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Mar 24, 2023

This week, we're starting a longform look at Japan's most prominent political dynasty: the Hatoyama family, which has been a presence in Japan's electoral politics from the jump. Today is all about the career of family progenitor Hatoyama Kazuo, who went from son of a minor samurai to speaker of the House of...


Mar 17, 2023

This week, we're covering the art of rakugo--storytelling with a twist! How did rakugo emerge from the history of Buddhism, and what has enabled its enduring popularity where contemporary entertainments like kabuki have fallen by the wayside?

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Mar 10, 2023

How did one man's determination to get paid end up producing one of the best records we have of a pivotal moment in Japanese history?

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Mar 3, 2023

This week: Japan's empire in Micronesia comes apart under the face of both the miscalculations of military leadership and the contradictions that had haunted it from the jump.

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Feb 24, 2023

So far, we've talked about how Micronesia came under Japanese rule, but what was Japan's rule over the region like? 

Show notes here.