Japan

A Japanese Edo period sword guard (tsuba) in copper-gold shakudō alloy with enamelled cloisonné (shippō) decoration, ca. 1615–1868 — the finest expression of Japanese metalwork artistry in miniature.

On 6 August 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 80,000 people instantly and inaugurating the nuclear age that continues to shape our world.

In 1868, Japan ended two and a half centuries of feudal isolation and launched the most dramatic national transformation in modern history, becoming an industrial and military power within a single generation.