This week: political infighting about purple robes and what it can tell us about Buddhism, political power, and the relationship…
This week: the story of Tsuneno, a commoner whose social status was very different from that of Lady Nijo and…
This week, the tale of Ogimachi Machiko–the aristocrat whose literary descriptions of her life in a samurai family became one…
This week, the biography of one of the most unusual figures of Bakumatsu Japan: the peasant Matsuo Taseko, whose career…
This week, we’re covering the rise of the Hirata school of kokugaku, or national studies, during the Edo Period. How…
This week: where does our stock image of the sohei come from, and why does it tell us more about…
This week, we return to the turbulent age of the Bakumatsu–the collapse of the Tokugawa state–with a biography of one…
This week: the story of two men whose fascinating life trajectories led them into an interrogation room in Japan’s Edo…
This week, we’re looking at the legacy of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the most famous playwright in Japanese history. During his career,…
This week, we’re taking a quick detour into Isaac trolling fans of Michel Foucault-er, the Edo period criminal justice system.…