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A Short History of Japan Podcast

by Cameron Foster

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Latest episodes

Episode 35 OMG Part 2

April 24, 2016 · 41 min

"How did it come to this?" - This must have been the question the Christian missionaries asked themselves as Hideyoshi followed by successive Tokugawa Shoguns made life unbearable for Christians in Japan. If only we had handed over the…
Episode 34: OMG Part 1

October 9, 2014 · 32 min

To Christian missionaries, Japan was a most attractive prospect. Literate, cultured and rich - the Jesuits arrived in Japan in the 1500s and set about a process of conversion: from the lowest peasant to the highest warlord. In Part One, we…
Episode 32: Masterful Inactivity

April 22, 2014 · 35 min

With the destruction of the Toyotomi at Osaka in 1615, the Tokugawa clan were unrivalled in their domination of Japan. They would establish a Shogunate that would last over 200 years. But how did they change Japan from a nation perpetually…
Episode 31: End of the Sengoku Jidai

January 29, 2013 · 32 min

The Siege of Osaka Castle in the winter of 1614-15 and the final Battle for Osaka Castle in the summer of 1615 marks the final chapter in the Sengoku Jidai. After years of rivalry between the forces of the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa the…
Episode 30: For Whom The Bell Tolls

November 11, 2012 · 30 min

Tokugawa Ieyasu had won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and set up organising Japan under his clan's domination. However, safely ensconced in Osaka Castle was Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi; the last of the Toyotomi. Tokugawa Ieyasu knew that…

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Competition Draw

November 11, 2012 · 2 min

And the winner is of the Size-L Oda Nobunaga t-shirt - complete with his slogan "Tenka Fubu" (The Realm Subjected to Military Power) is……………………
Episode 29: My Trip to Japan

October 16, 2012 · 42 min

I went to Japan with 25 students and 2 other teachers. In this podcast I'll tell you where we went with a particular emphasis on the historical dimension (obviously!) and *drum roll* I bought you a present!! Well, there is a competition…
Episode 28: Sekigahara

September 10, 2012 · 31 min

With Hideyoshi's body barely cold, the plotting and scheming began in earnest. This was the complete opposite of what Hideyoshi had hoped and begged for - for the sake of his infant son. But promises to a dead man counted for little when…
Episode 27: You Can't Take It With You

July 17, 2012 · 26 min

My mother says that the cemetery is full of people who thought they were indispensable - but in Hideyoshi's case, he would have been right. His fervent desire was to ensure that his son, Hideyori, would be able to maintain the Toyotomi…
Episode 26: Hideyoshi Dreams Big

July 11, 2012 · 23 min

In 1592 and 1598 Hideyoshi pointed the enormous Japanese capacity for warfare at the task of conquering one of the greatest civilizations in the world, China. In this episode we discuss why he decided that that was a good idea and how it…
Episode 25: From War to Peace (Almost)

April 26, 2012 · 28 min

Hideyoshi, in spite of being a warlord, transitioned Japan from a state of war to a state of peace. Though Japan wasn't finished with the sengoku jidai by the time he died in 1598, he did put in place a series of laws that made peace more…
Episode 24: Hideyoshi's Japan

April 19, 2012 · 21 min

The rise of Hideyoshi from sandal bearer to dictator of Japan was phenomenal. After hundreds of year of civil war, he, without any sense of irony, brought the country to unified peace with remarkably little bloodshed. Well, at least a lot…

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About the show

This history of Japan focuses on the people, power plays and betrayals - and the occasional stuff-ups that shaped Japan. For fans of history, fans of Japan or tourists about to go for a visit - I hope you'll be entertained and informed!