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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

36:18

Episode 593 - The Artist of the Open Road, Part 3

History of Japan ·

2025/09/05

This week, we wrap up our series on Hiroshige with a few lingering questions about his career. How much does his "artistic borrowing" really matter? What's his relationship to Hiroshiges II and III? What about his second marriage and daughter? And ultimately, what makes him so damn famous--and what can we learn from that? Show notes here.

en

36:10

Episode 592 - The Artist of the Open Road, Part 2

History of Japan ·

2025/08/29

This week, we're covering Hiroshige's emergence as an artist, which took 20 years after he finished his apprenticeship in the Utagawa school. Why the long gap? And what changed to finally allow him to break out artistically? Show notes here.

en

38:33

Episode 591 - The Artist of the Open Road, Part 1

History of Japan ·

2025/08/22

This week, we're starting a new miniseries on the life of one of the most famous artists in Japanese history: Utagawa Hiroshige. We'll start off this week with a general discussion of the world of ukiyo-e during the late 1700s before moving into Hiroshige's early life and his entry into the world of woodblock printing. Show notes here.

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57:54

Episode 590 - An Interview with Dr. Mike Freiling

History of Japan ·

2025/08/15

This week on the podcast, something completely different! I'm getting some help talking about poetry from Mike Freiling, whose new translation of Hyakunin Isshu, entitled One Hundred Poems of Old Japan, will be out just a little over a week from now. We'll talk tanka vs. haiku, how translation works, and share a few favorites from one of Japan's most classic poetic compilations. Show notes here.

en

41:48

Episode 589 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 6

History of Japan ·

2025/08/08

Our final episode in this miniseries brings conspiracism in Japan to the present day, as we discuss a wave of antisemitic conspiracy theorists from the 80s and 90s and the impact of the internet on conspiracism in Japan and around the world. Finally, we'll look at how things stand today, and go over some final thoughts on conspiracism in general. Show notes here.

en

36:28

Episode 588 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 5

History of Japan ·

2025/08/01

This week, we're covering the postwar "Red Scare" in Japan, which has roots going back to the early 20th century but which was boosted during the postwar era by right-wing politicians and even members of the American occupation government. That conspiracy would, in turn, help shape both prewar and postwar politics on a profound level. Show notes here.

en

38:58

Episode 587 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 4

History of Japan ·

2025/07/25

This week, conspiracism takes a new twist in Japan, from paranoid worries about Christianity to paranoid beliefs in "Western encirclement". How did this new form of conspiracism help drive Japan's descent into fascism, empire, and eventually the self-destructive decisions of the Second World War? Show notes here.

en

38:07

Episode 586 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 3

History of Japan ·

2025/07/11

This week, we explore the "Christian conspiracies" of Edo Period Japan. Working backwards from the Osaka Incident of 1827, when a group of supposed Christian spirit mediums were uncovered as a part of a fraud investigation, we'll look at how Christianity was transformed from an actual religion into an evil spiritual threat to the foundations of Japan itself. Show notes here.

en

38:29

Episode 585 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 2

History of Japan ·

2025/07/04

Japan's "Christian Century" is the source of many fascinating aspects of Japanese history, from modern firearms to tenpura. But there's one more way that the century from 1543-1639 shaped Japan--as the source of its first conspiracist moment! Show notes here.

en

37:06

Episode 584 - The All-Seeing Eye, Part 1

History of Japan ·

2025/06/27

This week, something a bit different: the start of a history of conspiracy theories in Japan. This first episode is mostly framing: what is conspiracism as a mindset, and how is it different from actual conspiracies? Show notes here.

en

41:57

Episode 583 - The Men of Chivalry, Part 3

History of Japan ·

2025/06/20

This week: we take a look at the genre of the yakuza movie, or ninkyo eiga, which started off as a branch of the samurai film genre before becoming very much its own thing--and, for a decade or so in the 1960s and 1970s, dominating the Japanese box office. Show notes here.

en

42:51

Episode 582 - The Men of Chivalry, Part 2

History of Japan ·

2025/06/13

This week: we take a look at postwar samurai film/jidaigeki in order to understand better the trajectory of the most influential genre in the history of Japanese film. Why did jidaigeki, a staple of pre-1945 film, storm back with a vengeance to the big screen after the end of World War II? What makes post-1945 samurai films distinctive or unique? And what about their relationship to another archetype of international film: the American Western? Show notes here.

en

35:24

Episode 581 - The Men of Chivalry, Part 1

History of Japan ·

2025/06/06

This week, we're starting a history of the most famous genre in the history of Japanese film: the jidaigeki, and its related genre of the ninkyo eiga. This week: what do we know about early jidaigeki, and how do they fit into the wider history of early Japanese film? Show notes here.

en

39:51

Episode 580 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 7

History of Japan ·

2025/05/30

This week: we wrap up the miniseries with the end of Akebono's career, as the first gaijin yokozuna takes his post-dohyo trajectory in a very different direction from the other yokozuna before him (or at least, from most of the other yokozuna before him). Plus some final thoughts on sumo today. Show notes here.

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37:40

Episode 579 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 6

History of Japan ·

2025/05/23

This week: Akebono becomes a yokozuna, and finds himself burdened with new expectations on and off the dohyo. Plus, a brief foray into pay and compensation for rikishi, and a final section on one of the most infamous moments of the 64th yokozuna's career. Show notes here.

en

36:17

Episode 578 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 5

History of Japan ·

2025/05/16

This week: in the span of just a few years, Akebono goes from a rookie in sumo to one of its most prominent names, and alongside Konishiki one of the Americans dominating in the top division. But unlike Konishiki, he has the potential to go one step further. So, how does a guy from Waimanalo become the first non-Japanese citizen ever to claim the title of yokozuna? Show notes here.

en

36:01

Episode 577 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 4

History of Japan ·

2025/05/09

This week: Chad Rowan, who will be the first non-Japanese yokozuna in history, is the subject for the rest of our episodes. How did he come to sumo? What was his early career like? And how did he come to be known by the name Akebono-the rising sun? Show notes here.

en

39:35

Episode 576 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 3

History of Japan ·

2025/05/02

This week: after Taiho, the floodgates open as more non-Japanese rikishi begin to enter the sport. One of them, Takamiyama, has a good but not great career. But two of the rikishi he recruits to train under him after retirement--Konishiki Yasokichi and Akebono Taro--will change sumo forever. Show notes here.

en

38:28

Episode 575 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 2

History of Japan ·

2025/04/25

This week: Taiho begins his grand sumo career, and quickly proves to be one of the best ever to do it. We'll use his career to discuss: what does greatness look like in a sport like sumo? What were the highlights of one of the greatest careers in sumo history? And what were the small number of cases where Taiho didn't prove able to come out on top? Show notes here.

en

38:55

Episode 574 - The Kings of the Ring, Part 1

History of Japan ·

2025/04/18

This week, we're beginning a new miniseries on the legends of Japan's most ancient sport: sumo. What can we learn about Japan and Japanese identity by looking at the lives of some of the most famous competitors in the national sport? We'll begin investigating that question with a look at the life of one of the greatest ever to enter the ring: Taiho Koki. Show notes here.

en

262 results

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