Masaki Morisawa, Author at The Gale Review

Kowloon Walled City: An Accident of Hong Kong History

July 30, 2024 by Masaki Morisawa

│By Masaki Morisawa, Senior Product Manager│ In the February 1991 issue of the National Geographic there is an aerial photo of a strange architectural structure in Hong Kong. What at first glance seems like a giant post-apocalyptic fortress, on closer examination reveals itself to be a jumble of many small buildings crammed so close together … Read more

Miscegenation, or ‘Fake News’ of the Civil War

October 4, 2023November 22, 2018 by Masaki Morisawa

(Warning: the below article contains excerpts from historical material that are explicitly racist and offensive to today’s readers. The author does not share the views of the material presented.)

Sometimes a random search can take you to unexpected places. For me it began a few months ago when I was asked to conduct a post-sale training session with a group of students at a university in Japan. I was told beforehand that the students were studying American History, including African Americans and other minorities, and I was asked to prepare an example that would match their interests.

“U.S. Disavows Apology, Then Signs It” The Pueblo Incident of 1968

October 4, 2023August 21, 2018 by Masaki Morisawa

“If you fancy a long weekend with a difference,” writes The Times’ travel section of 18 February 2006, “Regent Travel has a five-day break to Pyongyang, North Korea’s highly planned capital”. The article then mentions, as one of the highlights of the tour, that “You’ll also get to board USS Pueblo, the U.S. spy ship captured in 1968.”

The Rise and Fall of Space Invaders in the British Press

October 4, 2023June 13, 2018 by Masaki Morisawa

“In the spring of 1978, Taito approached Midway about distributing a new arcade game in the United States. The game had originally been invented as a hexadecimal test used for evaluating computer programmers. Someone decided to convert the test into a video game that Taito distributed in Japan, despite the unenthusiastic blessing of company executives. The game was called Space Invaders.”
Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001, p. 116

Tears, Cheers, The Archers, and Soy Sauce: The Hong Kong Handover of 1997

October 4, 2023June 28, 2017 by Masaki Morisawa

“History is not just a matter of dates. What makes history is what comes before and what comes after the dates that we all remember.” Chris Patten.

It will have been exactly twenty years, this coming weekend, since Chris Patten, the 28th and last British Governor of Hong Kong, gave his memorable speech at the ceremony marking the handover of the former British colony to China. Perhaps there was a tacit acknowledgment in Patten’s words that, actually, the Hong Kong handover was all about dates. Were it not for the clock ticking on the 99-year lease deadline for the New Territories, it is doubtful that the handover would have been negotiated as speedily and peacefully as it was.

The Paris International Exposition of 1867

October 4, 2023April 13, 2017 by Masaki Morisawa

In the December 21, 1867 issue of the Illustrated London News there appears a striking full-length portrait of a samurai. He is neatly dressed in formal kimono, his left hand holding a sword and his right hand resting on a stool, calmly gazing towards the viewer. Something is odd about this picture, however: the sword looks too large for his body, his forehead too high, and his entire stature seems rather diminutive, even for a Japanese.

Chinese New Year has arrived!

October 4, 2023February 8, 2016 by Masaki Morisawa