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Tag: Meiji

Episode 479 – The Dynasty, Part 2

March 31, 2023 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

Hatoyama Kazuo was a reluctant politician; you can’t say the same of his son Hatoyama Ichiro, groomed from childhood to…

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

Episode 478 – The Dynasty, Part 1

March 24, 2023 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re starting a longform look at Japan’s most prominent political dynasty: the Hatoyama family, which has been a…

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

Episode 477 – What a Twist!

March 17, 2023 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, we’re covering the art of rakugo–storytelling with a twist! How did rakugo emerge from the history of Buddhism,…

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

Episode 472 – Southward, Ho! Part 1

February 10, 2023 Isaac Meyer

Japan would seize control of German Micronesia in the fall of 1914, but Japanese interest in the region goes back…

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

Episode 471 – The Osaka Incident

February 3, 2023 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: the bizarre story of an attempted coup in Korea that, along the way, touches on everything from Japanese…

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

Episode 464 – The Wolves of Mibu

December 9, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: a long-requested dive into the ronin police force known as the Shinsengumi. Who were the members of this…

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

Episode 463 – The Afterlives of a Samurai

December 2, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week is all about a biography of a fascinating figure of the Meiji Restoration: Oguri Tadamasa. But it’s also…

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

Episode 462 – The Empty Throne, Part 5

November 18, 2022 Isaac Meyer

This week, we wrap up our imperial biographies with a look at the Meiji Emperor’s relationship to three important aspects…

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

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

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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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