Mar 4, 2022

Today, we're looking at a rather unusual scandal from early 20th century Japan, and what it shows us about the power of the democratic impulse in Japan even before the country could be called a democracy. Plus, political maneuvering and corruption galore! What's not to love?

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Feb 25, 2022

This week, we're taking some material from the cutting room floor of last series to talk about the stories of two Japanese Christians, both of whom became ordained priests--and both of whom apostatized. What led these men to the faith? Why did they leave it? And what do their lives tell us about the course of...

Feb 18, 2022

Our final episode of this miniseries will detail the early decades of the Christian persecutions in Nagasaki. Once the religion was banned, how did the Tokugawa authorities go about rooting it out--and how was that attempt resisted by the city's Christians and the priests still hiding in the city?

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Feb 11, 2022

This week, Hideyoshi's death seems to suggest an end to the persecution of Nagasaki's Christians. However, the city quickly finds itself under threat from the new lord of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, as competition from other European merchants and growing suspicion of Christianity erodes the protections that had long...

Feb 4, 2022

This week: Hideyoshi's 'friendship' proves less useful than hoped, resulting in a 1587 ban on Christianity and Nagasaki losing its independence. How do the city's Christians and their Jesuit leaders respond to this setback--and to another a few years later, caused by a band of new priests making their way to Japan?

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