A History of Japan
A history of the people of Japan, from the prehistoric Jomon period to the modern era. WARNING: This podcast occasionally touches on subjects of human sexuality, suicide, violence, and torture.
The Tripartite Pact
As Nazi Germany took the offensive against Poland and the second World War began in Europe, Japan chose to continue its path of closely aligning with fascist western powers in hopes of obtaining powerful allies whom they believed would win this latest global conflict.
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Pacific Positioning
Japan's colonial possessions throughout the south Pacific proved very profitable, but the close proximity to the colonies of the United States set both nations on a path toward eventual conflict.
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The War At Home
As the Second Sino-Japanese War raged on, domestic matters in Japan took a turn for the worse as Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro proposed applying colonial policies to the home provinces in the name of supporting the war effort.
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The War with China, Part 2
The Japanese Imperial Army managed to take Wuhan but found it difficult to keep up their previous momentum as Chinese defensive efforts and counter-insurgency begin to wear on the Japanese supply line and threaten to reverse their previous gains.
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The War with China, Part 1
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident which sparked the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy would press on to take Shanghai, Nanjing, and Xuzhou, driving Chinese defenders back and committing horrific war crimes and atrocities along the way.
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The Imperial Way
Competing ideas about the Emperor's identity and proper place in the Japanese political order would become especially heated during the tumultuous 1930s and radical adherents of the Imperial Way Faction in the military engaged in a well-organized coup which nearly toppled the civilian government.
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The International Realignment, Part 2
The Empire of Japan's decision to break with liberal democracies in favor of rising fascist powers was driven, in part, by the successes enjoyed by said fascist powers throughout the 1930s. In this episode, we discuss how their leaders managed to consolidate that power in the first place.
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The International Realignment, Part 1
After alienating the western liberal democracies with whom they had previously enjoyed friendly relations, the Empire of Japan began exploring new friendship and alliances with the growing fascist powers which were emerging in Europe as the Second Sino-Japanese war began in 1937.
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The Great Withdrawal
Following its investigation into the Mukden Incident and subsequent Japanese occupation of northeast China, the League of Nations demands that Japan withdraw its troops and return the territory they've seized. Japan responds by withdrawing from the League of Nations.
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The League of Blood
Japan's conflict with China flares up once again with the Shanghai Incident. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, ultra-nationalist terrorists engage in a widespread campaign of assassination and attempted coups.
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The Making of Manchukuo
Three years after the assassination of Zhang Zuolin and attempted framing of the KMT, a group of higher-ranking officers within the Kwantung Army staged another false flag attack, which resulted in their conquest of northeast China and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo.
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The Frame-Up
In 1928, a group of officers in the Kwantung Army attempted to frame the KMT for their own assassination of Zhang Zuolin. The failed attempts to enforce accountability and discipline which followed set the stage for similar incidents in the future.
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The Great Crash
Two years prior to the much larger Great Depression, Japan experienced its own financial crisis thanks to the Great Kanto Earthquake, government bonds, and a panicky populace.
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Reaction and Repression
The elevation of Emperor Showa was accompanied by a wave of reactionary backlash against Taisho Democracy.
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Interview with Quin Cho, author of "The Rise of the Kwantung Army"
Quin Cho's latest book "The Rise of the Kwantung Army" is coming out on September 18. In this special interview episode, we discuss his upcoming book and the role that gekokujo played in Japan's invasion of northeast China.
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Interview with Kaila Yu, author of "Fetishized"
Kaila Yu's memoir "Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty" is coming out on August 19. In this special interview episode, we discuss her upcoming book as well as one chapter which specifically highlights the inaccuracies and falsehoods found in the popular novel "Memoirs of a Geisha."
Purchase Kaila Yu's Memoir from Bookshop.org by clicking here. It will also available wherever books are sold. (Not an affiliate link)
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The Warlord Era - BONUS EPISODE
China's difficulties continued throughout the Taisho Period as Yuan Shikai died in the midst of a civil war between China's north and south. The Warlord Era saw many colorful characters rise to power, many of whom were betrayed by underlings or defeated by enemies with only slight advantages.
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Taisho Feminism - BONUS EPISODE
The question of equal rights for women was extremely divisive in Japan during the Taisho Period. A determined group of feminists would try to punch through the controversy through fiction, editorials, debates, and rhetoric. Some would successfully lobby for change; others would pay the ultimate price for challenging the patriarchy.
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Radical Politics - BONUS EPISODE
The Taisho Period witnessed the coming-of-age for many political parties and movements. This episode focuses on the fringe left during the Taisho Period, who grew and organized in spite of government repression and social stigma.
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The Pax Taishō
Japan saw its fair share of progress during the Taisho Period but it also saw an increase in the raw cruelty which its armed forces were willing to use in order to preserve their empire.
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Taishō Democracy
Toward the end of the Taisho Period, the Imperial Diet finally passed a law which established universal suffrage for men 25 and older regardless of tax assessment. Shortly before, however, they also passed a law which would allow law enforcement entities far greater powers of surveillance, harassment, and repression.
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Obligations, Disasters, and Atrocities
Japan signed a treaty with their fellow Entente Powers which slowed construction on the ever-increasing navies of many nations. In 1923, a terrible earthquake struck the Kanto Region resulting in massive damage and an incredible number of casualties. The atrocity that soon followed, however, only served to increase the tragedy.
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A League of Their Own
Japan emerges as a major player among world powers as their ambassadors helped finalize the postwar treaties and create a new international body meant to stop large-scale wars before they began: The League of Nations. However, trouble continued brewing on the Korean Peninsula as a new mass movement for national liberation took to the streets.
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A Whole New World
The new international status quo that emerged after the first World War was very different than what came before, and Japan was poised to become a major new power in this new world.
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The World Goes to War, Part 2
The eastern front of the first world war was much busier than its western counterpart and the stakes for one nation were much higher. When the war finally ended with the Entente triumphant, Japan was poised to enjoy the advantages of supporting the winning side.
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The World Goes to War, Part 1
The assassination of an Austrian Archduke sparks a chain reaction which would ignite a global conflict on a scale never seen before.
If you'd like to read the complete "Literary Digest History of the World War," all ten volumes are available for free on the internet archive here.
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The Republic of China
In early 1912, the Qing Dynasty officially transferred its right to rule to the Republic of China, who named Yuan Shikai as their president in exchange for ending the civil war. Shikai, however, would soon prove just as power-hungry and authoritarian as the imperial system he sought to replace.
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The Fall of the Qing Dynasty
The first decade of the 1900s witnessed a final attempt by the Qing Dynasty to reform its outmoded systems of governance and forge a new Chinese nation state. Those attempts eventually failed in the wake of a massive revolution against the last dynasty of China, which succeeded in 1912.
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Crisis and Opportunity
The Taisho Period began with a political crisis that threatened to upend the stability established by the Meiji Period as the people of Japan took to the streets to express their displeasure by rioting.
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The Resident Foreigner and the Foreign Resident - BONUS EPISODE
This episode follows the lives and adventures of Basil Hall Chamberlain and Lafcadio Hearn, two of the most famous foreign residents who lived in Japan during the Meiji Period.
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Nourishing the Nation - BONUS EPISODE
The Meiji Period witnessed a radical expansion of the Japanese palate as the people began consuming foreign foods like beer and the government encouraged the populace to eat meat.
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An Age of Letters - BONUS EPISODE
Writers of the Meiji Period included some of the most influential Japanese authors of all time, many of whom are still regularly included in reading curriculum today.
Soseki Project
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The Pax Meiji
The Meiji period saw sweeping transformation in nearly every aspect of Japanese society. The political status quo which it established, however, paved the way for future infighting and the imperial government's tendency toward repression cast a dark shadow.
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The Question of Korea
After the Russo-Japanese War, the Meiji government moved quickly to solidify their control of Korea, gradually chipping away at the sovereignty of its government until annexation became the only logical next step.
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The Long Road of Peace
Both Russia and Japan were desperate to end the Russo-Japanese War by the summer of 1905. However, the conditions of that peace would not bring an end to domestic turmoil in Russia, and would inaugurate entirely fresh domestic turmoil in Japan.
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The Russo-Japanese War, Part 2
After securing the southern portion of Liaodong Province, the Imperial Japanese Army proceeded to besiege Port Arthur while simultaneously fighting Russian forces to their north in increasingly costly and difficult battles.
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The Russo-Japanese War, Part 1
In February of 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur and initiate the Russo-Japanese War.
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A Tsar is Born
We examine the development Russian Empire of the 1800s and see what factors set them on a collision course with Japan in 1904.
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The Boxer Rebellion
When a militant anti-imperial movement spreads China, an allied army of eight nations moved quickly to suppress the rebels, leading to a reactionary swing from the Qing Dynasty's government.
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Losing Korea
Although Japan had seemingly won influence over Korea as a war prize from the Chinese, Joseon itself was still an independent state. Because of the actions of one inexperienced Japanese diplomat, that independence was about to be asserted in an undeniable way.
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