History of Japan
544 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 597 ratingsThis 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.
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Episodes
Episode 193 - No Country for Young Women, Part 2
May 13, 2017 11:00 - 30 minutes - 18.1 MBThis week: what are three educated women to do in a society that doesn't value their education?
Episode 192 - No Country for Young Women, Part 1
May 06, 2017 11:00 - 28 minutes - 16.8 MBThis week: the beginning of a two parter on Japan's first ever female exchange students.
Episode 191 - Lifting the Lost, Part 9
April 29, 2017 11:00 - 30 minutes - 14.9 MBThis week: what, in the end, did the Occupation mean -- for both the occupied and the occupier?
Episode 190 - Lifting the Lost, Part 8
April 22, 2017 11:00 - 27 minutes - 16.4 MBThis week: what was it like to live through the Occupation? How did people get by? And why is Kurosawa Akira objectively the greatest director ever?
Episode 189 - Lifting the Lost, Part 7
April 15, 2017 11:00 - 29 minutes - 17.8 MBThis week: the social reforms of the Occupation. Economic policy, education policy: it's like our very own C-SPAN screening!
Episode 188 - Lifting the Lost, Part 6
April 08, 2017 11:00 - 32 minutes - 19.5 MBThis week, we talk about what it took to make a peace on paper a peace in fact. With millions of Japanese civilians and soldiers scattered across Asia, what would it take to get them all home again?
Episode 187 - Lifting the Lost, Part 5
April 01, 2017 16:16 - 30 minutes - 18.1 MBThis week, we discuss the course of the Tokyo War Crimes Trials and their legacy in Japan. How did they go from a vision of international optimism to despised by people on both sides of the political spectrum?
Episode 186 - Lifting the Lost, Part 4
March 25, 2017 11:00 - 28 minutes - 17.1 MBThis week, we'll begin a discussion of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, better known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. Who is being tried, what for, and why?
Episode 185 - Lifting the Lost, Part 3
March 18, 2017 11:00 - 30 minutes - 18.5 MBThis week: where did Japan's constitution come from, and how the hell did it get done in only six days?
Episode 184 - Lifting the Lost, Part 2
March 11, 2017 21:12 - 27 minutes - 15.2 MBThe Occupation begins! This week, we'll set the stage with a focus on the relationship between Supreme Commander Douglass MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito.
Episode 183 - Lifting the Lost, Part 1
March 04, 2017 12:00 - 27 minutes - 15.4 MBThis week, we turn our attention to the US Occupation of Japan. When did Americans first start thinking seriously about taking Japan over and remaking its whole society?
Episode 182 - Building Better Worlds
February 18, 2017 12:00 - 28 minutes - 13.5 MBThis week, we're doing a biography of the little known Buddhist socialist Seno'o Giro. How do you reconcile Buddhism and Marx? Find out this week!
Episode 181 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Part 6
February 11, 2017 12:00 - 29 minutes - 17.8 MBThis week, we round out our look at the hard left in Japan. Militant communist uprisings (if less than 100 people counts as an uprising), electoral maneuvering, recycling policy -- this episode has it all.
Episode 180 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Part 5
February 04, 2017 12:00 - 30 minutes - 18.6 MBThis week: the Japanese left is relegated to permanent opposition status in the postwar period. How did the revolutionary moment come to this?
Episode 179 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Part 4
January 28, 2017 17:00 - 25 minutes - 16 MBThis week, the floodgates are open! The system has fallen, and the left is poised to seize power...or not!
Episode 178 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Part 3
January 21, 2017 12:00 - 27 minutes - 16.7 MBToday, a specter is haunting Japan. But that specter is not communism; it's the ghost of the communist party, dead before it truly lived. This week on the podcast: how to kill a communist party in a few easy steps.
Episode 177 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Part 2
January 14, 2017 16:50 - 27 minutes - 16.2 MBThe revolution comes to Japan...but not really. Today we explore the birth and very rapid death of Japan's first socialist party, and the rise of its communist movement.
Episode 176 - Red Star Over Tokyo, Episode 1
January 07, 2017 13:00 - 23 minutes - 12.9 MBToday, we'll turn our attention to a set of ideas that will ultimately fall flat on their face in Japan (and most other places): Marxism. How did the hard left come to Japan? And before that, what even is Marxism?
Episode 175 - The Great Commoner
December 10, 2016 12:00 - 30 minutes - 18.7 MBThis week, it's time for Japan's first party politician: Hara Takashi. Was he a populist hero or a wannabe elite? And in the end, does that even really matter?
Episode 174 - All The World's A Stage
December 03, 2016 12:00 - 31 minutes - 19.6 MBThis week, we explore the history of one of Japan's most popular art forms: kabuki theater. Major themes include prostitution, Tokugawa era morality laws, stagecraft, prostitution, and the superiority of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine over The Next Generation.
Episode 173 - The Maelstrom, Part 11
November 19, 2016 12:00 - 29 minutes - 17.5 MBToday, we'll wrap up our look at the Russo-Japanese War with some thoughts on its long term consequences. How much of an impact can a war that lasted for a year and a half really have?
Episode 172 - The Maelstrom, Part 10
November 15, 2016 15:20 - 24 minutes - 14.1 MBApologies for the technical delay! Today, we'll watch Russia descend into chaos, and take a look at the peace negotiations that result as both sides realize they can't keep this war up.
Episode 171 - The Maelstrom, Part 9
November 10, 2016 16:04 - 28 minutes - 16.3 MBIt's time for the Imperial Japanese Navy to bail out the Imperial Japanese Army. But first, let's enjoy the Russian Baltic Fleet's Party Cruise to the Pacific!
Episode 170 - The Maelstrom, Part 8
October 29, 2016 11:00 - 27 minutes - 15.9 MBIn the last major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, two great powers enter and...two great powers leave? Wait, I'm confused. How are the Japanese winning every battle and still not winning the war?
Episode 169 - The Maelstrom, Part 7
October 22, 2016 11:30 - 27 minutes - 15.8 MBThe Russians retreat, the Japanese advance, the losses pile up. Things are starting to get a bit worrisome for the Japanese army; could they potentially win every battle and still lose the war?
Episode 168 - The Maelstrom, Part 6
October 15, 2016 13:00 - 29 minutes - 16.6 MBThis week: the Port Arthur campaign, from start to finish. Wasn't this supposed to be a cakewalk?
Episode 167 - The Maelstrom, Part 5
October 07, 2016 23:02 - 22 minutes - 12.8 MBThe war rages on as the Japanese land in Port Arthur and press the attack, and Oyama Iwao advances north. The Russians will attempt to make a stand as divisions open up in their leadership.
Episode 166 - The Maelstrom, Part 4
September 30, 2016 23:46 - 29 minutes - 10.2 MBToday, we're starting a war! The battle for Manchuria begins as Japan and Russia confront each other on land and at sea for the first time. But will the daring Japanese plan to win the war quickly pay off? Well....kind of.
Episode 165 - The Maelstrom, Part 3
September 24, 2016 11:00 - 27 minutes - 12.4 MBThis week -- negotiations between the two sides begin in St. Petersburg, but neither Japan nor Russia is really committed to peacefully working things out. In Imperial Japanese Army HQ, the first steps towards an actual plan for war are formulated: but how to neutralize the many advantages Russia holds?
Episode 164 - The Maelstrom, Part 2
September 10, 2016 12:30 - 29 minutes - 13.3 MBThis week, we're going to cover the incompatible goals that led Japan and Russia towards war. Why did each side see the other as a threat? Why was war even on the table in the first place? Can't we all just get along?
Episode 163 - The Maelstrom, Part 1
September 03, 2016 11:00 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBThis week, we're turning our attention to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. In our first episode, we'll introduce our stage -- Manchuria -- and our players -- Russia and Japan.
Episode 162 - Best of Frenemies, Part 8
August 27, 2016 11:00 - 28 minutes - 13.2 MBThis week, we close out this series with a look at the relationship between South Korea and Japan. Also included; Isaac's patented speed run of South Korean history. Enjoy!
Episode 161 - Best of Frenemies, Part 7
August 20, 2016 11:00 - 32 minutes - 15.1 MBThis week, we discuss Japan's relationship with the modern day Hermit Kingdom, and to explain North Korean policy and how those policies effect Japan. It's gonna be a long ride into the web of madness that is the world's only communist monarchy, so grab your Kim Il-sung pins and strap in!
Episode 160 - Best of Frenemies, Part 6
August 13, 2016 11:00 - 29 minutes - 16.7 MBThis week, it's time to join the resistance. We'll trace the birth of the Korean resistance from protests in 1919 to its bifurcation into two rival movements. The first, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, will be based in Shanghai and dominated by the charismatic American-educated Syngman Rhee. The second will be an armed anti-Japanese insurrection in Manchuria led by a man whose life is more myth than fact: Kim Il-sung.
Episode 159 - Best of Frenemies, Part 5
August 06, 2016 11:00 - 30 minutes - 17.3 MBThis week -- what was colonial Korea like? We'll do a quick overview of 35 years of colonial economic, political, and social policy to give you a feel for what Japan's goals in Korea were and how those goals effected the lives of ordinary Koreans.
Episode 158 - Best of Frenemies, Part 4
July 23, 2016 11:00 - 32 minutes - 18.3 MBThis week, the Korean Kingdom's final years see the desperate bid of King Gojong to salvage Korea's independence. Ultimately, however, Korea's royal family will be unable to save itself, and in 1910 Korea's independence will be snuffed out completely for the first time since the era of Kublai Khan.
Episode 157 - Best of Frenemies, Part 3
July 17, 2016 16:55 - 30 minutes - 17.6 MBThis week, a three way competition for control of Korea between Japan, China, and Russia heats up! Factional fighting in the Korean court will drag Japan and China into conflict; in the end, the Koreans themselves are sidelined when it comes to controlling their own fate.
Episode 156 - Best of Frenemies, Part 2
July 09, 2016 11:00 - 28 minutes - 16.2 MBThis week, Korea encounters the West. We'll introduce the early Western forays into Korea, explain how Japan came to sign the first unequal treaty with its neighbor, and look into the factionalization of the Korean royal court.
Episode 155 - Best of Frenemies, Part 1
July 02, 2016 11:00 - 32 minutes - 18.5 MBThis week: we get up to speed on Korean history, so that we can begin exploring the turbulent Korean-Japanese relationship. Pirates, coups, Mongols, poetry battles -- we've got it all!
Episode 154 - Zen at War
June 25, 2016 11:00 - 30 minutes - 17.2 MBThis week: what happens when Buddhists go to war? We'll explore the relationship between the Japanese Empire and the Zen Buddhist establishment.
Episode 153 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 8
June 11, 2016 16:00 - 29 minutes - 16.6 MBThis week, we conclude our series on the rise of the samurai with murder, intrigue, political reform, and gratuitous Game of Thrones references.
Episode 152 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 7
June 04, 2016 11:00 - 28 minutes - 16.1 MBThe Genpei War comes to a close in this action packed episode! Kyoto will fall! The Taira will burn! Oxen will be deployed as tactical weapons!
Episode 151 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 6
May 28, 2016 11:00 - 28 minutes - 16.1 MBThis week, we let slip the dogs of war as Japan plunges into a new phase of conflict. Though Prince Mochihito will not make it out of 1180, the rebellion he starts will catch on in eastern Japan. Young Minamoto no Yoritomo, with some prodding from his new father-in-law/captor, will rise up to assume his birthright as leader of the Minamoto (but not without some controversy).
Episode 150 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 5
May 24, 2016 14:28 - 27 minutes - 15.7 MBWe're live, folks! Sorry for the delay. It's time for the career of Taira no Kiyomori, the man whose talent and ambition was matched only by his temper and his ego.
Episode 149 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 4
May 14, 2016 11:00 - 25 minutes - 14.6 MBThis week: patricide, rebellions, and royal incest. Oh, also the increasing destabilization of the Heian government as ever more power falls into the hands of Taira no Kiyomori.
Episode 148 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 3
May 07, 2016 11:00 - 29 minutes - 16.9 MBThis week: the Taira family continue their rise to prominence, the Minamoto get stuck spinning their wheels for a few decades, and warrior violence makes its way to Kyoto. All that, plus the hottest court gossip of the 1120s, this week.
Episode 147 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 2
May 01, 2016 15:35 - 25 minutes - 14.6 MBThis week, Minamoto no Yoshiie establishes the power of the Seiwa Minamoto family, upsetting a careful balance of power. Also, he drops the hottest rhymes of
Episode 146 - The Birth of the Samurai, Part 1
April 23, 2016 10:30 - 27 minutes - 15.5 MBThis week, we'll be starting a short series about the advent of the samurai class. First, what came before the samurai, and why did Japan's emperors decide to devolve more and more power to provincial warriors?
Episode 145 - An Offer You Can't Refuse, Part 2
April 16, 2016 11:00 - 33 minutes - 15.3 MBWhat does organized crime look like in modern Japan, and why does anybody put up with it? Also, how many rocket launchers can you buy with 50 pounds of amphetamines? All that and more, this week.
Episode 144 - An Offer You Can't Refuse, Part 1
April 09, 2016 02:58 - 31 minutes - 14.4 MBSomeday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this episode as a gift on my podcast's release day. Pull off your shirt to reveal your gang tattoos, it's time for the yakuza!