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Tag: 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

Episode 350 – The Rising Sun Will Come to Us From Heaven, Part 2

August 7, 2020 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re talking about Christianity during the Bakumatsu Period — the era that saw the forced opening of Japan…

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

Episode 344 – Blackness in Japan, Part 2

June 26, 2020 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we look at Japan’s relationship with blackness and black communities in the wake of the Meiji Restoration, and…

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

Episode 317 – Separate Ways

December 13, 2019 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, we explore the career of the first woman to make a big splash in modern Japanese literature: Higuchi…

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

Episode 316 – The Entrepreneur

December 6, 2019 Isaac Meyer 2 Comments

This week, it’s time to talk backroom deals and business trickery, because we’re chronicling the rise of Mitsubishi and the…

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

Episode 312 – Freedom and People’s Rights, Part 3

November 1, 2019 Isaac Meyer

This week, we look at the violent incidents that eventually undermined the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement, and the legacies…

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

Episode 311 – Freedom and People’s Rights, Part 2

October 25, 2019 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

How do you talk about a movement without clear leaders? By breaking down its different levels. Plus, a look at…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: freedom, History, Japan, jiyu, Jiyuto, Meiji, minken, rights

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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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