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Jan 31, 2025

This week, we cover the second and third of Edo's three great riots in 1787 and 1866. How did samurai and commoners talk about these acts of mass violence? How was all this a manifestation of a sense of "street justice" among the masses? And what's with the handsome young guy everyone keeps swearing was secretly behind...


Jan 24, 2025

This week: the first of three episodes on urban rioting in Tokugawa period Japan. This week, we're covering the first two urban riots in the history of the shogun's capital city. What drove the people of Edo to riot, and how did the shogunate respond to those challenges to its authority?

Show notes


Jan 17, 2025

In the final episode of this series: how did "otaku culture" spread overseas when it was so stigmatized at home, and what can all this tell us about Japan in the post-bubble era?

Show notes here


Jan 10, 2025

For our first episode of 2025: "otaku culture" as a phenomenon began to emerge, in part, as a reaction against the crass commercialism of postwar Japan. Yet now, it is entirely a part of the fabric of that commercialism. How did that happen? We'll explore it by looking at two fascinating phenomena: the dojin market...