History of Japan

Discover how a powerful religious institution influenced one of Japan's greatest warlords and reshaped Osaka's destiny. Learn about the rise of Pure Land Buddhism and its impact on society, making faith more accessible to the masses. Explore Osaka's strategic reconstruction under the Tokugawa shogunate and the vibrant merchant dynamics that defined its governance. Witness the city's transformation from a potential capital to a bustling hub of commerce in the early 17th century, driving its economic revival.

This week: the start of our multi-part series on the history of Osaka! Supposedly the site where Japan's first emperor began his conquests, the city has a long history stretching back well before it even got its current name. This week is all about the first 1000-ish years of Osaka's history, and how it became one of the country's most important port cities.  Show notes here. 

This week: how did Japan's most popular god develop a following around the country, and why is that god--Inari--associated with everything from farming to fire prevention? How come you see Inari worship in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines alike? And what does all of this have to do with foxes, anyway? Show notes here. 

This week: the Pal dissent becomes the Pal myth. How did an obscure document from the Tokyo Trials end up front and center in nationalist discourse in Japan today? Show notes here.

This week, we're starting a look into how an Indian lawyer and judge from a relatively obscure background became a focal point of right-wing Japanese nationalism. Who was Radhabinod Pal, how did he end up a judge in the Tokyo Trials, and what led him to claim that there were no grounds to convict Japan's leaders of any crime after World War II? Note: this episode does contain indirect discussion of war crimes. Listener discretion is advised.  Show notes here.  

Oe Kenzaburo is about as different a writer as you can think of from Kawabata Yasunari, and yet he's Japan's second ever Nobel laureate in literature. What sort of concerns defined his work, and what can we learn from looking at him in conjunction with Kawabata? Show notes here.

Apologies for the delay, folks. Something went wrong in the Libsyn backend. Here's our episode on Kawabata Yasunari!

We're wrapping up our look at the Hatoyama political dynasty with some time on Hatoyama Iichiro (arguably Japan's most reluctant politican) and his two sons Kunio and Yukio. Plus some thoughts on the legacy of the Hatoyama family and on dynastic electoral politics more generally. Show notes here.

This week: Hatoyama Ichiro's revenge tour culminates in finally reaching the top spot as PM and in the formation of the LDP. What does the torturous road it took to get there tell us about the man, and about the politics of his time? Show notes here.

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.