Episode 124 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 8
This week, the turbulent politics following the death of Ii Naosuke will result in the rise of one of the most famous symbols of the late Tokugawa era: the shishi, or men of spirit. These shishi group...
13 Nov 201531min
Episode 123 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 7
This week, Ii Naosuke will try to right the ship of state by any means necessary. However, his reassertion of Tokugawa authority will run into serious problems as the violence surrounding politics beg...
7 Nov 201528min
Episode 122 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 6
This week, we explore the beginnings of opposition against the bakufu. The Harris Treaty will prove deeply divisive, and before long two factions of daimyo will develop opposing and supporting it. Loc...
31 Okt 201530min
Episode 121 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 5
This week, we're going to stop the forward progress of the narrative and focus on two men who are going to have a large impact on the massive political realignment that's coming down the tubes, though...
10 Okt 201528min
Episode 120 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 4
This week, we'll explore Japanese reactions to Perry and his successor, the new US Consul in Japan Townsend Harris. As the foreign powers begin to muscle their way more and more into Japan, battle lin...
3 Okt 201530min
Episode 119 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 3
So why did President Millard Filmore decide to send an expedition to Japan? Who exactly was Commodore Perry? And why did he have such a thing for giving people model trains? All that and more, this ...
26 Sep 201532min
Episode 118 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 2
In this ecclectic episode, we'll finish up our quick review of the Tokugawa period with a look at three things: the various issues which plagued the samurai class by the 19th century, three of the reg...
19 Sep 201535min
Episode 117 - The Fall of the Samurai, Part 1
This week, we're starting our new longest ever series on the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the birth of modern Japan. This week, we're taking a look at the political situation in the Tokugawa...
5 Sep 201532min
