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Tag: Meiji

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 451 – Those Swept Away

August 26, 2022 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, the biography of one of the most unusual figures of Bakumatsu Japan: the peasant Matsuo Taseko, whose career…

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

Episode 439 – From the Deep, Part 2

May 27, 2022 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week: whaling during the modern era in Japan, and the circumstances that have led to Japan being one of…

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

Episode 435 – The Wrong Kind of Hero, Part 3

April 22, 2022 Isaac Meyer 3 Comments

This week, we’re wrapping up our look at Sakamoto Ryoma’s life and legacy to see how he was transformed from…

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

Episode 412 – …Don’t Do the Crime

October 29, 2021 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we’re looking at how the criminal justice system in Japan was remade to serve the interests of the…

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

Episode 404 – The Hesperia Incident

September 3, 2021 Isaac Meyer 4 Comments

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the unequal treaty system of the 1800s by exploring one of its…

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

Episode 384 – The Iron Road, Part 1

April 2, 2021 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, we’re starting off a look at the history of rail in Japan by exploring how this revolutionary technology…

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

Episode 373 – The First Frontier, Part 3

January 15, 2021 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re looking at the early decades of Japan’s colonization of Hokkaido, and the means by which the island…

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

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 351 – The Rising Sun Will Come to Us From Heaven, Part 3

August 14, 2020 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we’re going to talk about the heyday of Japanese Christianity during the Imperial era: the 1870s and 1880s,…

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

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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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