History of Japan

This week, we cover the second and third of Edo's three great riots in 1787 and 1866. How did samurai and commoners talk about these acts of mass violence? How was all this a manifestation of a sense ...

31 Jan 202536min

This week: the first of three episodes on urban rioting in Tokugawa period Japan. This week, we're covering the first two urban riots in the history of the shogun's capital city. What drove the people...

24 Jan 202539min

In the final episode of this series: how did "otaku culture" spread overseas when it was so stigmatized at home, and what can all this tell us about Japan in the post-bubble era? Show notes here.

17 Jan 202536min

For our first episode of 2025: "otaku culture" as a phenomenon began to emerge, in part, as a reaction against the crass commercialism of postwar Japan. Yet now, it is entirely a part of the fabric of...

10 Jan 202535min

Our last episode of 2024 is also the first episode in a series on one of Japan's most distinctive cultural phenomenons: otaku culture. This week: is the idea of being an "otaku" older than we think?  ...

27 Des 202436min

This week, the story of an Edo period writer whose primary claim to fame was producing decent ripoffs of people far more famous and talented than him. What does a career like that tell us about the bo...

20 Des 202435min

This week: Taiwan was the first overseas territory annexed by Japan with a large existing population. So how did the government's policies on religion--and especially Shinto--help shape the nature of ...

13 Des 202438min

This week: how does the history of Shinto intersect with the colonization of Hokkaido? What role does Shinto's transition from religion to "cultural institution" play in the process that has made that...

6 Des 202435min