Samurai Archives Japanese History Podcast

Continuing our Introduction to Japanese History series is part 2 of our Asuka-Nara podcast. The Asuka-Nara period (538AD-794AD) is known for it's classic art and architecture, the introduction of Buddhism, and the Taika reforms and Ritsuryo system. Japan adopted many Chinese style institutions, began to form a national government, and started to assert itself internationally in East Asia.

Continuing our Introduction to Japanese History podcast series, we will examine the Asuka-Nara period over two episodes. The Asuka-Nara period (538AD-794AD) is known for it's classic art and architecture, the introduction of Buddhism, and the Taika reforms and Ritsuryo system. Japan adopted many Chinese style institutions, began to form a national government, and started to assert itself internationally in East Asia.

For part two of our Introduction to Japanese History series, we'll be covering the Yayoi period which was a sharp change from the culture of the Jomon period, where there was a massive influx of NE Asians into the Japanese archipelago. This was followed by the Kofun period, where Japan began to slowly consolidate and unify into a confederacy. The name of the Kofun period comes from the huge keyhole shaped burial mounds known as "Kofun".

For part one of our Introduction to Japanese History series, we’ll be starting at the beginning of the earliest history of the Japanese archipelago and the changes that took place in culture and technology from the Paleolithic period to the Jomon period, which takes us from prehistory to approximately 300BC.

After Japan closed its borders and kicked the Christian missionaries out of Japan, it was forced to undertake a national maritime defense to protect against any potential foreign threats. In this podcast, we examine the defense of the port of Nagasaki, from the political and military structure to the actual defenses constructed at the port.

In the third and final of our Samurai Behaving Badly series, we examine Samurai deceit, deception, and betrayal - illustrated by a virtual rogues gallery of treacherous Samurai, including Yamato Takeru, Minamoto Yoshinaka, Akamatsu Mitsusuke, Hojo Soun, Oda Nobuhide, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Mori Motonari, the 47 Ronin, the Shinsengumi, and others.

Everyone is familiar with the classic image of the honorable Samurai, fearless in the face of death and ardently adhering to the tenets of Bushido, so we've decided give a counterpoint to this image with examples of Samurai deceit, deception, betrayal, and generally dishonorable mayhem. In the second of our Samurai Behaving Badly series, we examine the belief that Samurai would rather die than surrender - illustrated by examples from Ogasawara Nagatada, Yamanaka Shikanosuke, and Matsunaga Hisahide.

Everyone is familiar with the classic image of the honorable Samurai, fearless in the face of death and ardently adhering to the tenets of Bushido, so we've decided give a counterpoint to this image with examples of Samurai deceit, deception, betrayal, and generally dishonorable mayhem. In the first of our Samurai Behaving Badly series, we examine concepts of loyalty.

In this podcast we examine the myth of Japan's Samurai giving up the gun during the Edo period (1603-1868). Japan in fact didn't "give up the gun" at all. Guns were being produced and used throughout the Edo period. It was more of an issue of guns not being necessary during this time of peace, and Samurai already being armed with swords as a matter of course anyway - why bring a bulky, long-barreled muzzle-loading single-shot arquebus to a sword duel?

From the 1540's through the battle of Nagashino and on until the end of the Sengoku period (Approx. 1477-1615) , Western guns in Japan played a bigger and bigger role in war and revolutionized warfare during the 16th century.

In the 3rd episode of the Samurai Archives Podcast, your hosts tackle the history of the gun in Japan prior to and including the introduction of firearms by the Portuguese in the 1540's. Contrary to popular belief, and often overlooked by historians, guns did in fact make their way into Japan as early as the 1450's, mainly through Ryukyu or to mainland Japan via China and Korea.

We continue our discussion of the battle of Nagashino and the "Military Revolution" theory adopted by many Western historians including Delmer Brown and Geoffrey Parker. We also look at the primary and secondary sources for the battle of Nagashino, and look into the history of guns in Japan, and their importance in Japanese warfare of the time.

This podcast is part one of two on the battle of Nagashino. Your hosts are Chris, Travis and Nate. Nate is currently researching the battle for graduate school, and is the facilitator of the podcast. We'll take you through the biases in the sources, the "accepted" history of the battle of Nagashino, and where this all fits in the context of the Military Revolution theory.

In this podcast, originally recorded in April 2010, Joseph (Author of the Ancient Japan Blog) and Chris interview Travis Seifman about his recently published article Seals of Red and Letters of Gold: Japanese Relations with Southeast Asia in the 17th Century

Your intrepid hosts Chris, Nate, and Travis are back for part 2 of the AAS/ICAS (The Association for Asian Studies and the International Convention of Asia Scholars) Conference wrap-up. This time they examine the themes and concepts presented in the seminar entitled Negotiating One's Place in Japan's Long Sixteenth Century.