Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Christian uprising in Japan and its profound and long-term consequences. In the 1630s, Japan was ruled by the Tokagawa Shoguns, a military dynasty who, 30 years earlier, had unified the country, ending around two centuries of civil war. In 1637 a rebellion broke out in the province of Shimabara, in the south of the country. It was a peasants’ revolt, following years of bad harvests in which the local lord had refused to lower taxes. Many of the rebels were Christians, and they fought under a Christian banner. The central government’s response was merciless. They met the rebels with an army of 150 000 men, possibly the largest force assembled anywhere in the world during the Early Modern period. Once the rebellion had been suppressed, the Shogun enforced a ban on Christianity and expelled nearly all foreigners from the country. Japan remained more or less completely sealed off from the rest of the world for the next 250 years. With Satona Suzuki Lecturer in Japanese and Modern Japanese History at SOAS, University of LondonErica Baffelli Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Manchester and Christopher Harding Senior Lecturer in Asian History at the University of EdinburghProducer Luke Mulhall

Historian and author Christopher Harding explores the enduring fascination of the West with India, China, and Japan. From early encounters with war elephants and Indian philosophers to Marco Polo's journeys challenging European beliefs, the podcast delves into the impact of Asia on the West. It also discusses the portrayal of Buddha in 'The Light of Asia', the darker side of Western fascination with Asia, and the growing influence of Asian ideas on Western society.

Dan Snow is joined by Christopher Harding, a cultural historian of India and Japan, to discuss the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. They talk about the restoration of order, the rise of the samurai, the introduction of firearms, the three unifiers of Japan, trade and western influence, and the benefits of living in peaceful times.