PHG Blog

Here at Pacific History Guide, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to improve, and get folks connected to history, where they are. If you've used the Guide to find some historical monument or site, or have thought of better ways to reach people, let us know! Our inbox is always open.

No matter where you may find yourself in the world, chances are you are not very far from a memorial to those lost in the First World War; perhaps a battlefield marker, or a monument to some event or person. From Mons to Micronesia, Namibia to New Jersey, Dublin to Donbass, the First World War shaped the 20th century, and continues to affect us today.

Hello PHG fans, we're back today with another Japan post. I recently watched a YouTube video from the fantastic NaruMasa Travel youtube channel . One of the many reasons I watch their travel videos (aside from the beautfiul photography) is that they typically look for historic sites that are easily accessible but not necessarily well-known. In a recent video , they explore Tsumago-Juko, the 42nd of 69 stops on the Nakasendo Road. This town, and neighboring Magome-Juko, have b

Greetings Pacific History Guide fans, today I'm happy to unveil our newest location, the beautiful state of Hawai'i . The Hawaiian Islands are comprised of 137 volcanic islands stretching across 1,520 miles of ocean in two separate groups, the Windward Islands in the southeast and the Leeward in the northwest. The state of Hawaii includes both island groups, but for the sake of simplicity, nearly all state maps (and this guide) capture the Windward Islands only; these include

Greetings Pacific History guide fans! This week we're marking the 81st anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which reached its climax on this day with the Battles of Surigao Strait, Samar, and Cape Engano. Taken as a whole, the battle is a complex, multi-faceted series of events that reaches from Brunei to the Philippine Sea, from the tip of Luzon right down to the Sulu Sea. Described as the largest sea battle in history, the Battle for Leyte Gulf featured the first U.S. a

Greetings Pacific History Guide fans! This week has been a whirlwind for me, with a lot of prep work going into upcoming projects, in addition to the regular battle rhythm with work and family. This week's blog post is a short one, but I'm hopeful that it will be worth it; later on this week I'll be launching a new location on the website. I'm very excited to announce on the next week's blog post; I'm sure some of you all may even have guessed what's coming! I'll also be pres

Aichi Prefecture 愛知県 in the Chubu Region of Japan is home to a wide variety of things to see and do. From iconic Mt. Fuji to snowy Nagano and the rice fields of Niigata, there's incredible food, outdoor activities, and charming villages to see and visit. The cornerstone of this prefecture is Nagoya, the fourth-largest city in Japan by population and one of the more diverse of Japan's many urban sprawls. I've been to Nagoya a few times; it's one of my favorite large cities fo

Greetings PHG fans! Two weeks ago, we revealed the Australia section of the guide. Since then, I've gotten some great feedback on places...

Friends, it's been six months since Pacific History Guide went live. From humble beginnings this website has really grown, helped in no...

G'day Pacific History Guide readers! Today on the blog I'm happy to announce that we've added a new location to the website: the wild...

Seems crazy but nearly a year ago now we did a little Second World War history tour around Guam as a family and with the kids' friends. ...

This week we mark the anniversary of the very first seaborne airstrikes in history, which took place near Tsingtao, China, during the...

Greetings all, today is a short post because I got a little behind this week on writing; I found out Thursday that I was selected for...

You often hear the word 'roads' in reference to coastal cities, seaports, or bodies of water. Some of the more famous examples include...

On the 15th August 1945, the people of Japan dutifully turned to their radios. It had been announced the day before via all NHK stations...

The second and last use of atomic weapons in combat took place on this day, August 9 1945. A B-29 named 'Bockscar' took off from Tinian...

Greetings everybody, I recently had the pleasure of returning to WW2TV for a talk on the Battle of Guam in 1941, when the Americans lost...

Greetings everyone! I recently found that one of my favorite authors, Sarah C.M. Paine, gave a series of historical lectures on youtube...

Hiratsuka suffered greatly as a result of all this. On July 16, 1945, 138 B-29's dropped 1,173 tons of incendiary bombs (447,716 in total). Only 5% of the bombs targeted the naval arsenal or aircraft plant, the rest were dropped on the civilian populatio

On this day July 12 1918, the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi 河内 exploded and sank in Tokuyama Bay with the loss of more than...