Jan 26, 2024

This week: the Muromachi bakufu comes crashing down, thanks to a combination of structural weaknesses and a shogun who is more interested in painting than politics. As a result, Japan enters a new age of civil war, which will radically reshape the country.

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Jan 20, 2024

This week: Go-Daigo's regime collapses, and a second samurai government, the Muromachi bakufu, emerges. How did Ashikaga Takauji successfully establish Japan's second shogunate--and perhaps set it up for long term failure in the bargain?

Show notes here.

Jan 12, 2024

This week: the dramatic career of Emperor Go-Daigo, who brought down the Kamakura shogunate and ended Hojo rule in Japan. This despite the fact that just a few months before victory, his forces were on the verge of defeat!

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