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Category: History of Japan Podcast

Episode 516 – From the Ashes

January 19, 2024 Isaac Meyer

This week: Go-Daigo’s regime collapses, and a second samurai government, the Muromachi bakufu, emerges. How did Ashikaga Takauji successfully establish…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Ashikaga, History, Japan, medieval, Muromachi, Samurai

Episode 515 – Slouching Towards Kyoto

January 12, 2024 Isaac Meyer

This week: the dramatic career of Emperor Go-Daigo, who brought down the Kamakura shogunate and ended Hojo rule in Japan.…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Ashikaga, History, Japan, Kamakura, Kyoto, medieval

Episode 514 – The Structure of Medieval Japan

December 29, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re taking a look at some of the economic and social structures of Kamakura period Japan in order…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: economics, History, Japan, Kamakura, medieval

Episode 513 – The Specter of the Continent

December 22, 2023 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: why did the Mongols invade Japan? How did a seemingly invincible military machine falter in its assaults on…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: History, Hojo, Japan, Kamakura, medieval, mongols

Episode 512 – The New Buddhisms

December 15, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week: the advent of the medieval era brings with it new strands of Buddhism that will radically remake the…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Buddhism, History, Japan, Kamakura, medieval, Nichiren, Pure Land Buddhism, religion, Zen

Episode 511 – Tipping the Balance

December 8, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week: the rise of the Minamoto clan, the destruction of the Taira clan, and the birth of a new…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: History, Japan, Kamakura, Minamoto, Samurai, Taira

Episode 510 – The Rise of the Warriors

December 1, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re covering the beginnings of the rise of the samurai class by looking at the wars of the…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Heian, History, Japan, Samurai

Episode 509 – The Golden Age of Heian

November 17, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week, we turn our attention to two of the defining institutions of the Heian period, both of which will…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: classical, Heian, History, Japan, Samurai, shoen

Episode 508 – The Culture of Classical Japan, Part 2

November 10, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week on the podcast, we’re all about literature. We’ll be exploring the varieties of poetry and prose that have…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Heian, History, Japan, literature, poetry, prose

Episode 507 – The Culture of Classical Japan, Part 1

November 3, 2023 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, we take a step away from politics to talk about two crucial subjects. First, we have the evolution…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Ado, Buddhism, Heian, History, Japan, Japanese, Nara

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About Me

My name is Isaac Meyer, and I’m a  former PhD student at the University of Washington, specializing in modern Japan (with sub-specializations in modern China, modern Europe, and international relations). Today, I work as a teacher at an independent school in the Seattle area.

I also have a tendency to go off on random historical tangents. One day, I decided to combine these two traits in podcast form, and thus was born the History of Japan Podcast!

In 2018, I decided start the Criminal Records Podcast with my wife, Demetria Spinrad. This podcast gives me the chance to talk about world history–and the weird, wonderful world of historical crime and punishment.

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Support the Facing Backward network on Patreon to get access to our bonus features, including our bonus episodes about historical fiction.

The History of Japan Patreon is still live, and subscribers will be able to get the weekly newsletter there as well.

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Recent Posts

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