Radical Reforms, Resourceful Rats, and Precarious Princes
Reform, Rebellion, and Rats! And all in less than a year! This episode we continue to look at the Taika era and the reforms that bear the era's name. We are still covering, though, just the first y...
16 Aug 202443min
The Great Change
We are finally starting to get into the Taika era and the Taika reforms, which would really start the transformation of Yamato into the bureaucratic state of the Nara period. This episode, we look ba...
1 Aug 202448min
Ito-koku and Na-koku
Ito-koku and Na-koku were the next two countries on the path of the Wei envoys noted in the Gishiwajinden. They likely refer to the areas known today as Itoshima and Fukuoka, so what do we know about...
16 Juli 202445min
Matsuro-koku
Moving on with our third part of the Gishiwajinden Tour, we head to the old area of Matsuro, which, for us, means modern Karatsu. Here we have some of the oldest rice paddies in all of Japan, but Kar...
1 Juli 202429min
Iki-koku
This is Part 3 of our Gishiwajinden Tour--following the route of the Wei embassy through the land of Wa and looking at the various locations along the way. So far we've looked at the old land of Gaya...
16 Juni 202433min
Tsushima
This is Part 2 of our special Gishiwajinden Tour from Gaya to Tsushima, Iki, Matsuro, Ito, and Na--aka Gimhae and Busan to Tsushima, Iki, Karatsu, Itoshima, and Fukuoka. This time we talk about the i...
1 Juni 202442min
Gishiwajinden Tour: Geumgwan Gaya
Taking a break from the story while I do some research, so presenting a recent trip we made along the same lines mentioned in the Gishiwajinden--the Wa section of the Weizhi. We started in Gimhae, re...
16 Maj 202439min
Winds Across the Straits
Filling in the rest of Takara's reign with the stories of the various envoys at court, the Baekje princes living in Yamato, and the story of a 7th century millenial cult. For more, check out https://s...
1 Maj 202443min
