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PODCAST

History of Japan

This podcast, assembled by a former PhD student in History at the University of Washington, covers the entire span of Japanese history. Each week we"ll tackle a new topic, ranging from prehistoric Japan to the modern day.

history

All Episodes

38:14

Episode 458 - The Empty Throne, Part 1

History of Japan ·

2022/10/21

This week: the beginning of a multipart biography of two of the best documented figures we know very little about: Emperor Komei, and his son and heir Meiji, whose name would end up defining one of the most important eras in Japanese history. Show notes here.

en

38:27

Episode 457 - The Purple Robe Incident

History of Japan ·

2022/10/14

This week: political infighting about purple robes and what it can tell us about Buddhism, political power, and the relationship of religion and the state. Plus, a brief biography of Takuan, a man who is famous for far more than the pickled radishes named after him! Show notes here.

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0:56

No new episode this week

History of Japan ·

2022/10/03

Hello all: due to my very first COVID-19 infection, there won't be a new episode this week. We'll be back as normal next week.

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35:33

Episode 456 - Stranger in the Shogun's City

History of Japan ·

2022/09/30

This week: the story of Tsuneno, a commoner whose social status was very different from that of Lady Nijo and Ogimachi Machiko, but whose struggle to define herself and decide her own destiny feels very familiar. Show notes here.

en

36:58

Episode 455 - In the Shelter of the Pine

History of Japan ·

2022/09/23

This week, the tale of Ogimachi Machiko--the aristocrat whose literary descriptions of her life in a samurai family became one of the most popular works of women's literature during Japan's Edo period. Show notes here.

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35:38

Episode 454 - That All my Dreams Might Not Prove Empty

History of Japan ·

2022/09/16

This week: in 1940, a manuscript lost for over 600 years is recovered from the archives of the Imperial family. Within it lies the story of a fascinating woman, and her journey from imperial concubine to Buddhist nun--a journey that covers everything from high politics to the lives of common folk. Show notes here.

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36:17

Episode 453 - The Waves are High but the Day is...

History of Japan ·

2022/09/09

This week: how has the JMSDF gone from an afterthought to a central part of Japan's security planning? Show notes here.

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37:01

Episode 452 - The Waves are High but the Day is...

History of Japan ·

2022/09/02

This week: the start of a two part series on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces. Today: how did Japan's current navy grow out of its old one, and what does that say about the force's relationship with Japan's prewar past? Show notes here.

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41:03

Episode 451 - Those Swept Away

History of Japan ·

2022/08/26

This week, the biography of one of the most unusual figures of Bakumatsu Japan: the peasant Matsuo Taseko, whose career as a member of the imperial loyalist movement defied conventions of gender and defies neat categorization today. Show notes here.

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37:13

Episode 450 - Gimme that Old Time Religion

History of Japan ·

2022/08/19

This week, we're covering the rise of the Hirata school of kokugaku, or national studies, during the Edo Period. How did an intellectual movement devoted to linguistics become a powerful political, social, and arguably religious force by the end of samurai rule--and why did that movement fall from power after just a few short years of influence? Show notes here.

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01:02:44

Bonus Episode - The Chishima Incident

History of Japan ·

2022/08/15

Enjoy this bonus episode from my other show, Criminal Records, as the podcast takes a week off!

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35:53

Episode 449 - The Tastemaker

History of Japan ·

2022/08/05

This week: the career and legacy of the most influential Japanese poet you've probably never heard of, Fujiwara no Teika. Teika's views on poetry and literature have shaped how we read those genres down to the present day, so how did he develop such authority in the field? Show notes here.

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36:28

Episode 448 - Abe, Part 5

History of Japan ·

2022/07/29

This week, a current events episode on the leadup and immediate aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Note: this episode is intended to be a continuation of Episode 364 (our last episode on Abe). Show notes here.

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35:42

Episode 447 - On a Summer Night, The First Thought of...

History of Japan ·

2022/07/22

This week, we're taking a look at the legacy of one of Japan's most influential poets: Ki no Tsurayuki. His poems may not quite be the popular phenomenon they once were, but his views about how poetry works have always been influential, and shaped how we think about poetry down to this day. Show notes here.

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37:41

Episode 446 - In Days of Old, There Was a Man

History of Japan ·

2022/07/15

This week, we're unpacking a rather odd classic of Japanese literature: the Ise Monogatari, a collection of short tales that are probably about a famously seductive aristocrat, but which were in large part not written by him--and which have oddly political meanings given their often lascivious nature. What are the tales about? And what can we glean from reading them today? Show notes here.

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37:14

Episode 445 - A Bowl for a Coin

History of Japan ·

2022/07/08

This week: we tend to think of tea in terms of the tea ceremony and fancy culture, but what about lowbrows like me who like to drink our tea bottled from a vending machine? This week we'll be looking at tea as a commodity, and how it became a staple of Japan's consumer culture. Show notes here.

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35:44

Episode 444 - The Crysanthemum Taboo

History of Japan ·

2022/07/01

This week: how did a spate of right wing violence in the early years of the 1960s help to fundamentally reshape public discourse around the emperor (and thus around politics and history more generally) up to the present day? And what does all of this have to do with one of the most bizarre short stories that has ever been published? Show notes here.

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36:27

Episode 443 - The Collapse

History of Japan ·

2022/06/24

This week: why did the Japanese Socialist Party and the left more generally utterly fail to capitalize on the momentum of the largest protest in Japanese history? We'll cover everything from party infighting to....well, spoilers, it's mostly party infighting. Show notes here.

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39:25

Episode 442 - The Transistor Salesman

History of Japan ·

2022/06/17

This week, we're kicking off a short series on the transformations of 1960s Japan with a look at the unassuming politician who helped shape Japan's postwar structure: Ikeda Hayato. Who was Ikeda, and how did he get into politics? And how did a man who was once accused of being a callous monster become a beloved everyman of the people? Show notes here.

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36:05

Episode 441 - The Dreamer

History of Japan ·

2022/06/10

This week, we're taking a look at the life of one of Japan's most famous artists: Miyazaki Hayao. How did he become as famous as he is, and how do his films reflect the politics of the age he grew up in? Show notes here.

en

263 results

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