Samurai Archives Japanese History Podcast

Samurai Archives Japanese History Podcast

Follow your hosts on a trek into Japanese history, from ancient Japan to the end of the Samurai and all points in between - culture, warfare, literature, and interviews. The Official Podcast of the Samurai Archives Japanese History page.

Episodes

July 21, 2022 64 mins

This episode we talk to Dr. Travis Seifman about his work translating the Edo-Bakumatsu database Ishin Shiryo for the Tokyo Historiographical Institute.  

The link to the database is here:

https://www.hi.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

On the upper right, change the drop down menu to "English", then select the link "Database", and under "Historical Events" you'll see the link "Summary database of the Ishin Shiryo" - that's it!

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About 7 years ago, back in 2014, Forest Seal and myself did a bunch of episodes discussing various themes in Japanese history, and one episode that was never finished was this episode on the Sengoku Daimyo. The battery died while recording, and the reason we never revisited it was that it ended up more as a lecture, and we decided that a lecture format was not a format that we wanted to pursue. So we never moved forward with it, ev...

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In February 2021, Netflix released a docuseries on Sengoku era Japan entitled Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan.  We continue our discussion on the docuseries with the two historians who were featured on the series, Dr. Elijah Bender and Nate Ledbetter, along with Megan Gilbert of Princeton, and Josh Badgley of the Chronicles of Japan podcast.

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In February 2021, Netflix released a docuseries on Sengoku era Japan entitled Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan.  We have two historians who were featured on the series, Dr. Elijah Bender and Nate Ledbetter, along with Megan Gilbert of Princeton, and Josh Badgley of the Chronicles of Japan podcast on to talk about it.  This was a really long conversation, so here is part one, and part two, which is an additional hour and a half, wil...

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In this episode, we continue our discussion with Dr. Elijah Bender about the new Playstation game Ghost of Tsushima from the perspective of a professional historian.  

Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Featuring an open world, it follows Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Jap...

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In this episode, Dr. Elijah Bender talks about the new Playstation game Ghost of Tsushima from the perspective of a professional historian.  

Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Featuring an open world, it follows Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. The game was released ...

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May 18, 2020 34 mins

Welcome back to our coverage of the fire at Shuri castle in Okinawa in 2019. Dr. Travs Seifman continues his discussion of the fire, its implications, and its impact on Okinawa.

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March 31, 2020 38 mins

In late 2019, Shuri Castle in Okinawa burned down in a fire.  Multiple buildings were burned, as well as a whole host of irreplaceable cultural artifacts.  Dr. Travis Seifman talks about the history of the castle, what was lost, and what the castle means to the Okinawans.

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In far Northern Japan on the peripheries of the known world, an aggressive and moody child with one eye and a bad temper would come to prominence almost despite himself.

Date Masamune, AKA the "One-Eyed Dragon" would eventually become a powerful and enigmatic ruler in the far North who won the respect of some of the most powerful Daimyo of his age. 

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Today I'm talking to Joshua Badgley, the host of Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan podcast.  Get the inside scoop on this new podcast narrating the chronological history of Japan.

Podcast link: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast

Podcast Twitter: @SengokuPodcast

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This episode, Marky Star, Dr. Travis Seifman, and I continue our discussion of travel and tourism in premodern Japan.

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This episode I'm joined by Marky Star of the JapanThis blog, and Dr. Travis Seifman to talk about travel and tourism in premodern Japan. We have a very wide ranging conversation that includes modern Japanese tourism, where to go to find the history of Japanese Ninja Socks, and why you can no longer get a prostitute with your ramen noodles.  All that and much more!

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In this episode we continue our discussion of Japan's place in the "Chinese World Order". For thousands of years China was the center of culture and commerce in East Asia, and disseminated trade and political systems and ideology through a tribute system, which Japan had a complicated relationship with.

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In this episode we discuss Japan's place in the "Chinese World Order". For thousands of years China was the center of culture and commerce in East Asia, and disseminated trade and political systems and ideology through a tribute system, which Japan had a complicated relationship with.

Support the podcast on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/samuraiarchives

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By the mid-1550's, Mori Motonari had expanded and consolidated his power base considerably.  But with the Ouchi, Otomo, and Amako threats ever present, it was only a matter of time before the Mori clan would be thrust into an all out war for the West.

Outro music "Two Swords" by _ghost

Credit for this topic choice goes to Tercero. Thanks!

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Early in the Sengoku period in 1523, Mori Motonari became the unexpected head of a scrappy little warrior house in Aki province, caught between two powerful warring clans.
Motonari would eventually parlay his small holdings into one of the most powerful Samurai families in all of Western Japan.  This is the story of his rise to power.

Outro music "Two Swords" by _ghost

Credit for this topic choice goes to Tercero. Thanks!

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This episode we continue our discussion of the Edo-period concept of "Sankin Kotai" - Daimyo alternate attendance. The system of Sankin Kotai developed by the Tokugawa Shogunate required that Daimyo reside in the Tokugawa castle at Edo for periods of time, alternating with residence at the daimyo's own castle. It's a key component to understanding the Edo period, so we break it down for you.

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This episode we introduce the Edo-period concept of "Sankin Kotai" - Daimyo alternate attendance.  The system of Sankin Kotai developed by the Tokugawa Shogunate required that Daimyo reside in the Tokugawa castle at Edo for periods of time, alternating with residence at the daimyo's own castle.  It's a key component to understanding the Edo period, so we break it down for you.

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Have you ever wondered where our human propensity for violence and history of warfare comes from?  Why there is such an established history of violence among humans, and why are we so good at killing and conducting war? 

In this episode, we look at the evolutionary psychology that drives our violent behaviors through the lens of Japanese history to answer these questions and more.

Outtro Music: Sex audio & video by Asian Women on t...

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This episode guest host Jaredd Wilson, the host of the "Martial Thoughts Podcast" introduces you to the Weird Weapons of the Samurai.

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