The Pax Meiji

The Meiji period saw sweeping transformation in nearly every aspect of Japanese society. The political status quo which it established, however, paved the way for future infighting and the imperial government's tendency toward repression cast a dark shadow.

The post The Pax Meiji first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Question of Korea

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Meiji government moved quickly to solidify their control of Korea, gradually chipping away at the sovereignty of its government until annexation became the only logical next step.

The post The Question of Korea first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Long Road of Peace

Both Russia and Japan were desperate to end the Russo-Japanese War by the summer of 1905. However, the conditions of that peace would not bring an end to domestic turmoil in Russia, and would inaugurate entirely fresh domestic turmoil in Japan.

The post The Long Road of Peace first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Russo-Japanese War, Part 2

After securing the southern portion of Liaodong Province, the Imperial Japanese Army proceeded to besiege Port Arthur while simultaneously fighting Russian forces to their north in increasingly costly and difficult battles.

The post The Russo-Japanese War, Part 2 first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Russo-Japanese War, Part 1

In February of 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur and initiate the Russo-Japanese War

The post The Russo-Japanese War, Part 1 first appeared on A History of Japan.

A Tsar is Born

We examine the development Russian Empire of the 1800s and see what factors set them on a collision course with Japan in 1904.

The post A Tsar is Born first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Boxer Rebellion

When a militant anti-imperial movement spreads China, an allied army of eight nations moved quickly to suppress the rebels, leading to a reactionary swing from the Qing Dynasty's government.

The post The Boxer Rebellion first appeared on A History of Japan.

Losing Korea

Although Japan had seemingly won influence over Korea as a war prize from the Chinese, Joseon itself was still an independent state. Because of the actions of one inexperienced Japanese diplomat, that independence was about to be asserted in an undeniable way.

The post Losing Korea first appeared on A History of Japan.

The First Sino-Japanese War

Mounting tensions over the future of Korea turned violent after the end of the Donghak Rebellion, resulting in a war between Japan and China.

The post The First Sino-Japanese War first appeared on A History of Japan.

The Battlefield of Ideas

With its new constitutional structure in place, the Japanese government began to take on a more permanent political shape. However, war with China over the future of Korea lurked on the horizon.

The post The Battlefield of Ideas first appeared on A History of Japan.

Comment on Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Big Move by justin.david.hebert

In reply to <a href="https://ahistoryofjapan.com/2023/12/04/tokugawa-ieyasus-big-move/#comment-134">Robert</a>. Another listener already asked about Hasekura Tsunenaga, but I appreciate the tip nonetheless! I have not seen "Las Huellas del Samurai," but I'll try to find a way to watch it. I did watch a good video about him and his descendants on PBS. He will definitely be included in the bonus episode, which will also feature various other Japanese adventurers, some of whom ended up in very surprising places and situations! Cheers!

Comment on Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Big Move by Robert

Good afternoon, first of all, great job doing the podcast, enjoying it a lot. Just wanted to leave a comment as my ears perked up when you mentioned foreign relations during the edo period/tokugawa shogunate which you were gonna do a bonus episode on at the end of the season. My comment basically amounts to an interesting story i'm not sure you will include involving Hasekura Tsunenaga. If you aren't gonna do it, a tl;dr is that a diplomatic embassy left for Spain in 1614 from Sendai headed by this samurai. It was an attempt to communicate with Phillip III of Spain on the part of the Japanese government that in the long run amounted to naught. However, when the embassy arrived, some of its members liked the idea of catholic Spain and decided to stay, settling in Spanish lands for good, more specifically in the relatively small Andalusian town of Coria del Rio near Seville. What's neat about this is that centuries later, there are townsfolk from the town of Coria with the last name "Japón" (e.g "Juan Japón"), meaning "Japan" in Spanish, which are the descendants of this japanese embassy that decided to take root in this new world (to the point that if you meet a Spanish person with a "Japón" last name, you automatically know they have family in Coria). There's a Spanish documentary called "las huellas del samurai" (the footprints of the samurai) about the subject. Just thought it'd interest you.

Comment on The Rise of the Mongols by justin.david.hebert

In reply to <a href="https://ahistoryofjapan.com/2022/05/26/the-rise-of-the-mongols/#comment-47">Lynne Edwards</a>. Thanks for letting me know! I did say "generally" in the episode but I always appreciate learning new things.

Comment on The Rise of the Mongols by Lynne Edwards

The Italian rule about “g” is nothing to do with beginning of the word. it’s about the following vowel. “g” is soft when followed by “e” or “i” and hard when followed by “a”, “o” or “u”. If you need a hard “g” sound (like “egg”) before an “e” or “i” you have to put an “h” after the “g”. Hence “Genghis” starts with a soft “g” and has a hard one in the middle because there’s an “h” before the “i” “Garibaldi” started his name with a hard (egg) “g” because it’s followed by an “a”. There’s an identical rule for “c”

Comment on The Golden Age of Goryeo by justin.david.hebert

In reply to <a href="https://ahistoryofjapan.com/2021/11/04/the-golden-age-of-goryeo/#comment-40">Justin</a>. Thank you for the tip - I really appreciate it! I will work harder to correct my Korean pronunciation as much as possible, it's so hard to keep up with the various romanization systems which seem to have been randomly assigned throughout East Asia.

Comment on The Golden Age of Goryeo by Justin

Hey yo man, I love your podcast. I just wanted to let you know about one little big problem that will help when you pronounce Korean words. Here it is. When Korean is Romanized, the letters “eo” sounds is “aw” and not “ee-yo” or “eh-yo.” It is, in fact, just the vowel sound “aw.” So, Goryeo (고려) sounds like “Gor-yaw” and not “Koree-yay-yo.” I understand that one can get bogged down in pronouncing foreign words and it can get a bit ridiculous. Whoever decided the decided Korean Romanization did a pretty good job, but legitimately screwed up with the 어/여 vowel Romanized as aw/yaw or au/yau than the “eo” thing which every native English speaker I’ve ever heard just say “ee-yo” or “ee-oh” because, I get it. I’m a native English speaker.