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Tag: Edo

Episode 437 – The Fist of the Buddhas, Part 2

May 13, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: where does our stock image of the sohei come from, and why does it tell us more about…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Buddhism, Edo, History, Japan

Episode 433 – The Wrong Kind of Hero, Part 1

April 8, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week, we return to the turbulent age of the Bakumatsu–the collapse of the Tokugawa state–with a biography of one…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Edo, History, Japan, Meiji Restoration, Tokugawa

Episode 415 – Whispers in the Dark

November 19, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: the story of two men whose fascinating life trajectories led them into an interrogation room in Japan’s Edo…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Christianity, Confucianism, Edo, History, Japan

Episode 413 – Between Real and Unreal

November 5, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we’re looking at the legacy of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the most famous playwright in Japanese history. During his career,…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Bunraku, chikamatsu, Edo, History, Japan, Kabuki

Episode 411 – If You Can’t Do the Time…

October 22, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we’re taking a quick detour into Isaac trolling fans of Michel Foucault-er, the Edo period criminal justice system.…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: crime, Edo, History, Japan, Samurai, Tokugawa

Episode 410 – A Man of His Times

October 15, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: Isaac spends 30 minutes unpacking the 400+ page ramblings of a cranky retiree who died about 200 years…

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

Episode 405 – The Road Not Taken

September 10, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we’re talking about one of the last attempts to save the Tokugawa shogunate: the Tenpo Reforms of the…

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

Episode 388 – The First of Us

April 30, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

We’re trapped in a loop this week as Isaac talks about another Isaac: specifically, Isaac Titsingh, a member of the…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Dutch, Edo, History, Japan, Nagasaki

Episode 372 – The First Frontier, Part 2

January 8, 2021 Isaac Meyer

This week: how did the threat of Western imperialism change the relationship between mainland Japan and Hokkaido, and help set…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Ainu, Edo, Ezo, History, hokkaido, Japan, Meiji, Tokugawa

Episode 370 – The Poetess

December 25, 2020 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, we’re covering the life and career of a poet often overlooked despite her fame in her own lifetime:…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Edo, haiku, History, Japan, poetry, Women

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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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