History of Japan

This week, a current events episode on the leadup and immediate aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Note: this episode is intended to be a continuation of Episode 364 (our las...

29 Jul 202236min

This week, we're taking a look at the legacy of one of Japan's most influential poets: Ki no Tsurayuki. His poems may not quite be the popular phenomenon they once were, but his views about how poetry...

22 Jul 202235min

This week, we're unpacking a rather odd classic of Japanese literature: the Ise Monogatari, a collection of short tales that are probably about a famously seductive aristocrat, but which were in large...

15 Jul 202237min

This week: we tend to think of tea in terms of the tea ceremony and fancy culture, but what about lowbrows like me who like to drink our tea bottled from a vending machine? This week we'll be looking ...

8 Jul 202237min

This week: how did a spate of right wing violence in the early years of the 1960s help to fundamentally reshape public discourse around the emperor (and thus around politics and history more generally...

1 Jul 202235min

This week: why did the Japanese Socialist Party and the left more generally utterly fail to capitalize on the momentum of the largest protest in Japanese history? We'll cover everything from party inf...

24 Jun 202236min

This week, we're kicking off a short series on the transformations of 1960s Japan with a look at the unassuming politician who helped shape Japan's postwar structure: Ikeda Hayato. Who was Ikeda, and ...

17 Jun 202239min

This week, we're taking a look at the life of one of Japan's most famous artists: Miyazaki Hayao. How did he become as famous as he is, and how do his films reflect the politics of the age he grew up ...

10 Jun 202236min