U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky competes in the women’s 800-meter freestyle race during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Credit: © Jae C. Hong, AP Photo

On Saturday, July 29, champion American swimmer Katie Ledecky won gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championship in Fukuoka, Japan. She swam the event in 8 minutes and 8.87 seconds, winning her 16th gold medal at the world championships. This win passed a record she had tied with American swimmer Michael Phelps for the most individual gold medals at the world championships in history! Ledecky also became the first swimmer to win gold six times in the same event. She has also won gold seven times at the Olympics. Katie Ledecky has set world records in the women’s 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,500-meter freestyle events. She is the gold standard of swimming!

Ledecky first gained international recognition in 2012. That year, at the age of 15, she became the surprise winner of the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the Summer Olympic Games in London. She was the youngest American athlete to participate in the 2012 games.

Ledecky was a star of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won individual gold medals in the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter freestyle races. She also won a gold medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay and a silver medal as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Ledecky won four medals. The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She won individual gold medals in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle races. She also won silver medals in the 400-meter freestyle race and as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay.

Ledecky won four gold medals at the 2013 FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, and five gold medals at the 2015 championships in Kazan, Russia. World Aquatics, the governing body of swimming, was called FINA until 2022. At the 2017 championships in Budapest, Hungary, Ledecky won five more gold medals. She won another gold medal at the 2019 championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Ledecky won four more gold medals at the 2022 championships in Budapest, Hungary. Her total of 19 career gold medals at the World Swimming Championships is a record for women swimmers.

Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky was born in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 1997. She became a national swimming star in high school in Bethesda, Maryland. She set American records in the 500-meter freestyle twice, and the national high school record in the 200-meter freestyle twice. Following the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Ledecky entered Stanford University on an athletic scholarship. In 2018, Ledecky announced that she was turning professional as a swimmer. Her decision meant she would be ineligible to swim in college events, but she would still be eligible for the Olympic Games.

Ledecky passed Michael Phelps for the most individual world title wins in swimming history. Phelps ranks as the most dominant and versatile competitor in the history of the sport. Phelps has set world records in five different individual events. He has also been part of relay teams that set world records. Phelps set an Olympic Games record by winning 28 medals. His winning 23 gold medals is also an Olympic record.

Michael Phelps of the Unites States competes in the butterfly leg of the Men’s 4×100 Medley Relay held at the National Aquatics Centre during Day 9 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 17, 2008 in Beijing, China. The United States team won the gold medal with a world record time of 3:29:34
Credit: © Cameron Spencer, Getty Images

Phelps has also set a number of records at the FINA World Swimming Championships. At the championships in Barcelona, Spain, in 2003, Phelps became the first swimmer to set five individual world records in a single meet. At the 2007 championships in Melbourne, Australia, he won gold medals in all seven events he entered, setting five world records. At the 2009 championships in Rome, Italy, Phelps won five gold medals, setting four world records. In December 2016, Phelps announced his retirement from competitive swimming.

American actor George Takei at a movie premiere in Los Angeles, California, in 2011.
Credit: Paul Smith / Featureflash

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

George Takei is an American actor and activist. He became famous for playing Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu on the science fiction television series “Star Trek” (1966-1969). Named after King George VI, Takei became a political activist after enduring many hardships as a Japanese American in the United States. His activism focuses on immigrants and protecting gay rights.

Hosato Takei was born April 20, 1937, in Los Angeles, California, to Japanese American parents. When he was young, his family was forcibly moved to a Japanese American internment camp in Arkansas. Japanese American internment is the term commonly used to describe the forced relocation and confinement of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States during World War II (1939-1945). Takei’s mother felt betrayed by internment and renounced her American citizenship. As a result, the Takei family was moved to a prison camp in California for the rest of the war.

After the war, Takei’s family remained in California. Takei acted in high school, but he instead chose to study architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. There, he was hired to provide English dubbing for Japanese films as a summer job. After two years at the university, Takei transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to study acting. He worked with an agent to land his first television roles, including parts on the television shows “77 Sunset Strip,” “Perry Mason,” and “Playhouse 90.”  After graduating in 1960, Takei spent a few years acting on the stage, first in New York and then in Stratford-Upon-Avon in England. In 1964 he finished his master’s degree in theater arts at UCLA.

TV series, Star Trek, USA 1960s, scene with: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichol. Credit: © Interfoto/Alamy Images

In 1965, Takei auditioned for the television producer Gene Rodenberry. Rodenberry cast Takei as Sulu, the pilot for the starship U.S.S. Enterprise on “Star Trek.” The show was set hundreds of years in the future and followed the crew of an outer space exploration mission.

Takei reprised the role of Sulu in numerous films, beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). He provided the voice of Sulu in many Star Trek electronic games. Takei has also played a number of other roles and made several cameo appearances as himself.

In addition to acting, Takei is known for his political activism. In 1972, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and in 1973, he unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles city council. He also ran for California State Assembly in 1980. Despite these losses, Takei remained an outspoken activist. In addition to sharing his story of growing up in an internment camp, Takei has spoken out about gay rights issues. Takei came out as gay in 2005 and married his partner, Brad Altman, in 2008, when same-sex marriage was legalized in California.

Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum and Pikachu
Credit: © The Pokémon Company

After 25 years training Pokémon, eternally 10-year-old Ash Ketchum finally became a world champion and is hanging up his cap for retirement. The popular anime is completing the story of Ash and his best friend, Pikachu. Anime is a distinct style of animation that developed in Japan in the 1960’s. Ash is finally the very best in the Pokémon world. He collected Pokémon, evolved them, and battled other trainers in his journey to be the very best. His latest television series, “Pokémon Ultimate Journeys,” featured a world tour and ended with Ash ranking as the No. 1 Pokémon trainer in the world.

The anime started in 1997 and has continued to run over several television series through 2023. It aired in the United States in 1998. The show was based on the electronic games, created by Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri. Until his championship, Ash introduced new players to the world as a fellow new trainer with each game and show. In the series of Pokémon games, players capture fantastic monsters, train them, and command them in duels. When the creatures are not fighting, game characters keep them in pocket-sized balls. The term Pokémon is short for pocket monsters.

Tajiri grew up in a rural suburb of Tokyo. As a child, he loved nature and collected insects. The thrill and mystery of discovering unique new insects served as inspiration for the game. The first Pokémon game was released in 1996 for the Nintendo Game Boy, a popular handheld game system. In addition to numerous video games, Pokémon have featured in card games, comics, and animated television shows and motion pictures.

In the Pokémon games, the player takes on the role of a Pokémon trainer. The trainer must journey around a fictional world, collecting and training new Pokémon. Each Pokémon has unique abilities and a clever name, such as Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. Along the way, players must pit their own collections of Pokémon against those of other trainers. They include a team of evil trainers that seeks to take over the world.

In the earliest games, players could collect 151 different Pokémon. Players could also trade their Pokémon with other players, using a cable to link their Game Boys. Because each monster has unique strengths and weaknesses, players must use them strategically in duels. With sufficient training, a Pokémon might evolve (change) into a more powerful creature. Later games introduced greater numbers of Pokémon.

Armand Duplantis will represent Sweden in the pole vault.
Credit: © Denis Kuvaev, Shutterstock

The legendary torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, in March 2020 and has been kept safe for over a year awaiting the delayed start of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The games officially begin after the opening ceremony on Friday, July 23, 2021. The ceremony takes place at the Olympic Stadium, which was rebuilt on the site of the stadium for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The theme of the ceremony—“United by Emotion”—points to sport as a connection for people around the world, even during a pandemic.

Margielyn Didal of the Philippines will compete in the new street skateboarding event.
Credit: © Cheng Min, Xinhua/Alamy Images

To keep athletes and Tokyo residents safe, spectators will not be allowed to attend the events and additional safety measures have been put in place. Much of the ceremony was pre-recorded, to decrease the number of people present. Athletes and support staff—including coaches and trainers—were tested for COVID-19 before and after arriving in Japan. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not require athletes to be vaccinated, but they estimated that 80 percent of athletes were fully vaccinated. Athletes were given a Playbook outlining the rules for COVID-19 safety at the games, which include social distancing, masking whenever possible, frequent testing, and avoiding tourist attractions.

In their design and planning, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have focused on sustainability. Only 8 of the 42 event sites were built specifically for the 2020 games. To minimize the use of new materials, 25 sites were updated from the 1964 Olympic Games. Event planners also made efforts to use recycled materials and renewable energy and lower CO2 emissions. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics mark the first time that the Olympic medals are made from recycled materials, recovered primarily from old smartphones and computers.

Stephanie Gilmore of Australia will lead the country’s team in the surfing event.
Credit: © Louis Lotter Photography/Shutterstock

New events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics include karate, skateboarding, softball, sport climbing, and surfing. Softball returned to the roster after it was removed for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

The mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is named Miraitowa, from the Japanese words meaning future and eternity. Miraitowa’s design features the indigo blue and white checkered pattern which also makes up the Tokyo 2020 Olympics emblem.

A rural official in Japan shows off a mechanical Monster Wolf, invented to frighten away wildlife.
Credit: © Toru Yamanaka, Getty Images

The Japanese motion picture Gojira (1954) introduced one of the most recognizable monsters in popular culture, often called by its American name, Godzilla. In the film, the giant, dinosaurlike monster goes on a destructive rampage through Tokyo. Now, Japan has a new monster—but, unlike Godzilla, this monster protects the country’s people.

This fall, officials in the city of Takikawa—on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido—installed two mechanical wolves near a residential neighborhood in which bears had injured or killed people in recent months. Wild bears in search of food had been entering areas on the edge of Takikawa, walking through yards and rummaging through trash. Rural areas often serve as barriers between the wilderness and urban areas. But, as rural populations shrink, so too does the barrier between wilderness and populated areas.

Each Monster Wolf, as the machines are called, looks a lot like a normal wolf, if you ignore the metal legs and flashing red eyes. A Monster Wolf is 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and just under 3 feet (0.9 meter) tall. Along with its fake fur and bared fangs, the Monster Wolf shares perhaps the wolf’s most distinctive feature, an eerie howl. The Monster Wolf’s head has motion detectors that are triggered when intruders approach. The wolf then produces howling, screeching sounds. Other frightening noises the robot can imitate include a dog’s bark, a hunter’s voice, and gunshots.

The mechanical wolves in Takikawa are not the country’s first. Since the Monster Wolf was created in 2016, more than 70 of them have been installed in communities across Japan. The creations have previously scared off such animals as deer and monkeys, which have been filmed leaping away from the mechanical nightmares. Since the wolves showed up in Takikawa, there have been no bear sightings.

August 7, 2019

To people with a cat in the family, every day may seem like “cat day.” But tomorrow, August 8, is officially International Cat Day, a holiday that celebrates felines of all forms and temperaments and encourages people to love, help, and protect the animals. Started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 2002, International Cat Day is celebrated in cat-obsessed cultures around the world. IFAW is one of the world’s largest animal welfare and conservation charities.

August 8 is International Cat Day. Credit: © Shutterstock

People celebrate International Cat Day in a wide variety of ways. Sometimes as particular as cats themselves, cat lovers may pamper their pets, donate to animal charities, or flood social media with cat images and videos (more than they do already). Cat parades and parties are organized, people visit cat cafés, and international names are bestowed upon cats for the day. Mister Whiskers and Fluffy become Señor Bigotes and Peluche in Spanish, Simba becomes Lion in the translation from Swahili, and little Lucy gains international flare as Lou-lou, Lucette, Lucia, or Lucinda. However you choose to celebrate the holiday, it is an excuse to take a cat nap with your pet and give the critter a little extra love and attention.

Benjamin Fink of the United States Navy holds President Calvin Coolidge’s cat, Tiger, at the White House on March 25, 1924. “Tige” had made a brief departure from the White House grounds, but was promptly returned by Fink. Credit: Library of Congress

No one knows exactly when the first cats were domesticated, but archaeologists discovered a cat buried alongside a human in a 9,500-year-old grave in Cyprus. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the earliest known recorded pet cat name was Nedjem (loosely translated as Sweetie or Precious) during the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 B.C.). Thutmose was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt, where cats were considered sacred.

A Maine Coon cat needs extra brushing on International Cat Day. Credit: © Linn Currie, Shutterstock

Throughout history, people have valued cats for their skill at hunting and killing mice, rats, and snakes. Cats help keep farms, homes, and businesses free of these animals. People in many societies believe cats bring good fortune. The grace and beauty of cats have made them favorite subjects of artists, and cats have been featured in almost every type of literature. They appear in the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, and Asian writers have praised cats in their stories and poems for many centuries. Cats are also commonly mentioned in the fairy tales, folklore, and legends of many countries. In modern times, cats are commonly featured in books, comic strips, motion pictures, musicals, and television programs.

Cat holidays are not limited to August 8. October 29 is National Cat Day in the United States, and March 1 is World Cat Day in Russia. In Japan, February 22 was chosen as Cat Day because in Japanese, the number 2 (二) is pronounced ni, so the date 2/22 reads as ni ni ni, similar to the way cats “talk” (nyan nyan nyan, or meow meow meow) in that country.

July 8, 2019

Since prehistoric times, people have depicted animals in their artwork. Ancient paintings and drawings of horses, oxen, and other animals appear on the ceilings, walls, and entrances of caves and rock shelters around the world. In more modern times, animals have continued to be a source of artistic inspiration. Many cultures have shown animals in artistic representations of rural life, as livestock, prey, or pets, or to illustrate legends and myths. Many cultures, too, include animals in art simply for their beauty or for their intimate connections with humans. At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., a new exhibition is detailing “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art.”

These wooden sacred foxes are part of the “Life of Animals in Japanese Art” exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Credit: Sacred Foxes (Nanbokuch periods, 14th century), wood with pigments by unknown artist; National Gallery of Art

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art is the first exhibition devoted solely to animals at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition shows animals—some real, some imaginary, some sacred, some merely beloved—in a wide variety of artistic mediums. The more than 300 works in block prints, ceramics, decorative arts, lacquerware, paintings, sculptures, and textiles span from the A.D. 400′s to the present day. The artworks—including seven designated as “Important Cultural Property” by the Japanese government—come from public and private collections in both Japan and the United States. The exhibition began on June 2, 2019, and runs through August 18.

These 1,000-year-old sacred monkeys are included in the “Life of Animals in Japanese Art” exhibition. Credit: Pair of Sacred Monkeys (Heian period, 11th century), wood with traces of pigment by unknown artist; Los Angeles County Museum of Art/National Gallery of Art

The sprawling exhibit occupies 18,000 square feet (1,700 square meters) of the National Gallery of Art’s East Building Concourse, and it is divided into various themed sections. The credited artists (many older works are unattributed) include the Zen Buddhist monk Sesson Shūkei (1504-1589), the painter Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800), and the painter and woodblock printer Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Such modern artists as Kusama Yayoi (1929-…), the clothing designer Issey Miyake (1938-…), and the painter and sculptor Murakami Takashi (1960-…) are also represented.

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art is part of a series of events included in Japan 2019, an initiative to promote Japanese culture in the United States. Earlier Japanese art exhibitions took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The animal art exhibition will move to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in September, and a number of Japan-themed concerts, festivals, and performances are taking place in the United States throughout 2019.

May 1, 2019

Today, May 1, 59-year-old crown prince Naruhito took the throne as the new emperor of Japan. Naruhito succeeded his 85-year-old father, Akihito, who abdicated (gave up the throne). The Japanese monarchy, symbolized by the Chrysanthemum Throne, is said to be the oldest in the world. According to legend, the monarchy dates back to the 600′s B.C. and the reign of Jimmu, considered to be a descendant of the Sun Goddess. In 1947, Japan changed from a divine to a constitutional monarchy.

Naruhito became emperor of Japan on May 1, 2019, beginning the Reiwa period. Credit: Michel Temer (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

In Japan, each emperor is given a reign name according to the gengō tradition. Gengō is a practice borrowed from ancient Chinese royalty. It uses a reign name to define the emperor’s period of rule and to record time. Naruhito’s reign name is Reiwa, so today is the first day of Reiwa 1, his first year as emperor. Emperor Akihito’s reign name was Heisei, a period that began in January 1989. Thus the last months of Akihito’s reign took place in Heisei 31. Many people, businesses, and government offices in Japan use both gengō and the Gregorian calendar to keep track of time.

Akihito was emperor of Japan from 1989 to 2019–the Heisei period. Credit: © Mark Reinstein, Shutterstock

Reiwa (令和) is a combination of the kanji characters rei and wa. Kanji is the Japanese system of writing using modified Chinese characters. Rei and wa are taken from a stanza in a poem about plum blossoms that appears in the Man’yoshu (Ten Thousand Leaves), the earliest collection of Japanese poetry (written in the late A.D. 700′s). Placed in that literary context, reiwa can mean fortunate or joyful harmony. (Heisei means achieving peace.) According to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose government chose the new reign name, the Reiwa period should bolster pride in the country’s history and traditions and create hope for the future.

The Imperial Palace is the home of the Japanese emperor. It stands in a beautiful parklike setting near the center of Tokyo. Credit: © Shutterstock

Naruhito was born in Tokyo on Feb. 23, 1960. He became heir apparent in 1989 after his grandfather Emperor Hirohito (reign name Shōwa) died and his father became emperor. Naruhito was formally named crown prince in 1991. In 1993, he married Masako Owada, a diplomat. Their daughter, Princess Aiko, was born in 2001. After Aiko’s birth, many Japanese began raising questions about the rules governing succession to the throne. Japanese tradition and law require that the imperial ruler be male. For a time, many Japanese hoped that this requirement would be changed so that Aiko could eventually inherit the throne. However, in 2006, the crown prince’s brother and his wife had a baby boy, Hisahito. Hisahito will likely become emperor after Naruhito’s death or abdication.

December 21, 2018

On Sunday, December 23, Japanese Emperor Akihito celebrates his 85th birthday. In Japan, the emperor’s birthday is a national holiday. The holiday, called Tennō Tanjōbi in Japanese, is one of just two days during the year that the public may enter the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the Japanese capital. The other public day is January 2, when the emperor makes a formal New Year’s greeting. Akihito has been emperor of Japan since 1989, when he succeeded his father, Hirohito. Heisei was chosen as Akihito’s reign name, and he is known as the Heisei Emperor. 

Akihito, who became emperor of Japan in 1989, is scheduled to step down in 2019. Credit: © Mark Reinstein, Shutterstock

Until after the end of World War II (1935-1945), the emperor was worshipped as a divine being in Japan. Today, despite his status as a mere mortal, the emperor remains a symbol of the nation. The emperor performs some ceremonial duties specified in the Constitution, but he does not possess any real governing power.

Emperor Hirohito, Akihito’s father, is seen here (on the white horse) in 1938. Hirohito renounced the throne’s claims to divinity in 1946. Credit: AP/Wide World

Akihito was born on Dec. 23, 1933, in Tokyo. Akihito spent his early years in the rigid seclusion preferred for sacred emperors. After 1945, the life of Japan’s imperial family changed. Akihito studied with an American tutor, Elizabeth Gray Vining. In 1953, he toured the West. His marriage to a commoner, Michiko Shoda, in 1959 was considered symbolic of Japan’s new democracy. The couple have two sons and one daughter. Crown Prince Naruhito, the oldest child, is heir to the throne.

The Imperial Palace is the home of the Japanese emperor. It stands in a beautiful parklike setting near the center of Tokyo. Stone walls and moats separate the palace grounds from the rest of the city. The settlement that became Tokyo was established in this area.
Credit: © Shutterstock

Akihito is due to step down at the end of April 2019, when Naruhito will succeed to the throne. Naruhito’s birthday, February 23, will have already passed, so the next Tennō Tanjōbi will not be until February 2020.

August 15, 2018

From August 13 through today, August 15, people celebrate the annual Obon festival in Japan and in Japanese communities around the world. Also called the Bon, Bon Odori, or Urabon festival, Obon is a Buddhist event that marks the spiritual return of dead ancestors to the living world on Earth. Because lanterns are hung to guide the souls of the dead, Obon is sometimes called the Festival of Lanterns. In some parts of Japan, the festival takes place in July.

Lanterns illuminate the night and guide the spirits of the dead during the Obon festival in Japan. Credit: Yoichiro Akiyama (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

According to the Buddhist sutra (scripture) Urabon-kyō, Buddha’s disciple Maudgalyāyana found his deceased mother in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, where spirits suffer from eternal hunger and thirst. Maudgalyāyana tried to give her a bowl of rice, but it burst into flames. He went to the Buddha for help, and was instructed to offer food and drink to monks on the 15th day of the seventh moon, the traditional end of Japan’s rainy season. The act of gratitude and respect freed Maudgalyāyana’s mother from her torment, and he danced with joy. By repeating the disciple’s offerings—and his dance—each year, Buddhists honor the dead and celebrate the relief of their suffering.

The three-day Obon begins with mukaebi, the lighting of fires and lanterns to guide spirits home. Many families build two altars of fruit, incense, and flowers called shōryō-dana. One altar is for ancestors, and the other is for any spirits who have not attained peace. Other common rituals include ohakamairi, the cleaning and decoration of ancestral tombs; prayer services at temples; and the preparation of special foods. Bon Odori, a Buddhist folk dance, is performed during the festival. Dancers in elaborate costumes form a circle around musicians and taiko drummers. (Taikos are large ceremonial drums.) Obon ends with okuribi, when fires and lanterns are again lit to bid spirits farewell. Some communities celebrate Obon with carnivals and other outdoor events.