Japan history special

Available for over a year

To coincide with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, we look back at some moments from recent Japanese history. We remember the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan and triggered a nuclear emergency in 2011, with Max Pearson who reported from Japan for the BBC at the time. Plus we hear from the driver of one of the first revolutionary bullet trains, how Japan caught up with the rest of the developed world on contraception, the amazing story of the Japanese soldier who hid out on the island of Guam for almost 30 years, refusing to accept that WW2 had ended, and the inventor of Karaoke. Photo: Tsunami smashes into the city of Miyako in Iwate prefecture shortly after an earthquake hit the region of northern Japan, 11th March 2011 (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)