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Tag: Tokugawa

Episode 332 – Lady Kasuga

April 3, 2020 Isaac Meyer

This week, we tackle the life of one of Japan’s most interesting women, who rose from obscure origins to become…

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

Episode 306 – The Prisoners of Nanbu, Part 1

September 20, 2019 Isaac Meyer

This week, we’re taking a look at the foreign policy of Edo Japan by starting a deep dive into a…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Edo, History, Japan, sakoku, seclusion, Tokugawa

Episode 302 – Stand Up For Your Rights, Part 2

August 23, 2019 Isaac Meyer

This week, we take a look at the peasant uprisings in Aizu domain in 1868 to continue our exploration of…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: aizu, bakufu, Edo, History, Japan, Tokugawa

Episode 301 – Stand Up For Your Rights, Part 1

August 16, 2019 Isaac Meyer

While the Meiji Restoration was going on, where was everybody else? We’ll start trying to answer that question today with…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: bakufu, Edo, History, Japan, Meiji, shindatsu, Tokugawa

Episode 299 – The Rebellion that Never Was

August 2, 2019 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we cover an obscure bit of samurai history: the Keian Incident, a planned coup against the Tokugawa Shoguns…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Edo, History, Japan, ronin, Samurai, Tokugawa

Episode 272 – I am the Law!

January 19, 2019 Isaac Meyer

This week we cover the life and career of the legendary judge Oka Tadasuke, who rose from minor samurai to…

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

Episode 258 – The City that Never Sleeps, Part 1

September 29, 2018 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week, we start a look at the history of the city of Tokyo. How did the frontier fishing village…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Podcasts Filed under: Edo, History, Japan, Tokugawa, urban planning

Episode 222 – The Dog Shogun

December 17, 2017 Isaac Meyer

This week: was Japan’s 5th Tokugawa shogun really as crazy as everybody says? Spoilers: no. Listen to the episode here.…

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

Episode 133 – The Fall of the Samurai, Part 16

January 23, 2016 Isaac Meyer 1 Comment

This week: the “short-lived” part of “the short-lived Ezo Republic” comes to fruition, and what is now Meiji Japan begins…

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

Episode 132 – The Fall of the Samurai, Part 15

January 16, 2016 Isaac Meyer 5 Comments

This week, we’ll cover the military campaigns of 1868. Edo will (surprisingly anticlimactically) fall, the north will rebel, and Matsudaira…

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Posted in: History of Japan Podcast, Uncategorized Filed under: Bakumatsu, Boshin War, Japan, Tokugawa

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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.

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