This history of Japan focuses on the people, power plays and betrayals - and the occasional stuff-up
The word sengoku means 'chaotic states' or 'warring states/countries' and 'jidai' means 'age - like
The peasants of Japan finally get their turn at dealing out violence!
Every tourist who goes to Kyoto goes here - but its story, and that of the Silver Pavilion, are not
Did the Mongols get beaten by typhoons sent by the gods?
The names of Yoshitsune and Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan are legendary in Japanese history. But ho
Taira Kiyomori spared the lives of Yoritomo and Yoshitsune - two young children at the time - in or
In this episode we discuss the near-irrevocable usurpation of power by the warrior class; the samura
The Heian Era is sometimes seen as Japan's classical era. Great works of art, religious thought and
Emperor Kammu builds Kyoto, gets pressured by a dead guy and the peasants do what they do best, get
In this episode I discuss the construction of the huge temple complex in Nara, Todaiji, the dominati
In this podcast I'll be walking through the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, early Japanese attemp
In this first episode I talk about the creation myths of Japan, the terribly unreliable source docum
