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Tag: History

Episode 461 – The Empty Throne, Part 4

November 11, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: the life of the Meiji Emperor in the turbulent 1870s and 1880s. We’ll cover everything from the birth…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: History, Japan, Meiji, Meiji Period

Episode 460 – The Empty Throne, Part 3

November 4, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: the boy emperor Meiji takes responsibility for Japan’s future. But what did that mean in practice? What does…

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

Episode 459 – The Empty Throne, Part 2

October 28, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: Emperor Komei attempts to protect tradition in a nation beset by crisis. However, his efforts will be brought…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Bakumatsu, Edo, History, Japan, Komei, Kyoto, Meiji, Tokugawa

Episode 458 – The Empty Throne, Part 1

October 21, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: the beginning of a multipart biography of two of the best documented figures we know very little about:…

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

Episode 457 – The Purple Robe Incident

October 14, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: political infighting about purple robes and what it can tell us about Buddhism, political power, and the relationship…

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

Episode 456 – Stranger in the Shogun’s City

September 30, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: the story of Tsuneno, a commoner whose social status was very different from that of Lady Nijo and…

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

Episode 455 – In the Shadow of the Pine

September 23, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, the tale of Ogimachi Machiko–the aristocrat whose literary descriptions of her life in a samurai family became one…

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

Episode 454 – That All My Dreams Might Not Prove Empty

September 16, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: in 1940, a manuscript lost for over 600 years is recovered from the archives of the Imperial family.…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Heian, History, Japan, Kamakura, Kyoto, Women

Episode 453 – The Waves are High But the Day is Clear, Part 2

September 9, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: how has the JMSDF gone from an afterthought to a central part of Japan’s security planning? Sources Patalano,…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: History, Japan, Postwar, SDF

Episode 452 – The Waves are High but the Day is Clear, Part 1

September 2, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week: the start of a two part series on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces. Today: how did Japan’s current…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: History, Japan, Postwar, SDF

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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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