A complex question, and one I can only answer with limited knowledge of the subject. As far as I understand, it goes something like this:
In the 1500s in Japan, it became increasingly common for noblewomen to be armed and trained in the use of arms to fight in the constant wars of the period. During the long period of peace in the 1600s and 1700s and 1800s, it became less common, but remained acceptable for women to be trained in the use of arms for ritual/recreational purposes, but no longer for warfare. This picture was taken in the 1870s, the Meiji period, just as/before Japan adopted 19th century European standards, so this was the 'last hurrah' of armed women in Japan.
After this, traditional weaponry declined as a whole, to the point of samurai turning in their swords to the government, and in the 1930s, when Japan decided they wanted to reintroduce traditional swordsmanship to army officers, they had to stamp out cheap swords on an industrial scale because so many had been lost or destroyed since the Meiji-period.
Not sure about this particular pic, but I know that porters at this time would carry multiple filled baskets like this, and that human beings can carry and balance a surprising amount of weight on their heads.
Refugees are generally expected to return to their country of origin. The Nazis fleeing to Argentina had 0 chance or intention of returning to Allied-controlled Germany where many were wanted as war criminals.
Time would prove that the kindness the indigenous people of New Guinea had shown to the Americans and Australians was real, but that their supposed “loyalty,” much touted by Allied propaganda, was not. The truth is that no one ever asked the native people their point of view. After the war ended, researchers seeking oral testimonies from New Guineans who had lived through the war were astonished to learn that the native peoples were united in one opinion: that they wanted the “whites”—among whom they included Japanese, Australians, and Americans—just to go away and leave them alone.
"No, we won't let you suffer. No, we don't want you here."