Episode 634 - The Catastrophe, Part 2
This week: in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, thousands of Koreans living in Tokyo were massacred by angry mobs as well as policemen and soldiers. What animated the survivors to engage in...
17 Juli 36min
Episode 633 - The Catastrophe, Part 1
The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 was one of the most devastating catastrophes in modern Japanese history, but in English scholarship it's often overshadowed by the destruction of the Second World Wa...
10 Juli 37min
Episode 632 - The Pretender, Part 2
This week: the question of whether Hirohito would remain emperor of Japan or be replaced with "Emperor Kumazawa" was, in fact, decided before the Southern Court claimant had ever gone public. So why w...
3 Juli 36min
Episode 631 - The Pretender, Part 1
In January, 1946, a man came to the headquarters of the American occupation government of Japan and claimed to be Japan's true emperor. Who was he, why did he do this, and how does his story connect t...
26 Juni 34min
Episode 631 - An Interview with Evelyn Iritani
First thing's first: I made a numbering error a few weeks back, and so to get us back on the correct count we're just going to skip episode 630! This week, I'm very lucky to be joined by journalist an...
19 Juni 44min
Bonus episode - The Chishima Incident
We're coming up on the end of the school year here in the US and will have to briefly interrupt our normal programming. To tide you over, here's a bonus episode from my old podcast Criminal Records. W...
5 Juni 1h 3min
Episode 629 - Flowering Fortunes, Part 4
Fate twists once again in Fujiwara no Michinaga's favor as an unfortunate accident of birth sees him solidify his grip on power. This week: the final steps of Michinaga's rise, his legacy, and that of...
29 Maj 36min
Episode 628 - Flowering Fortunes, Part 3
Fujiwara no Michinaga is on top of the world, but there's one final hurdle to overcome. His deceased brother's daughter is still the leader of the emperor's harem, and his closest confidant in the wor...
22 Maj 34min
