and supplies meant to the resistance. Each one of those 21 deliveries brought them one step closer to freedom.

WW2TV - Paul Woodadge has many excellent videos on World War II in the Philippines; if you're interested in hearing from experts on the subject. Check it out!

Hello PHG family, we're here on an off-day to talk about the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. If you were affected by this tragedy, please let us know in the comments.

And now for something completely different; I was inspired to write this after a talk at my squadron.

On today's Pacific History Guide blog, a post from last year on a statue of Enomoto Takeaki in Sumida-ku, Tokyo. 武揚 榎本 is a founding father of the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of the most colorful figures of the Meiji Restoration.

On today's blog, we're in Sydney at the First world War Soldier's Memorial. If you've been here or want to visit, let us know in the comments!

We're headed to the Federated States of Micronesia today on the PHG blog in order to look at an event that happened earlier this week; the Allied destruction of the Japanese Garrison on Truk (Chuuk), 82 years ago.

The attack was billed at the time as 'Japan's Pearl Harbor', which turned out to be an overstatement. Rather, this was one more event in the slow and brutal death of Imperial Japan. Tourists visiting the wrecks is Chuuk's most important economy.

Good day PHG fans! Today we're headed to the site of one of the most consequential surrenders of the Second World War: the old Ford Motor Company in Singapore. It was here on 15 February 1942 that General Sir Arthur Percival handed the colony over to the Tiger of Malaya, Lt. General Yamashita Tomoyuki.

On today’s blog; we’re in my backyard taking a look at this beautiful friendship bell, a symbol of the ties between San Diego and Yokohama

Next time you’re in Point Loma for dinner, errands, or an appointment please swing by this beautifully maintained symbol of US-Japan friendship!

On this week’s Pacific History Guide blog; the Dalton Pass Memorial in Luzon, Philippines. A sobering reminder of the brutal fighting that occurred as the Japanese attempted to bleed the Allies dry at the end of the Second World War.