Feb 7, 2020

This week, we tackle a political scandal from 1930s Japan to dig deeper into the question: just why did Japan's system of parliamentary government and liberal democracy, which seemed to be flourishing in the 1920s, fall apart so quickly in the 1930s?

Show notes

Jan 31, 2020

This week, we're discussing the autobiography of a troublemaking, low-ranking samurai whose life didn't reshape Japan, but whose tale can tell us a lot about how our image of the samurai class matched up with reality.

Show notes here.

Jan 24, 2020

This week, we cover one of Japan's great unsolved crimes: the 300 million yen robbery. How did one man steal so much cash? Why couldn't the police find him? And why are we still talking about it today?

Show notes here. 

Jan 17, 2020

This week, take a deep dive with me into the life of one of the regents of the Heian Era, Fujiwara no Tadahira, as we try and figure out just what it looked like to try and rule over Heian Japan on a day to day level. 

Show notes here.

Jan 10, 2020

As the 1950s become the 1960s, the truth of Chisso's failure to address its problems comes out thanks to a new round of poisoning on the other side of Japan. The people of Minamata seek justice for themselves. 

Show notes here.