A Short History of Japan

Oda Nobunaga had the luck, the allies, the staff, the location, the armies and the validation to make a move on Kyoto while the other major Daimyo kept busy fighting amongst themselves.   He also had an ego to match his ambition.  Here is a map of the provinces of medieval Japan and the the script for the episode.

In this episode we introduce one of Japan's three Great Unifiers.  His rise to power was certainly not easy and could easily have relegated him to the status of also-ran.

The Portuguese bumped into Japan in 1543 and brought with them guns and god.  In this podcast we will hear about how Japan received these products of the west.

Battle in the Sengoku Jidai was a fashion show.  Bravery and recognition was gained by looking great and doing great things.  We also meet a man called Hojo Soun who rose from obscurity to control almost all of the Kanto Valley - a hobby he only started at the age of 60! Podcast script is here

The term Sengoku Jidai refers to the particularly violent time between the Onin War of 1467 and the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1615.  In this podcast I'll be talking about the hard life of clans seeking to expand or at the very least, not be devoured by their competitors.  I'll also talk about spelling, tourism and mudpies. The transcript of the episode is here

The Ashikaga Shogunate stumbled and staggered through the 1400s. The Onin War (1466-1477)exemplifies so many of the changes, both positive and negative, that Japan went through. The provinces saw a rise in local military independence, the peasants' life improved dramatically and the seemingly apathetic Shogun Yoshimasa wrote poetry as the capital burnt to the ground in an orgy of drunken violence.

The Ashikaga Shoguns oversaw Japan's tumble into the Warring States Period (Sengoku-Jidai) along with the split in the Imperial family into the Northern and Southern Courts. They also nurtured the Zen Buddhist sect and built the Gold Pavilion in Kyoto while the country starved of hunger, suffered famine, earthquake and disease.

Back in the day, there was a softdrink (soda for the north Americans) brand called "Clayton's". It was a non-alcoholic beverage that had the slogan 'the drink you're having when you're not having a drink'. In this episode, the Emperor of Japan will be restored to power in a manner in which he receives no power at all. Between about 1280 to 1333, The Hojo Kamakura rule of Japan will end, the Emperor will attain actual power and the Ashikaga who got him there will take it away.

A look at the history of tsunami and Japan