History of Japan

Latest Episodes:

Episode 479 - The Dynasty, Part 2 Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

Hatoyama Kazuo was a reluctant politician; you can't say the same of his son Hatoyama Ichiro, groomed from childhood to take up the family business (and to rise to the height of cabinet minister, something his father never did). This week is all about Ichiro's prewar career, which culminated in a shot at the top job--that was snapped away at the last moment.

Show notes here.

Episode 478 - The Dynasty, Part 1 Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

This week, we're starting a longform look at Japan's most prominent political dynasty: the Hatoyama family, which has been a presence in Japan's electoral politics from the jump. Today is all about the career of family progenitor Hatoyama Kazuo, who went from son of a minor samurai to speaker of the House of Representatives, and in the offing created one of the nation's great political dynasties.

Show notes here.

Episode 477 - What a Twist! Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

This week, we're covering the art of rakugo--storytelling with a twist! How did rakugo emerge from the history of Buddhism, and what has enabled its enduring popularity where contemporary entertainments like kabuki have fallen by the wayside?

Show notes here.

Episode 476 - To Have My Deeds Known Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

How did one man's determination to get paid end up producing one of the best records we have of a pivotal moment in Japanese history?

Show notes here.

Episode 475 - Southward, Ho! Part 4 Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

This week: Japan's empire in Micronesia comes apart under the face of both the miscalculations of military leadership and the contradictions that had haunted it from the jump.

Show notes here.

Episode 474 - Southward, Ho! Part 3 Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

So far, we've talked about how Micronesia came under Japanese rule, but what was Japan's rule over the region like?

Show notes here.

Episode 473 - Southward, Ho! Part 2 Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

When World War I began, many among the Japanese leadership were hesistant to take advantage of the opportunity to move into Micronesia. What changed their minds, and how were they able to square a colonial government with the idealistic language of the postwar League of Nations?

Show notes here.

Episode 472 - Southward, Ho! Part 1 Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Japan would seize control of German Micronesia in the fall of 1914, but Japanese interest in the region goes back centuries further. This week: how did Japan get from disinterest in the nebulously defined 'Southern Seas' to active military operations to take control of them?

Show notes here.

Episode 471 - The Osaka Incident Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

This week: the bizarre story of an attempted coup in Korea that, along the way, touches on everything from Japanese liberalism to the birth of overseas empire.

Show notes here.

Episode 470 - The Vaccinators, Part 2 Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

If the first translation of a text on smallpox vaccination in Japan was finished in 1820, how did it take another 29 years for the first mass vaccination campaigns to begin? The answers involve everything from a German doctor accused of being a spy to networks of physicians trying to navigate obscure bureaucracy. And they might remind you more of the last few years than you'd think.

Show notes here.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected