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, a current events episode on the leadup and immediate aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.…
This week, we’re taking a look at the legacy of one of Japan’s most influential poets: Ki no Tsurayuki. His…
This week, we’re unpacking a rather odd classic of Japanese literature: the Ise Monogatari, a collection of short tales that…
This week: we tend to think of tea in terms of the tea ceremony and fancy culture, but what about…
This week: how did a spate of right wing violence in the early years of the 1960s help to fundamentally…
This week: why did the Japanese Socialist Party and the left more generally utterly fail to capitalize on the momentum…
This week, we’re kicking off a short series on the transformations of 1960s Japan with a look at the unassuming…
This week, we’re taking a look at the life of one of Japan’s most famous artists: Miyazaki Hayao. How did…