History of Japan

Latest Episodes:

Episode 469 - The Vaccinators, Part 1 Jan 20, 2023

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This week: the elimination of smallpox is probably one of the greatest medical accomplishments in human history. The vaccine that made it possible, however, was invented during a time of isolation for Japan. So how did the vaccine make it to Japanese shores, and what does that story tell us about public health, the sharing of information, and the nature of society in late feudal Japan?

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Episode 468 - To Eat Their Own Jan 13, 2023

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This week, we're looking at the implosion of the Japanese New Left with a focus on the factional conflicts of the Zengakuren. How did a student youth movement end up divided into 20+ factions, the two largest of which engaged in a multi-decade war of assasination and street violence against each other? And how might that be connected to the general decline of Japan's left-wing opposition more broadly?

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Episode 467 - The Cause of Peace Jan 06, 2023

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This week, we're looking at a very different kind of 60s protest movement: an attempt to build a cross-sectarian, non-ideological movement to oppose the American war in Vietnam. How did the anti-Vietnam War movement emerge in its Japan, and how did it simultaneously grow to a massive size and fail to have any appreciable political impact?

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Episode 466 - Rebels Without a Cause, Part 2 Dec 23, 2022

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This week, for the final episode of 2022: the Zenkyoto movement arrives at Japan's largest private school. Plus: how did a movement that grew so big so quickly fall apart just as fast?

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Episode 465 - Rebels Without a Cause, Part 1 Dec 16, 2022

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This week, we're beginning a month on radical activism in the 1960s with a look at the student uprisings of 1968. Today is all about where those uprisings came from, how they're related to the "two Zens" of the 1960s, and the specific example of the University of Tokyo, where a debate about student medical internships turned into a violent and bloody battle between leftist student groups.

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Episode 464 - The Wolves of Mibu Dec 09, 2022

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This week: a long-requested dive into the ronin police force known as the Shinsengumi. Who were the members of this group, and how, despite their rather marginal role in the history of the 1860s, have they become one of the most famous organizations in Japanese history?

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Episode 463 - The Afterlives of a Samurai Dec 02, 2022

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This week is all about a biography of a fascinating figure of the Meiji Restoration: Oguri Tadamasa. But it's also about much more: about how the present shapes our view of the past, and about how, as a result, the ways we talk about someone long dead can shift and change as well.

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Episode 462 - The Empty Throne, Part 5 Nov 18, 2022

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This week, we wrap up our imperial biographies with a look at the Meiji Emperor's relationship to three important aspects of his reign: the constitution, the wars fought in his name, and his heir. Plus, we talk Meiji's death, and his legacy.

Note: no episode next week for American Thanksgiving; show notes here.

Episode 461 - The Empty Throne, Part 4 Nov 11, 2022

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This week: the life of the Meiji Emperor in the turbulent 1870s and 1880s. We'll cover everything from the birth of his first surviving child to his drinking habits to his role in various political crises to the complicated process of shaping what a "modern" emperor's role even was.

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Episode 460 - The Empty Throne, Part 3 Nov 04, 2022

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This week: the boy emperor Meiji takes responsibility for Japan's future. But what did that mean in practice? What does an emperor, especially a boy emperor, actually do?

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