History of Japan
Isaac Meyer
This podcast, assembled by a former PhD student in History at the University of Washington, covers the entire span of Japanese history. Each week we'll tackle a new topic, ranging from prehistoric Japan to the modern day.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 29, 2017 • 31min
Episode 191 - Lifting the Lost, Part 9
This week: what, in the end, did the Occupation mean -- for both the occupied and the occupier?
Apr 22, 2017 • 28min
Episode 190 - Lifting the Lost, Part 8
This week: what was it like to live through the Occupation? How did people get by? And why is Kurosawa Akira objectively the greatest director ever?
Apr 15, 2017 • 30min
Episode 189 - Lifting the Lost, Part 7
This week: the social reforms of the Occupation. Economic policy, education policy: it's like our very own C-SPAN screening!
Apr 8, 2017 • 33min
Episode 188 - Lifting the Lost, Part 6
This week, we talk about what it took to make a peace on paper a peace in fact. With millions of Japanese civilians and soldiers scattered across Asia, what would it take to get them all home again?
Apr 1, 2017 • 30min
Episode 187 - Lifting the Lost, Part 5
This week, we discuss the course of the Tokyo War Crimes Trials and their legacy in Japan. How did they go from a vision of international optimism to despised by people on both sides of the political spectrum?
Mar 25, 2017 • 29min
Episode 186 - Lifting the Lost, Part 4
This week, we'll begin a discussion of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, better known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. Who is being tried, what for, and why?
Mar 18, 2017 • 31min
Episode 185 - Lifting the Lost, Part 3
This week: where did Japan's constitution come from, and how the hell did it get done in only six days?
Mar 11, 2017 • 27min
Episode 184 - Lifting the Lost, Part 2
The Occupation begins! This week, we'll set the stage with a focus on the relationship between Supreme Commander Douglass MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito.
Mar 4, 2017 • 27min
Episode 183 - Lifting the Lost, Part 1
This week, we turn our attention to the US Occupation of Japan. When did Americans first start thinking seriously about taking Japan over and remaking its whole society?
Feb 18, 2017 • 28min
Episode 182 - Building Better Worlds
This week, we're doing a biography of the little known Buddhist socialist Seno'o Giro. How do you reconcile Buddhism and Marx? Find out this week!
