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The fourth and final episode in our series on the Jinshin no Ran: we cover the campaign in Afumi (aka Ōmi - 近江).  Prince Ōama and Prince Ōtomo (aka Kōbun Tennō), have drawn up their forces.  Last episode we covered the fighting in the Nara Basin, around the ancient Yamato capital: Asuka.  This episode focuses on the defense of the Karafu and Fuwa passes and the eventual march to the bridge at Setagawa. This is a name heavy episode, and we'll be noting some of it here: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-132   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 132: The Jinshin no Ran, Part 4: The Afumi Campaign The Afumi soldiers on the western side of the bridge looked across the open expanse of water towards their Yoshino rivals on the eastern side.  If it weren't for the banners and the red tags barely visible on the sleeves of the opposing forces, it would be hard to know which side was which.  Both were equipped in similar ways, and a few of the soldiers could even make out familiar faces on the other side.  That is the nature of civil wars—especially in a conscript society, where the soldiers often had little choice which side they were fighting for.  Not that it necessarily mattered much to them which side came out on top, whatever their commanders might have told them. The bridge across the Seta river was large and wide, and normally quite well traveled.  Now, however, the central boards had been pulled up for a span of about 30 feet or so, leaving a gap spanned by only a single, narrow plank.  That plank was, itself, tied to a rope, which was being held by the Afumi troops.  The soldiers knew that should any of the enemy try to cross, they could pull the plank out from under them and they would fall into the river, their metal armor dragging them down into the dark depths of swirling water below.  Even should they somehow make it across without being peppered by arrows, there would be no reinforcements coming: they would be slaughtered, and the trap would be reset. It seemed like the Afumi forces held all the cards in this battle, and yet they were still tense. Archers could still shoot across the distance. The front rank of troops held wooden shields as a defense, but there were still openings in the formation and the armor, and in the chaos of battle, nobody was truly safe. And so the Afumi forces waited.  Confident, but wary. A commotion on the eastern side of the bridge grabbed the spotlight.  The Yoshino forces had approached, and they were clearly preparing for something.  The Afumi soldiers strained to see what was going on.  Suddenly, the front line of the Yoshino forces parted, and a strange sight confronted the Afumi soldiers.  It took them a moment to fully comprehend what was barreling towards them at full tilt: a soldier that looked almost like two soldiers put together, wearing armor placed over armor, in an attempt to protect from harm.  It must have been heavy, and as he stepped on the beam, it visibly buckled under the weight.  The Afumi archers let loose with their arrows and crossbow bolts, but to no avail.  They simply stuck in the armor, adding to the bizarre and otherworldly appearance of their opponent. The spell was broken on the Afumi side as arrows came cascading in.  The Yoshino forces weren't just sitting idly back, they were making sure they were doing everything they could to keep the Afumi forces distracted.  And for a split second it worked—and a split second was all they needed.  Before the soldiers could gather up their wits about them enough to pull the rope there was a terrifying sound of metal on wood.  The Afumi soldiers pulled the rope, but it came all too easy—the Yoshino soldier had dashed across and cut the rope tied to the plank.  Behind him, the Yoshino forces were now pouring across the bridge.  Soon they would establish a foothold, and behind the front line they would be able to have other soldiers place more planks so that the number of Yoshino soldiers on the Western side of the bridge only continued to increase. Realizing that their trap had been circumvented, the Afumi forces fell back, but their strategic withdrawal soon turned into a full on retreat.  While pockets of soldiers resisted, many were suddenly all too aware that perhaps it was better to live and fight another day, instead.  Despite threats and even attacks from their own commanders, the Afumi forces fled the battlefield, leaving the Yoshino army victorious.  With the Seta bridge now secured, there were no more major obstacles in their way:  They would march to the capital at Ohotsu and finish this war.   Welcome back!  This is Part 4, and so if you haven't already done so, I recommend going back and starting with Part 1.  That said, we'll briefly recap here. Over the past three episodes, we've talked about the causes of the war between Prince Ohotomo and Prince Ohoama as they vied for the throne.  Prince Ohotomo seemingly had the stronger position, as he was actually running the Yamato state from the Afumi capital in Ohotsu.  He had the various ministers and all the official organs of the state on his side.   He was also 23 years old. Ohoama, on the other side, was Ohotomo's paternal uncle.  His own son, Prince Takechi, was 19 years old and helping to lead the army.   Upon learning that the State was gathering forces against him, Ohoama had quickly moved east, gathering forces as he went, and now he stood near Fuwa, modern day Sekigahara, prepared to begin his march on the capital.   This episode we are going to cover the conclusion of the war.  Warning, though, this is going to be a *lot*.  A lot of place names and people names.  Apologies if it is hard to follow.  I'll have a rough map and info on the various players on the podcast blog, so you may want to bring that up if you are having problems following. In Part I of this series we covered the causes leading up to the conflict.  In Part II we covered Ohoama's mad dash to Fuwa, at modern Sekigahara.  Last episode, Part III we covered the fighting in the Nara Basin. This episode we are going to talk about the last two fronts of the war: the defense of the Iga area and Kurafu Pass, and the march from Fuwa to the Afumi capital of Ohotsu. Before we go into the details of the next battles, let's look at what each side of the conflict was doing, what they are concerned about, and where they are on the board.  We'll then go into how the rest of the war played out, and its conclusion and aftermath.     Ohoama's Yoshino forces had largely been drawn from the countries in the east—the very same countries that Ohoama was denying to the Afumi court.  In response, the Afumi court had drawn their forces from where they could.  There were those that they had already called up under the pretense of building Naka no Oe's burial mound, but they had sent others out to raise troops in Yamato and out the western side of Honshu, all the way to Tsukushi—modern Kyushu.  However, not everyone in the Western region of the archipelago was friendly to the Afumi court—especially the regions of Kibi and Tsukushi.  This was significant.  Kibi was an ancient rival of Yamato, and likely could contribute a sizeable force.  Tsukushi, on the other hand, was quite large, and besides the conscripts from among the regular inhabitants, Tsukushi also was in charge of defending the archipelago from invasion—they were the first line of defense.  They had constructed numerous castles and fortifications to defend against a possible invasion, and those castles and fortifications were no doubt manned by troops that had been raised for that purpose.  If they could now be turned inwards, that could be enough to really turn the tide against Ohoama and his Yoshino army. The only problem was that neither Kibi nor Tsukushi were exactly sympathetic to the Afumi court.  The governor of Kibi and Prince Kurikuma, the viceroy of Tsukushi, both had ties to Ohoama, and the ministers suspected them of sympathizing with their Yoshino rivals.  As such the envoys that were sent out were authorized to take whatever drastic steps they felt necessary to secure the troops. So how did that all go down?  Well, last episode we talked about how Hodzumi no Momotari and his crew had been stopped from raising troops in Asuka by Ohotomo no Fukei, whose bluff of pretending to be Prince Takechi and a host of cavalry soldiers caused the conscripted troops to flee, and ended up in the death of Momotari and the capture of his compatriots. In Kibi, things took a turn in Afumi's favor.  When the Afumi government's envoy arrived at the government center in Kibi, he tricked the governor into taking off his sword.  Once he had done so, the envoy drew his own sword and killed the governor.  Without the governor to get in his way, the envoy then went about securing the land and troops for the Afumi court. Prince Kurikuma, the viceroy in Tsukushi, at the Dazaifu, was not quite so easily fooled, however.  Kurikuma knew how the court operated, and was apparently well informed of what was going on.  When the Afumi court's envoy met with Kurikuma, the Prince was flanked by two of his sons, Prince Mino and Prince Takebe, each one armed.  When Prince Kurikuma heard what the Afumi court wanted—for him to send the troops from Tsukushi to help quell Ohoama's rebellion—Kurikuma responded that he needed those troops to hold the border.  After all, the Tang dynasty was still a potential threat, and what good would it do to send the troops from the border regions to fight an internal war, only to then have an invader come in and destroy the state entirely?  No, he reasoned, he would not be sending the troops as the Afumi court requested. We are told that for a moment, the Afumi envoy thought about grabbing his sword and killing Prince Kurikuma, as the Afumi court had suggested, but with both of Kurikuma's sons armed on either side of him, he realized that he didn't have great odds, and so he eventually left, empty handed, but alive. This is significant.  While we don't know exact numbers, it is likely that there were quite a few troops stationed in Kyushu and the islands, all in case of foreign invasion.  By not supplying them to the Afumi court, Prince Kurikuma dealt a huge blow to the Afumi's ability to make war.  Add to that the fact that Ohoama had likewise blocked the court's access to the eastern countries, and that further narrowed the troops that Afumi had access to.  Nonetheless, they still had enough to be dangerous, and it is impossible to say exactly what might happen in a war. So we know where the Afumi and Yoshino forces ostensibly came from, but let's talk about the battlefield.  All of the fighting that we talk about was happening in an area between Naniwa—modern Ohosaka—and Fuwa, modern Sekigahara, northwest from the modern city of Nagoya. There are three main theaters we are talking about.  The first is in the Nara basin, which we talked about extensively in the last episode.  The Nara basin itself was not necessarily of the most strategic importance, militarily, but it was of huge symbolic importance.  After all, that was still the ancient capital, even though the governmental functions had been moved north, to Ohotsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa.  The second is in the Suzuka mountains.  This includes the areas of Iga and Kouka, and it is bordered by the Nara basin on the west, the Mie coastline on the east, and Afumi, the area around lake Biwa, to the north.  This is the same region that Ohoama had to naviagate through on his way from Yoshino to the east, and the mountains and valleys make it so that there are only so many traversable routes through.  For our narrative we are going to be primarily talking about the Kurafu Pass, between Kouka and Iga, at modern Tsuge city.  This pass  was an important route between Kouka, Iga, and Mie.  The road followed the Soma River which eventually flowed into Lake Biwa.  This made it a route out of Afumi, and if the Afumi forces could secure the Kurafu pass and the fields of Tara, just on the other side, they could split Ohoama's forces and cut off any help that he could possibly send to the Nara basin, and possibly even take Ohoama from behind. Finally, let's talk about our third theater:  Afumi itself.  Specifically, we are looking at the southern and eastern sides around Lake Biwa.  Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, and it is almost entirely surrounded by mountains except for where the Seta river flows south, eventually winding its way to Naniwa.  Today, the area of Afumi is largely co-located with modern Shiga Prefecture. Back in 668, after finding themselves on the losing side of the Baekje-Tang war, Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou, had moved the capital to Ohotsu, or Big Port, in Afumi, on the shores of Lake Biwa, likely for the protection it gave.  From Afumi, there were three major routes out of the basin, and a few minor ones.  All of them were through defensible mountain passes, like Karafu Pass, Fuwa Pass, and Suzuka Pass.  Three such passes:  Fuwa, Suzuka, and Arachi would become prominent barriers, or seki, along the ancient roads, and were known as the Sangen, or Three Barriers, protecting the capital region.  Suzuka no seki, at the pass of the same name, was in the south.  To reach it from Afumi, one crossed the Karafu pass, and then turned east through a pass near Mt. Miyama.  At the northern tip of the Suzuka mountains was Fuwa pass, future home of the Fuwa barrier.  The Barrier, or “Seki” would give its name to the area in another form:  Sekigahara.  This was along the Tousandou, the Eastern Mountain road, and even today it is the path through which roads and even the Shinkansen traverse between eastern and western Honshu.  Finally, though less important to our story, was the Arachi pass. Arachi no seki was part of the Hokurikudo, the Northern Land Route, and led to the ancient country of Kochi and the port of Tsuruga, which had a long history as an alternate port, especially for ships sailing from Goguryeo.  Later, Arachi no seki would be replaced in the Sangen ranking by another pass between Afumi and modern Kyoto, which would be known as the Afusaka, or Ohosaka, Pass.  This was the pass that would have been used to get to Yamashiro and, from there, to Naniwa and the Nara Basin. These three passes would come to define the island of Honshu, and became the dividing line between the Kanto region, in the east, and the Kansai region, in the west.  By holding the Suzuka and Fuwa passes, Ohoama effectively denied any travel to the eastern regions.  Sure, Afumi could have tried going through the Arachi pass and into Kochi, but then they would have had to traverse the Japan alps—no small feat, especially without modern conveniences like the trains and busses used today. From Fuwa Pass, where Ohoama and Prince Takechi had set up their headquarters, it was largely a straight shot to the Afumi capital of Ohotsu.  Between Lake Biwa and the Suzuka mountains is a wide, flat plain, divided primarily by the rivers and streams running out from the mountains into the lake.  Immediately west of Fuwa is the area of Maibara.  Following the shore of the lake one traverses through modern Hikone, to Yasu.  Yasu would also have been the location where the road to the Karafu pass broke off into the Suzuka mountains.  Beyond that was the bridge across the Seta River. The Seta river was one of the largest obstacles that would have to be negotiated, and the Afumi forces knew this.  Just as Ohoama would set up at Fuwa pass, a large number of the Afumi forces were set up on the western bank of the Seta river.  If the Yoshino forces could get across, however, it would mean that they had a more or less unimpeded route to the capital at Ohotsu. So now let's talk about what was happening in each of these places. Ohoama had set up at Fuwa—Sekigahara—and had begun to call soldiers to him.  Not only did did this allow him to block the rival Afumi troops from accessing the Eastern countries and possibly raising troops to use against him, but he was also able to maintain a line of communication with ancient Yamato, in the Nara Basin.  In order to keep his communication lines open, and to ensure that the Afumi forces couldn't sneak up behind him, Ohoama split his forces in two.  He knew that Afumi forces were trying to take his stronghold in Yamato, and if successful, from there they could move in to Uda and on to Iga.  thereafter that, they could march up behind him through the Suzuka pass.  Alternatively, the forces in Afumi could come up through Kouka and the Karafu pass, and then try to divide and conquer So the first group of Ohoama's army were to go south, through the Suzuka pass into their mountain namesake.  Once there, Oho no Omi no Honji was to hold Tarano, the Plain of Tara, where the routes to Suzuka, Kafuka, and Iga met.  Tanaka no Omi no Tarumaro went with him, with orders to guard the Kurafu pass, which is to say the road to Kouka.  This first group was headed by Ki no Omi no Abemaro, and also included Miwa no Kimi no Kobito, and Okizome no Muraji no Usagi.  Along with what we are told were tens of thousands of men, this first made their way south from Fuwa  through Mie and Ise and over the Suzuka pass.  Once there, they took up their positions at Karafu and Tarano.  It was a good thing, too, because only a couple of days after they arrived, the enemy struck.   Now as soon as he got there, Oho no Honji had fortified Tarano with some three thousand men, and Tanaka no  Tarumaro was sent to guard the Kurafu pass.  Prior to this, Tarumaro had been the official in charge of the Hot Springs in Ise, but he had joined Ohoama and the Yoshino forces when they first arrived over the Suzuka Pass.  Now he was in charge of a military force, encamped along the road through the Kurafu pass, waiting for the enemy. Unbeknownst to him, a deputy commander of the Afumi forces, Tanabe no Wosumi, was approaching from Mt. Kafuka.  Presumably he'd been sent out from Ohotsu and had followed the road along the Yasu and Soma rivers towards the pass.  Wosumi had  sizeable force with him, but he was not looking for a direct assault.  Even if he would win, he would suffer casualties, especially trying to attack an entrenched enemy in a fortified position.  He needed to be sneaky.  He had no way of knowing that, centuries later, the lands of Iga and Kouka would be known for their sneaky warriors—their legendary ninja—but I digressed.  What Wosumi did was this.  First, he rolled up his banners and muffled the drums.  He even had his men gag themselves—a continental custom where soldiers were given a stick to hold in their mouth, like a horse's bit, to discourage any talking amongst the ranks as they approached.  Presumably, they kept them in until just before attacking, because they also devised a watchword “kane”—transcribed as metal or gold.  Wosumi knew that it would be hard enough to tell who was who in the daytime—after all, it wasn't like these were regimented forces with uniforms.  The soldiers were likely all wearing whatever they had available, and clothing and armor would have been similar across the two armies.  At night, even some kind of mark or flag would hardly be enough to tell who was who in the dark.  As lines broke and melee ensued, it would be easy to get turned around, and find yourself facing a friend.  By saying the watchword you could distinguish friend from foe. Sure enough, this tactic worked.  The Afumi forces broke through the Yoshino fortifications in the middle of the night and swarmed into the encampment.  Men who had been asleep were waking up to chaos.  Tarumaro's Yoshino soldiers were thrown into confusion.  Tarumaro himself, escaped, but just barely.  we are told that he noticed that the enemy kept shouting the word “kane”, and so he started doing it as well. The Afumi forces, assuming he was one of their own, left him alone.  Still, he only escaped with difficulty. His escape was no doubt critical, however.   He presumably would have headed to Tarano to try and warn Oho no Honji, but this may not have been possible, as we are told that on the following day, after the attack at Karafu pass, the Afumi commander Wosumi continued his advance, and came upon the Yoshino encampment at Tarano unexpectedly.  Still, General Honji did not back down.  With a force of hand-picked soldiers, Honji counterattacked against Wosumi and struck him.  We are told that Wosumi made it out—the only one who did—but that he did not try and make another attack.  The Yoshino forces would ultimately hold the pass and the critical juncture of Tarano.  The Afumi forces would not get a second chance. By the way, a quick note here:  I can't help but notice a bit of a trope showing up in these stories:  At Narayama, General Fukei is defeated, and is the only person who makes his escape.  Then Tarumaro is the only person to escape his defeat.  Finally, Wosumi is the only one of his forces to leave the plain of Tara. I am more than a little incredulous that these generals are the only ones who actually survived, and that the rest of the army was slaughtered.  In fact, you may recall that at the battle at Taima, General Fukei told his men not to pursue the fleeing common soldiers.  As I've tried to point out, the common soldiers were not likely as invested in the cause.  In fact, it is just as possible that the common soldiers may have changed sides and joined the other army if they thought it would serve them well.  Or maybe they were escaping and just blending into the countryside.  After all, the elites weren't really spending the time to get to know them, let along record any details about them.  So I suspect that it was more about the fact that the various armies would be broken, and the soldiers flung to the four corners, rather than that they were necessarily slaughtered.  After all, if you had the choice, would you have stayed there? A few days after Wosumi was defeated, the Yoshino general that Ohoama had sent to Iga along with Honji and Tarumaro, Ki no Omi no Abemaro, heard that their ally, Ohotomo no Fukei was in trouble in the Nara Basin.  He'd been defeated by the Afumi general Ohono no Hatayasu at Narayama,  and without reinforcements, the entire Nara Basin could fall, along with the ancient Yamato capital at Asuka. So Abemaro sent Okizome no Muraji no Usagi with more than a thousand cavalry to go assist.  They met Fukei at Sumizaka, and suddenly, things were looking up in the Nara Basin.  For more on how that turned out, check out last episode, where we covered the events in the Nara Basin. Once the events in the Nara Basin settled out, then both the Nara Basin and the Karafu pass would be well and truly in the hands of the Yoshino forces.  But there was no way for those guarding those locations to know that the fighting was over, and they would have to hold their positions until the fighting had definitively stopped.  Which brings us back to Ohoama and the Yoshino troops gathered at Fuwa, where things were about to kick off as well.  The troops at Fuwa, while being led by Ohoama and his 19 year old son, Takechi, were placed under the command of Murakuni no Muraji no Woyori—who, , as things progressed, would be noted as the primary general for the campaign that would lead Yoshino troops from Fuwa, on the offensive towards Ohotsu. The only reason that they seem to have waited before going on the offensive was that every day, more troops were coming in.  So even as the fighting was going on in Nara and at the Karafu pass, the Yoshino army at Fuwa gathered men and made their preparations.  As they did so, the Afumi court Was going to do whatever they could to try and break them, hoping that they could stop the threat posed by Ohoama and his men before they began their march. For the Afumi forces first attempt to break the Yoshino defenses at Fuwa pass, they picked troops to try and make an incursion into the village of Tamakurabe, which appears to have been in the pass itself; it was probably modern Tama district of Sekigahara.  They were repelled, however, by Izumo no Omi no Koma, who drove them off. Later, the Afumi court ordered another force of several tens of thousands of men to attack under the command of Prince Yamabe no Ou, Soga no Omi no Hatayasu, and Kose no Omi no Hito.  Soga no Hatayasu and Kose no Hito were both part of the inner circle of the Afumi court, or so it would seem.  When Prince Ohotomo had taken the reins of the government in a ceremony in the Western Hall of the Palace, he was attended by the ministers of the right and left, as well as Soga no Hatayasu, Kose no Hito, and Ki no Ushi.  They were at the very heart of this whole matter.  Prince Yamabe is a little bit more of a mystery.  We know he was someone of note, and when Prince Ohotsu was brought to his parents, they were apparently traveling under the guise of Prince Yamabe and another prince, Prince Ishikawa.  But we know little else. The three men and their Afumi troops headed out and camped on the bank of the Inukami river, near modern Hikone.  There, however, trouble broke out. The Nihon Shoki does not record exactly what it was, but there must have been some kind of falling out.  Prince Yamabe no Ou was killed by Soga no Hatayasu and Kose no Hito.  We don't know if this was due to some quarrel or what, but either way, it threw the army into a state of disarray and there was no way for them to move forward.  Soga no Hatayasu appears to have taken responsibility for whatever happened, as he headed back from Inukami, presumably back to Ohotsu, where he took his own life by stabbing himself in the throat.  There would be no attack on Fuwa Pass, however. Finally, the Nihon Shoki also recounts the story of another Afumi general, named Hata no Kimi no Yakuni, and his son, Ushi.  Together with others, who remain unnamed, they surrendered themselves to Ohoama and the Yoshino forces, rather than fighting.  It isn't clear if they were deserters, if they had been part of one of the other two attempts to take Fuwa Pass, or if there was something else going on.  Either way, Ohoama was so pleased that he welcomed them in and we are told that Hata no Yakuni was “granted a battle axe and halberd” and appointed a general.  This is probably stock phrasing, but it does seem he was given some measure of trust.  Yakuni's men were then sent north, to Koshi. We aren't quite sure what those forces' ultimate objective was.  It may have been that he was to take the northern pass and make sure that none of the Afumi troops tried to escape and head to the East along that road.  Many of the accounts of this war seem to suggest that he, or at least some part of the forces, were to head north and then come around Lake Biwa the long way.  This would mean that if Ohoama attacked, there would be no easy way to flee.  From Ohotsu they couldn't turn north without running into more troops, and their only escape would seem to be through the Afusaka pass towards the area of modern Kyoto.  And of course, whoever was victorious in the Nara Basin would then be able to control the route to the coast. It is unclear how much Ohoama could have actually known, though, about what was happening across the various distances.  Messages would have meant riders on swift horses carrying them; they couldn't just text each other what was going on. And so, with one attack repelled, another aborted, and a turncoat now on their side, Ohoama's Yoshino forces were finally ready to head out on the offensive themselves.  According to the Nihon Shoki this was on the 7th day of the 7th month—Tanabata, today, but I doubt people were paying much mind to the Weaver and the Cowherd.  Murakuni no Woyori, with the group advancing from Fuwa to Afumi, set out, and met with their first resistance at the Yokugawa river in Okinaga.  As far as I can tell, this is likely the Amano River in modern Maibara, which anyone who takes the Shinkansen between Kanto and Kansai probably recognizes as one of the usual stops.  Once again, we have a situation where, while they would have had banners flying, in the crush of battle it could be quite easy to mistake friend for foe, especially with large numbers of troops who were pulled from vastly different regions.  You had to have some way of knowing quickly who was on your side – that's why the Afumi commander Wosumi had his troops use the password “kane”, for example.  Ohoama's approach was to have his men place a red mark—possibly a ribbon or similar—on their clothing so that one could tell who, at a glance, was on their side.  As a note, later samurai would sometimes attach flags to their shoulder armor, or sode, and these “sode-jirushi” would help identify you even if people didn't recognize your armor.  Ohoama's troops may have used something similar. And so Woyori's Yoshino forces attacked the Afumi defenders, and the Afumi troops were clearly outmatched.  Woyori's men killed the Afumi commander and defeated the opposing forces. But that was just the beginning.  Afumi forces had been stationed all along the route from Fuwa to Ohotsu.  Thus it was that only two days later Woyori and his men made it to Mt. Tokoyama, probably in Hikone, by the Seri river.  There they met more Afumi soldiers, but once again they were triumphant and slew the opposing commander.   Woyori and his men were on a roll. I would point out that these battles aren't given much detail, but we do see how it progressed.  There are names of various individuals and commanders—certainly not much on the common people.  From what we can tell, this was not a rush to Ohotsu, but rather a slow march, probably doing their best to fortify their positions and make sure that nobody was sneaking up on them.  After each battle, it is some days before the next, probably spent spying out ahead and formulating plans. Woyori and his men next fought a battle on the banks of the Yasukawa River, presumably near modern Yasu city.  Here, Aston's translation claims that he suffered a great defeat, but more likely I suspect it means to say that he inflicted a great defeat on the Afumi forces, because if he had been defeated, how would he have pressed on only a few days later.  We are told that  two men, presumably the Afumi commanders, were both taken prisoner. Since we don't have anything more about them in the narrative all we can really do is assume that they must have therefore been on the side of the Afumi forces. By taking Yasu, that would have likely cut off the Afumi forces from any future considerations about using the Kurafu Pass.  The noose around Ohotsu was slowly tightening. Four days after that, on the 17th day of the 7th month, Woyori attacked and repulsed the Kurimoto army—presumably a force loyal to the Afumi court under a general named Kurimoto, or possibly raised from a place called Kurimoto, perhaps over on Awaji.  Either way, it was another victory on Woyori's belt. From there, Woyori and his men arrived at Seta, where they would have to cross the Setagawa—the Seta River. The Seta River is a wide river, and the only one flowing out of Lake Biwa.  It winds its way south and west, eventually becoming the Uji and then the Yodo rivers, which flow all the way to Naniwa—modern Ohosaka.  At the Seta river, there was a major bridge, the only way across, other than to swim.  Prince Ohotomo and his ministers, along with their entire army, were encamped on the west side of the bridge.  Their forces were so numerous that it was said you could not see all the way to the back of them.  Their banners covered the plain, and the dust of their movement caused a cloud to rise into the sky.  Their drums and songs could be heard for miles around.  We are told they even had crossbows, and when they were discharged the arrows fell like rain.  Of course, some of this may have just been more poetic license by the authors of the Nihon Shoki, but you get the picture:  There were a lot of troops on the western side of the river. The bridge itself was defended by General Chison.  We know very little of this general, as he only appears in this one part of the record, but his name implies that he may have been from the continent.  We aren't given a surname, and it is possible he was one of the Baekje refugees, now fighting for the Afumi court.  He led an advance body of specially selected troops, and in the middle of the bridge they had removed planks for about three rods or thirty feet.  Across that span was a single plank, daring anyone to try and cross it.  Of course, if they did, they would be a sitting duck in front of the enemy archers, and the plank was attached by a rope so that it could always be pulled out from under them.  It seemed as if it were impossible to advance. Finally, one of Woyori's soldiers, Ohokida no Kimi no Wakaomi, got up the courage to cross.  We are told that he put on double armor, put down his long spear, and drew his sword.  He then charged suddenly across the plank and cut the rope on the other side before the Afumi troops could pull it back.  In spite of the arrows that were raining down on him, he entered the ranks of the Afumi troops, slashing with his sword as he went.  The Afumi forces were thrown into confusion and some of them tried to leave, but General Chison drew his own sword and began to cut down anyone who tried to flee.  Still, he was unable to check the rout.  Woyori's troops secured the bridge and soon were pouring across it.  They cut down General Chison and advanced into the Afumi army, who broke and ran.  The Afumi sovereign, Ohotomo, aka Koubun Tennou, along with the Ministers of the Left and Right, narrowly escaped with their lives. Woyori and his troops marched to the foot of Awazu hill, and we are told that Hata no Yakuni, the Afumi commander who had earlier defected, and whose men were sent north to Koshi, set a siege to Miwo castle along with Izumo no Koma, who had defended against the attempted seizure of Tamakurabe.  Presumably this is Mio, south of Ohotsu, and it was likely guarding the southern approach to the Afumi capital. The only thing here that gives me pause is that we were earlier told that Yakuni's men, after he defected, were sent to Koshi.  So was Yakuni not with them?  Had he returned?  Or had the troops made it all the way around Lake Biwa already, taking the longer route up and around the lake? Regardless of how it happened, Yakuni and Koma were able to take Miwo castle.  As a reminder, a “castle” at this time would have likely been defined more by its walls, which were probably rammed earth and wood—not the elegantly sloping stone walls and  donjon base that would come to typify castles of the Warring States period. The following day, Woyori and his men continued their pursuit.  At the Awazu marketplace, Woyori ran into the Afumi generals Inukahi no Muraji no Isokimi and Hasama no Atahe no Shihote.  We mentioned Isokimi last episode—he was the Afumi commander attacking the Middle Road in the Nara Basin.  His deputy, Kujira, had been defeated, and it seems Isokimi had retreated back to Afumi and rejoined the main force. He would not be quite so fortunate this time.  Isokimi and Shihote were both slain, and Ohotomo fled once again.  He didn't get very far, hiding at Yamazaki, thought to be near the site of the modern city hall, in Ohotsu. Despite his best efforts, he knew he would be discovered, and he eventually strangled himself, rather than facing the humiliation and punishment that would come with capture. With Ohotomo dead, the other ministers of the Afumi court dispersed and fled.  Woyori and his men, meeting up at Sasanami, hunted down the Ministers of the Left and Right—Soga no Akaye and Nakatomi no Kane—as well as others who had fought with Ohotomo and who were considered criminals. They were all marched back to Fuwa, where, on the 25th day of the 7th month, Ohotomo's head was presented to Ohoama.  The war, it seems, was over. Or at least, the fighting was over.  There was still a lot to be settled.  First off, it would hardly have been practical to wipe out every single person on the losing side.  For one thing, that would have devastated the Court even further, likely creating a huge power vacuum.  In addition, many of the supporters on both sides were not necessarily there out of purely partisan reasons.  I would point out that many of the family names that we see in the record are found on both sides of the conflict.  Inukahi no Isokimi may have fought for Ohotomo, but we also see an Inukahi no Ohotomo fighting on the behalf of Ohoama.  Fumi no Nemaro was a major commander in Ohoama's army, while Fumi no Kusuri had been sent by the Afumi court to raise troops in the East Country.  And Hasama no Shihote was killed with Isokimi at Awazu, while a Hasama no Nemaro was working under the command of General Fukei, in Nara, to guard Tatsuta. There wasn't necessarily a simple divide along family lines.  It is possible that these individuals were all fairly well removed from each other, and from different parts of their respective families, or clans. They are often given different kabane, the family rank system used at this time, though I suspect that may have more to do with later changes, with those on the winning side being promoted over those who supported the Afumi court.  However, it is also the case that Japan has a long history of family members supporting both sides in any major conflict.  That way, no matter who wins, the family itself finds itself on the winning side. But there did have to be some accountability.  This is something that one can point to time and again—if the losing side is not held accountable for their actions, then what is to prevent them from just regrouping and trying again?  And yet that need for justice and punishment must be tempered with some amount of humanity. Ultimately, about one month after the end of the war, eight of the Afumi ministers were found guilty of truly heinous offences and they were condemned to suffer what the Nihon Shoki says was the “Extreme Penalty”.  The Minister of the Right, Nakatomi no Kane, was executed at Tane, in Asai.  Meanwhile the Minister of the Left, Soga no Akaye; along with the Dainagon, or Grand Councillor, Kose no Hito, as well as their children and grandchildren, along with the children of the late Nakatomi no Kane and Soga no Hatayasu, were all sent into banishment.  All others were pardoned. And of course those who had supported Ohoama, and who had come to his aid, were given public favour and reward.  In many cases this likely meant receiving high office and corresponding rank, along with increased stipend payments.  There is a notable shift in the makeup of the court, going forward, and it seems clear that families would want to associate themselves with those who fought on Ohoama's side, rather than Ohotomo's, if they could help it.  That was no doubt a part of works like the various diaries and house records that would have been used to compile the Nihon Shoki, recording the deeds that any house did for the throne. Along with all of the punishments and plaudits that were meted out in the 8th month of 672, there was one more event—something of an outlier.  We are told that Chihisakobe no Muraji no Sabichi, the governor of the province of Wohari, went off into the mountains and committed suicide. Sabichi had originally met Ohoama at the Kuwana district house—the local government office—when he had first arrived from Yoshino.  He had a large number of troops—20,000 by the Nihon Shoki's count—which helped Ohoama to ultimately defeat the Afumi court.  So why he would go off into the mountains and commit suicide was anyone's guess.  The Nihon Shoki suggests that it was possible that his allegiance had changed, and he may have been trying to plot against Ohoama.  Perhaps he had been convinced that Afumi court was going to come out on top, and so had begun some plot.  Or he just had a falling out or became disillusioned for some reason.  Whatever it was, it remains a mystery, even today. With the war concluded, it was time for Ohoama to make his way from the field to the Capital so that he could transition to ruling the State properly.  But Ohoama was not interested, it would seem, in setting himself up in his brother's capital.  Setting up in the Ohotsu capital may have raised a few eyebrows.  It had not been a completely popular move to begin with, and it was also the home of the Afumi court's legitimacy.  To take up the throne there, I can only imagine that it would have further reinforced the idea that Ohoama was the usurper, taking the throne that was meant for his nephew.  Instead, he made the decision to travel to the ancient capital, in Asuka, but he was not in a hurry. They headed out on the 8th day of the 9th month of 672, making it from Fuwa to Kuwana.  Here he likely met up with his wife, Princess Uno, and his ten year old son, Prince Ohotsu.  The following day they headed out, traveling back along the route that they had taken from Yoshino, but at a much more leisurely route.  The royal carriage stayed the night in Suzuka.  From there, it was another day to Abe, likely referring to modern Ahai county, in Iga, near Ueno city.  They then continued on to Nabari.  Finally, on the 12th day,they arrived at the Yamato capital—that is to say Asuka—and Ohoama took up residence for a time at the Shima Palace.  This was only, it seems, to give people time to get the actual palace ready, because three days later, Ohoama moved into the Wokamoto Palace.  And with that, Ohoama began the work of running the state—but there was still plenty to prepare.  For one thing, there were foreign embassies—Kim Ap-sil and others arrived.  It was still going to take a while to get the capital ready for guests, though.  From what we can tell, they were probably building a grand new palace, and it would take some time for it to be prepared.  So the Silla embassy was entertained in Tsukushi, where Prince Kurikuma would have been in charge of hosting them.  They were likely filled on the new developments and provided a ship. Meanwhile, Ohoama made sure that all of the appropriate rewards were given out.  On the 4th day of the 12th month, we are told that all those who had rendered services were given higher cap-ranks, based on what they had done. And as the year 672 closes out—and with it, the first of the two Chronicles for Ohoama, the soon-to-be elevated Temmu Tennou. But there is one final entry, marking the death of Wina no Kimi no Takami in the 12th month of the year.  We know that Wina no Kimi no *Iwasuki* was working for the Afumi court, sent to rally troops in the East, but he fled when they encountered Ohoama's troops at Fuwa Pass.  Takami, on the other hand, we know little about, but I suspect may have been on the side of Ohoama.  It is an odd entry, and, like so many, unexplained.  Perhaps it meant something to the people of the early 8th century, but if so, that meaning is likely lost to us. And so we close the book on the Jinshin no Ran—the Jinshin War, or possibly the Disturbance or even Rebellion, depending on how you feel about it.  This account is one of the most detailed we have of this kind of event, and yet it does not seem that it was entirely unique.  There are plenty of indications that previous sovereigns had to fight their way to the throne, or else had to repel others who would try to take it by force.  This was almost a tradition among the royal house of Yamato.  But now that the matter of succession was well and truly settled, it was time to get on with other things. Who knows what an Afumi court may have done and how they could have changed things.  What we do know is what Ohoama—and his queen, Uno no Himemiko—did.  They built upon, or in some cases possibly even fabricated, the legacy of Naka no Oe.  They would set in stone many of the things that had been put in place, and at the same time make certain changes, as well.  The Yamato state was getting started. And we'll start to dive into that next episode.  Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

It was during the 1966 World Cup match between England and Argentina that one of England's leading professional referees, Ken Aston, had an idea that would revolutionise football. Aston, who was watching the game from the stands, was concerned over apparent language barriers between players and officials. His solution was to recommend referees be given red and yellow cards, as way of cautioning and if necessary, sending off a player. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Ken Aston's son, Peter, and Ben van Maaren, a Dutch collector of refereeing memorabilia, including some of Aston's personal papers. A CTVC production.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You'll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women's World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football's biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who've had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.(Photo: Ken Ashton on the pitch in 1962. Credit: Alamy)

We close out the first half of the 2025 season with a track that has seen underdog upsets, team collisions and plenty of processions. What does Hungary have in store for us this year? OFFER CODE MULTI25 on Patreon.com/Shift+F1 for 50% off your first month Multi 21 Seb... yeah... Multi 21 Sam Collins on Aston's upgrades (and more) Team Torque ft. Damon Hill The-Race's article about rain grooves The Brabham "fan car" Autosport: VER talking about his contract Support the show on Patreon and get all our bonus episodes! Follow us on the socials Email us at shiftf1podcast@gmail.com Join our fantasy league with invite code P46XBLLQJ06 New to F1? Check out our primer episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

n this episode we talk about what has been going on the media including Dale's crazy take on thinking he can be Aston Hall. We speak about different comedic preferences and the fact that dale always goes against the grain when ti comes to public opinion.

Coaches Conversations: Aston Walter by Kennesaw State Athletics

In this episode of Prescribing Lifestyle, I sit down with Donna Aston, founder of the Aston RX program — a 28-day therapeutic lifestyle reset designed to help people improve their metabolic health, reduce inflammation, and gain lifelong tools for sustainable weight loss. Donna shares her personal journey from being an overweight teen to becoming a body composition expert, nutrition researcher, and founder of one of Australia's most well-known lifestyle transformation platforms. We talk about how her program goes far beyond weight loss — addressing food addiction, emotional health, strength training, and metabolic flexibility. We also discuss the real challenges people face when it comes to sustaining lifestyle changes, the role of mindset, and how her research partnerships with RMIT are paving the way for better metabolic health outcomes. Whether you're a practitioner, someone living with metabolic syndrome, or simply curious about the “why” behind sustainable change — this is a powerful conversation filled with science, heart, and practical strategies.

Luke is back once again to run through all the action throughout the weekend from Hungary:Mclaren's perfect 200th win - (5:22)Russell's 6th podium of the season - (14:50)Aston martin's shock turn around - (19:50)Back to back for Bortoletto - (23:34)Lawson finding consistency - (28:04)No mans land/not to be seen - (31:23)What is going on at Ferrari? - (33:07)A turning point for Antonelli - (38:57)Red bull in major trouble - (41:15)Williams struggle with downforce - (46:04)Last thoughts on the GP - (49:30)

HAIR METAL Podcast EP.28. Part 2: Black Sabbath 'Back To The Beginning' Concert w/ Kaotica Studios Film Director: Johnny K. NOTE: This podcast was recorded 3 days before we learned of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne. Your Hair Metal Podcast hosts and guest are sadden and are mourning the death of Ozzy, our 'Prince of Darkness', who helped lead the way for all metal fans, and the next generation of metal fans to come. RIP Ozzy, thank you for contribution to our Metal fandom. Fandom Podcast Network YouTube Channel Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/@FandomPodcastNetwork Fandom Podcast Network Hair Metal Audio Podcast Link: https://fpnet.podbean.com/category/hair-metal/ The Hair Metal Podcast looks back at the Thrash, Glam & Rock Pop Metal bands, music, events and everything else that heavily influenced the 80's & early 90's Hair Metal era music.  On this special episode of the Hair Metal Podcast we discuss 'Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning' Benefit Concert. Back to the Beginning was a benefit concert by the English rock band Black Sabbath, with a number of supporting artists. It took place on July 5th, 2025 at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England, very near where the band was formed in 1968. The event concluded with the final live performances of both the band and lead singer Ozzy Osbourne; it also marked the first time since 2005 that the original line-up of the band (Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward) had performed together live. Osbourne, no longer able to walk due to advanced Parkinson's disease, sang while seated on a throne. The widely-lauded concert was streamed worldwide via pay per view with a broadcast delay. It featured an all-star lineup of supporting acts, including two supergroups of musicians serving as the house band. Proceeds from the event totaled £140 million, and will be donated to Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Cure Parkinson's. Black Sabbath is widely regarded as a foundational band for heavy metal, with their influence extending to various subgenres. Their impact is undeniable, shaping the sound and lyrical themes of countless bands across generations, from the 70s through to current day modern acts.  For the full 68 song set and band & artist list, click here: https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/black-sabbath-back-to-the-beginning-setlist Thank you for watching and listening to the Hair Metal Podcast on the Fandom Podcast Network! Remember...every rose has its thorn, and on a steel horse... we will ride! HAIR METAL LIVES! Rock on everyone! Hair Metal / Fandom Podcast Network Hosts & Guests Contact Info: - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the Fandom Podcast Network on YouTube! Like and share! https://www.youtube.com/c/FandomPodcastNetwork The Hair Metal Podcast Fandom Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/377695252724584/   The Fandom Podcast Network is on all major podcast platforms.  Our master feed for all of our audio podcasts can be found on Podbean: - https://fpnet.podbean.com/  - Podbean Hair Metal Podcast Master Feed: https://fpnet.podbean.com/category/hair-metal/   Follow and contact the Hair Metal Podcast at: - X (Twitter): @HairMetalCast - Email: HairMetalPodcast@gmail.com Host & Guests Contact Info On Social Media: - Host: - Kevin Reitzel on X / Instagram / Threads / Discord & Letterboxd: @spartan_phoenix. Bluesky: @spartanphoenix - Co-host: Mike Simmer: Kevin & Mike can be found on the Hair Metal Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/377695252724584/ Special Guest: Johnny K: IG and YouTube: @ThatJohnnyKguy & @KaoticaStudios #HairMetalPodcast #TheHairMetalPodcast #HairMetalPodcastFandomGroup #FandomPodcastNetwork #FPNet #FPN #RIPOzzy #HairMetal #HairMetalMusic #GlamMetal #BlackSabbath  #BlackSabbathBackToTheBeginning #BlackSabbathBackToTheBeginning2025 #OzzyOsbourne #TonyIommi #GeezerButler #BillWard #AcornsChildrensHospice #BirminghamChildrensHospital #CureParkinsons #Yungblud #NunoBettencourt #JakeELee #Metallica #GunsNRoses #SlayerBand #KaoticaStudios #JohnnyK #KevinReitzel #MikeSimmer

In this episode, Pete Codella, managing director of business services at the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, talks with Wayne Aston, CEO of Invictus Sovereign.  Aston discusses his career as an entrepreneur and his company's role in Utah's energy sector. His background in construction, the Marine Corps, and a church mission to Russia — combined with his passion for team-building and high adventure — have contributed to his current work. He explains how his company, Invictus Sovereign, focuses on developing land and managing the complex financing for major projects, aiming to pioneer in the transition from traditional utility monopolies to privately developed energy. Aston also details his work in central Utah, where his company leads a multi-year project focused on next-generation energy production. He explains that this effort aligns with Gov. Cox's Operation Gigawatt initiative to add a gigawatt of power to the state, which is vital for Utah's rapid growth and the increasing energy demands of artificial intelligence and data centers. Aston highlights that his projects are focused on creating high-paying jobs in central Utah to prevent young people from leaving the area. He also notes that Invictus Sovereign is working with the Utah Inland Port Authority to enhance rail and airport infrastructure. Its work focuses on long-term partnerships and a "Utah first" mentality to improve the state's economy and quality of life.

Send us a textEpisode 213Before he was the Prince of Darkness, before the bat, the bites, and the black leather — there was just John Michael Osbourne. A working-class kid from Aston, Birmingham, born into poverty, dyslexia, and a life that didn't seem to promise much more than the factory floor. But behind the thick accent and troubled childhood was a voice that would one day shake the world.This isn't just the story of a heavy metal icon. It's about survival, self-destruction, and a strange kind of genius that somehow turned pain into power. So turn up the volume, dim the lights, and step into the madness.Support the showInsta@justpassingthroughpodcastContact:justpassingthroughpodcast@gmail.com

HAIR METAL Podcast EP.28 Part 1 Black Sabbath 'Back To The Beginning' Concert w/ Kaotica Studios Film Director: Johnny K.  NOTE: This podcast was recorded 3 days before we learned of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne. Your Hair Metal Podcast hosts and guest are sadden and are mourning the death of Ozzy, our 'Prince of Darkness', who helped lead the way for all metal fans, and the next generation of metal fans to come. RIP Ozzy, thank you for contribution to our Metal fandom. We hope you enjoy this wonderful discussion of the defining event of metal music history. Fandom Podcast Network YouTube Channel Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/@FandomPodcastNetwork Fandom Podcast Network Hair Metal Audio Podcast Link: https://fpnet.podbean.com/category/hair-metal/ The Hair Metal Podcast looks back at the Thrash, Glam & Rock Pop Metal bands, music, events and everything else that heavily influenced the 80's & early 90's Hair Metal era music.  On this special episode of the Hair Metal Podcast we discuss 'Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning' Benefit Concert. Back to the Beginning was a benefit concert by the English rock band Black Sabbath, with a number of supporting artists. It took place on July 5th, 2025 at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England, very near where the band was formed in 1968. The event concluded with the final live performances of both the band and lead singer Ozzy Osbourne; it also marked the first time since 2005 that the original line-up of the band (Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward) had performed together live. Osbourne, no longer able to walk due to advanced Parkinson's disease, sang while seated on a throne. The widely-lauded concert was streamed worldwide via pay per view with a broadcast delay. It featured an all-star lineup of supporting acts, including two supergroups of musicians serving as the house band. Proceeds from the event totaled £140 million, and will be donated to Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Cure Parkinson's. Black Sabbath is widely regarded as a foundational band for heavy metal, with their influence extending to various subgenres. Their impact is undeniable, shaping the sound and lyrical themes of countless bands across generations, from the 70s through to current day modern acts.  For the full 68 song set and band & artist list, click here: https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/black-sabbath-back-to-the-beginning-setlist Thank you for watching and listening to the Hair Metal Podcast on the Fandom Podcast Network! Remember...every rose has its thorn, and on a steel horse... we will ride! HAIR METAL LIVES! Rock on everyone! Hair Metal / Fandom Podcast Network Hosts & Guests Contact Info: - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the Fandom Podcast Network on YouTube! Like and share! https://www.youtube.com/c/FandomPodcastNetwork The Hair Metal Podcast Fandom Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/377695252724584/   The Fandom Podcast Network is on all major podcast platforms.  Our master feed for all of our audio podcasts can be found on Podbean: - https://fpnet.podbean.com/  - Podbean Hair Metal Podcast Master Feed: https://fpnet.podbean.com/category/hair-metal/   Follow and contact the Hair Metal Podcast at: - X (Twitter): @HairMetalCast - Email: HairMetalPodcast@gmail.com Host & Guests Contact Info On Social Media: - Host: - Kevin Reitzel on X / Instagram / Threads / Discord & Letterboxd: @spartan_phoenix. Bluesky: @spartanphoenix - Co-host: Mike Simmer: Kevin & Mike can be found on the Hair Metal Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/377695252724584/ Special Guest: Johnny K: IG and YouTube: @ThatJohnnyKguy & @KaoticaStudios #HairMetalPodcast #TheHairMetalPodcast #HairMetalPodcastFandomGroup #FandomPodcastNetwork #FPNet #FPN #RIPOzzy #HairMetal #HairMetalMusic #GlamMetal #BlackSabbath  #BlackSabbathBackToTheBeginning #BlackSabbathBackToTheBeginning2025 #OzzyOsbourne #TonyIommi #GeezerButler #BillWard #AcornsChildrensHospice #BirminghamChildrensHospital #CureParkinsons #Yungblud #NunoBettencourt #JakeELee #Metallica #GunsNRoses #SlayerBand #KaoticaStudios #JohnnyK #KevinReitzel #MikeSimmer  

Editor: The petitioners of Demand Transparency from Wilson County No Kill Animal Shelter (WCNKAS), https://chng.it/yrXNrz9rcT, seek transparency for actions taken by the shelter regarding animals that are surrendered to the shelter, to prevent the untimely euthanasia of beloved pets. Aston was a 6-year-old, microchipped, collared, up-to-date on vaccines, healthy, and friendly dog used for therapy services. After recently escaping from his owner's backyard, he was euthanized less than 15 hours after being taken in by the no-kill shelter. The shelter scanned Aston for a microchip at a local veterinarian clinic and the scanner confirmed the microchip. Despite being microchipped, no...Article Link

Russ & Freddie chat to Joe Aston, founder of Rampart news & author of 'The Chairman's Lounge; The inside story of how Qantas sold us out'. We talk about what happens to a brand when you betray people’s trust. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russ & Freddie chat to Joe Aston, founder of Rampart news & author of 'The Chairman's Lounge; The inside story of how Qantas sold us out'. We talk about what happens to a brand when you betray people’s trust. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luke is back to review all the action from the 2025 Belgian GP weekend:Mclaren's domination - (1:45)Leclerc finding promise - (15:03)Verstappen's sprint win and lonely race - (17:59)George's sunday recovery - (21:45)William's dont go bang - (23:23)Lawson finally showing good - (25:40)Second points for Gabby - (27:45)Tractor simulator with Gasly - (30:16)Haas sprint success - (31:48)Hamilton's nightmare continues - (33:19)Yuki's environment - (36:08)Aston vs Drag - (39:48)Antonelli's struggles - (42:10)Overall race thoughts - (45:54)2026 Sprint calendar rumour - (48:32)Hungarian GP Preview - (51:00)

Join Luke as he reacts to all the latest Aston villa transfer news. Aston Villa join transfer chase for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. #astonvilla #avfc #dominiccalvertlewin #premierleague

Jerry Ashton, founder of End Veteran Debt, a Navy veteran, and co-founder of RIP, which cleared $12 billion in debt, discusses the state of veteran debt and how his 501c3 helps.

Ozzy Osbourne made a musical genre. For millions of metal fans, Ozzy and Black Sabbath came up with the sound which influenced countless others.  Heavy metal will always be linked with Birmingham – Ozzy's home city, where he returned to perform in early July.  On this Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson looks at how a working-class lad from Aston became a cultural icon and gave the city its own musical identity.  Niall speaks to Sky News entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow who covered the "Back To Beginning" gig and to Jez Collins, a historian at the Birmingham Music Archive.  Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse  Editor: Paul Stanworth  

Welcome to the Today is the Day Changemakers podcast. What happens when a game becomes more than just strategy and competition and instead becomes a pathway to purpose, growth, and real-world change?On this episode of the Today is the Day Changemakers podcast, I'm joined by Aston Roberts, a nationally ranked U.S. Chess Federation Expert and founder of Checkmate to a Better Future, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to transforming lives through chess. And the most incredible part? He's just 17 years old. Aston's work spans classrooms, communities, and even the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center, where he's pioneered a chess-based curriculum focused on foresight, behavior, and life skills.Also joining us is his Dad, Adrian Roberts. Adrian is a driving force of support behind Aston's journey. Together, we'll explore how one teen's passion for chess is creating ripples of impact far beyond the board.Checkmate to a Better Future is having their inaugural Livingston, NJ Summer Chess Tournament and Fundraiser on Saturday, August 9. Go to Home to learn more. Before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to the Today is the Day Changemakers YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @TodayIsTheDayLiveToday is the Day is more than this podcast—It's a movement rooted in clarity, courage, connection, and impact.Through coaching and consulting, I help individuals and teams find clarity of focus, the courage to move forward, and the connections that lead to growth. Whether you're leading a mission, launching a vision, or navigating change, I help you build the kind of network that lifts you up—and supports the impact you're meant to create.And be sure to save the date for the Today is the Day Changemakers International Forum, where global voices come together to embrace transformation and inspire action. Go to our website with more information. Lastly, if this episode or any prior episodes have helped you to feel connected, inspired, empowered or just seen a little more consider giving back. Your contribution, no matter the size, helps keep these stories alive and accessible to all. Today is the Day is not just a podcast. It includes an International Forum and soon to be a new Changemakers Connective. Help us keep growing this connective movement. Today is the Day Changemakers (Today is the Day Changemakers Support)Let's get into this incredible conversation.Because today is the day.Have a great week!#chess, #chessplayer, #chessforbetterfuture, #NewJersey, #emergingchangemaker, #changemakers, #todayistheday, #makingadifferenceSupport the show

On this episode of Johnny Beane TV, we pay tribute to the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, who has passed away at the age of 76. “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” his family said in a statement. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.” No cause of death was given, though last few years leading up to his passing had been a rough ride for Ozzy. He was forced to postpone his “No More Tours 2” farewell tour, first due to a bout with pneumonia, then due to a serious fall while at home in Los Angeles. In early 2020, he went public with Parkinson's disease, just before the pandemic hit. Despite his ailments, Osbourne mustered the strength to play one final concert alongside his Black Sabbath bandmates earlier this month on July 5th in his hometown of Birmingham, England. Born John Michael Osbourne on December 3rd, 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, Ozzy sought to become a singer in a rock band after becoming smitten by The Beatles. By the end of the ‘60s, he had formed Black Sabbath (originally named Earth), rounding out a lineup that also included guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4906555367489536 #OzzyOsbourne #RestInPeaceOzzy #BlackSabbath #MetalLegend #RockHistory #JohnnyBeaneTV #MusicNews #RockTribute #OzzyForever #MetalCommunity #GuitarTalk #MusicLife #RockAndMetal #OzzyOsbourneTribute #HeavyMetal

“There were some heroes and there were some zeroes…”   BACK TO THE BEGINNING, the final concert performance by the O.G. lineup of BLACK SABBATH featuring Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Ozzy Osbourne (along with an all-star roster of top shelf rock & metal artists) was held at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England on 05/07/2025 (that's July 5th, 2025 for people in the United States) and raised nearly $200 Million for charity.    While BACK TO THE BEGINNING will go down in heavy metal history as “The Live Aid of Metal”, it also represents a significant turning point and an emotional marker for metal fans from all over the world who came to pay homage and bid a celebratory yet poignant farewell to the Founding Fathers of Heavy Metal and The Prince Of Darkness.   Ladies, prepare to comprehend why Pantera playing Sabbath songs at a Zeppelin tribute is as much a faux pas as “showing up to a funeral wearing a bridal gown”, gentlemen, understand how Slipknot's Sid Wilson is an absolute genius when it comes to remembering landmark dates with that special someone, and as for everybody else, break out your assortment of relaxers and various modalities of twanglification and JOIN US as we celebrate Sabbath, Ozzy, and all things metal with our take on BACK TO THE BEGINNING. Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode Help Support Metal Nerdery https://www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182 Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerdery.com/merch and kindly leave us a review and/or rating on your favorite Podcast app Follow us on the Socials: Facebook - Instagram - TikTok Email: metalnerdery@gmail.com Can't be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube @metalnerderypodcast Show Notes:   (00:01): “Mr. Black or Mr. Monkey?” / NOTE: that was actually #CoalChamber with #OzzyOsbourne / “Going forward, I need you to know…”/ ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / #christmaspeanutbutterballs / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST IN FENG SHUI BUNKERPOON PARADISE!!!***/ #ragefulreflections #freeair #gasstations / “Dude, that's a thing…”/ #DiscountTire #DriveUp #FreeService / “Now you go to 2 or 3 and they're all fucked…”/ “Is it some kind of conspiracy?” / “If anybody sees somebody doing that…” (05:55): “We have a little #shittah…”/ ***EMAIL US at metalnerdery@gmail.com or VOICEMAIL US at 980-666-8182 or PATREON US at patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast*** / “Maybe knuckle deep…”/ #PatreonShoutout / “Apparently…I dropped the whole sack today…”/ #wellplayyourshittah WE'LL PLAY YOUR SHIT-TAH!!! / #Kalmo from #Finland #BlackenedDoomMetal THY CHOSEN ONE / “Oh that made all the difference…”/ #spokenwordASMR / “The release month is the 16th month and the 7th day…”/ “Smallest to biggest…no, y'all go big, small, big again…” / #ThankYou (12:00): #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS:  BLACK SABBATH & OZZY OSBOURNE – BACK TO THE BEGINNING POST-SHOW WRAP-UP / “We now live in a #PostSabbathWorld…”/ “I had a really, really, REALLY, bad 4th of July…it was awesome!”/ “Luckily, for some strange reason…”/ “The first thing I saw was this…”/ #BackToTheBeginning #MetalLiveAid #MetalCharity / #JackBlack MR. CROWLEY (Blizzard Of Ozz – 1980) / “Things move fast in the metal community…” / “The only things that I had questions about...WHY?” / NOTE:  #LedZeppelin is NOT from #Birmingham / #NunoBettencourt / #onmicburp / “There were some heroes, and there were some zeroes…”/ “Apparently he's got a really thick Rolodex…”/ #SabbathBloodyAnthrax / #RussellsReflectionsASMR  (22:22): “She sang amazing dude…she hit a note…the whole band quit playing…” / #LzzyHale #Halestorm PERRY MASON (Ozzmosis – 1995) / “I'm gonna gush…”/ “Bark at the Boon?” / BARK AT THE MOON (Bark At The Moon – 1983) / “Hit it Vernon…” / “All-righty-then…” / #NunoSolo / #onmicburp / “That's helpful…”/ #rotatingstage / “Oh…play it…trainwreck…”/ #AliceInChains FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS (Paranoid – 1970) / “That's not a ‘train wreck'…”/ “It's meaty…and thick…and full…”/ “To be fair…the bigger fuck up was at the very end on the #livefeed where they cut off…” (33:00): “They actually released that as a single…”/ “Here we go…with the negativity…”/ “Why the fuck did they have Steven Tyler come out and not even sing a Sabbath song?” / “It's kinda like showing up to a funeral wearing a bridal gown…”/ “Let's see #Pantera play some #BlackSabbath at a #LedZeppelin tribute…” / #RussellsLaughterASMR / “Slayer absolutely destroyed the show…the Slayer set was…what are we doin'?” / #Slayer WICKED WORLD (Black Sabbath – 1970)  (39:00): “I understand the criticism…but #GunsNRoses…they don't fit as much as the other bands fit…”/ “One album really…”/ “The next band was perfect as usual…”/ #Metallica HOLE IN THE SKY (Sabotage – 1975) / “I like the whole purple motif…”/ “I've never heard Johnny Blade played live ever…”/ JOHNNY BLADE (Never Say Die! – 1978) / “I can't watch Lars Ulrich play drums anymore without thinking about that dude on #Instagram…” (46:06): “Let's get to the meat…”/ “45,000 tickets sold in 16 minutes…” / #OzzyOsbourne MAMA I'M COMING HOME (No More Tears – 1991) / “I mean, he's trying…” / “Alright play a Sabbath one real quick…”/ #BlackSabbath N.I.B. (Black Sabbath – 1970) / “It's kinda cool that he went topless…”/ “Getting old sucks so bad!” / “This was the #LiveAid of #heavymetal…”/ “Who got kicked off? Who was it?” / #Feuds #FeudFuel / “Drama sells…”/ #Loudmouth is actually a #Merger between #Loudwire and #Blabbermouth / “It's getting really close…”/ #clickbait / “Everybody feels like they've got to be a whore for the algorithm…”/ “This is what the internet says…”/ “That's it. That's the last time…this is over.” / “I get both sides of it…you could have waited til the day after…”/ #marriageproposal / “He'll never forget it, and in fairness to guys, that's probably why he did it on that day…”/ “Propose on #LeapYear …if you get married on Leap Year, you only have an anniversary every 4 years…”/ THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE #BACKTOTHEBEGINNING A REALITY AND A SUCCESS!!! / “If it was great, I did it…”/ ***GO CHECK OUT OUR SABBATH EPISODES!!!*** / #untilthenext #outroreel / ***BONUS PREVIEW***

The Podcast That Rocked for 7/9/25. Recap of Back To The Beginning and the farewell to Ozzy Osbourne, Danny Worsnop responding to AA criticism, more. Discussion Topics:Back To The Beginning was a massive successDanny Worsnop responds to criticism with Asking Alexandria performanceNew Ice Nine Kills with a pivot from AI criticismSpiritbox terrifying Jimmy Kimmel audienceThe new Unhinged Fest has been cancelledChris Jericho not feeling the Fozzy loveUpcoming albums/tours/more SONG OF THE WEEK: Lamb Of God “Children Of The Grave” (Black Sabbath Cover) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5T321h1p9M BACK TO THE BEGINNING Was Great! (Farewell Ozzy!) = https://youtu.be/qDGi6c6_9Us “Back to the Beginning was a concert by the English rock band Black Sabbath, with a number of supporting artists. It took place on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England, very near where the band was formed in 1968. The event concluded with the final live performances of both the band and lead singer Ozzy Osbourne; it also marked the first time since 2005 that the original line-up of the band (Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward) had performed together live. Osbourne, no longer able to walk due to advanced Parkinson's disease, sang while seated on a throne. The widely-lauded concert was streamed worldwide via pay per view with a broadcast delay. It featured an all-star lineup of supporting acts, including two supergroups of musicians serving as the house band. Proceeds from the event totalled £140 million, and will be donated to charity.” (Wiki) Hosted by: Luke = https://bsky.app/profile/rockednet.bsky.socialAlex = https://bsky.app/profile/voiceofalex.bsky.socialRowan = https://bsky.app/profile/rowbuck01.bsky.social

Top 100 biler for bilsnobber – Revisited.Verden flytter sig. Også for bilsnobberne Stefan Kaas og Adam Estrup, selv om det er svært for dem at acceptere forandringer.  Ikke desto mindre har de taget mod til sig og kigget deres top-100-liste fra 2024 efter i sømmene. Er der biler, der skal ud og andre der skal ind? Listen skal holdes opdateret, så du altid har det endegyldige og autoritative svar ved hånden.Afviklingen af seancen er mere venskabelig end længe, også selv om Adam (igen) forsøger at få en Rover P5B Coupé ind på listen, mens Stefan mener, at listen ikke kan være komplet uden mindst fem Bentley-modeller. Og dog: Adam får, trods et skarpt og aldeles utvetydigt nej fra Stefan, alligevel sneget en anden virkelig gammel spand med ind på den endelige liste. Det hele forsøges styret stringent men ender lettere løst og uelegant.  Men det ender med en bedre liste end sidste år (måske) og du får f.eks. at vide, hvem der har tegnet den klassiske Aston-front, måske kølergitteret over dem alle.(Nej Adam, det sidder på en Bentley)En enkelt amerikaner får sneget sig ind på listen i år, men du kommer stadig til at kigge meget langt efter Lamborghinier, Corvetter og alle generationer af MX-5. Men derfor hører vi gerne fra jer hvis vi har glemte noget, eller der er noget I mener skal ud?God sommer, vi kommer retur til august engang, tak fordi I lytter med, liker, skriver, vi elsker det hele!

Education - Aston University

Hello Rank Squad!It's Jack's last episode as a Bachelor, and we thought we'd take a look at some transfers to send him off blissfully into wedded life. Liverpool have signed Florian Wirtz, breaking the British Transfer Record in doing so, and we discuss his arrival at Anfield and how he might fit into Arne Slot's Champion Reds next season. That gives us a launchpad to talk about some of the other most expensive transfers in Premier League history, so we rank 2-10 (feels a bit early to judge Wirtz just yet!) in order of the value they provided for their fee and also their transformative impact on their clubs - running through some of the obvious flops, all the way to the deals which are proving worth every penny. There's also time for a little Things We Love, where Jack gives some flowers to Santi Cazorla and Real Oviedo - one of the true feel-good stories of a summer mired in controversy and differing opinions. It's Ranks!  And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Sam Matterface is alongside talkSPORT's Alex Crook and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto for all the latest around the Premier League and Club World CupComing up; Garnacho pictured in a Rashford #9 Villa shirt how much longer does he have left at United? City and Chelsea mixed weekend in the CWC and Brentford turn to Keith Andrews to replace Frank Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finally.. it's F1 movie launch season. But is the film, dubbed by one critic “Barbie for men” any good? Our correspondents were given a preview showing in Montreal and give their verdict. We hear from the producer Jerry Bruckheimer and one of the stars, Kerry Condon.  Plus we examine the fallout from the Canadian Grand Prix - for the second consecutive race we saw a collision in the closing stages. This time Lando Norris hit his team mate Oscar Piastri, but the dent was in Lando's championship challenge. We look at the external and internal pressure mounting on Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur and discuss echoes from the past when Jean Todt was under pressure and Michael Schumacher protected him. As Renault's CEO abruptly departs, what next for Alpine F1 as they sink to 10th in the Constructors' Championship while doing an exec search for their fourth team principal in two years? Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin a season best result in Montreal on their 100th Grand Prix, but is Lance Stroll's form a concern? And should Montreal race winner George Russell take matters into his own hands and force a move to Aston? In the studio with James Allen, one of our regulars, Motorsport Editor-in-Chief Ben Hunt and we welcome back Autosport's F1 Business Correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans. Don't miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on Motorsport's hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/race-our-writers-motorsport-launches-its-first-ever-featured-league-on-f1-fantasy/10702182/ Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Producer: Dre Harrison A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport

Geraldo Rodrigues é um dos mais importantes empresários de pilotos brasileiros, tendo gerenciado as carreiras de Rubens Barrichello, Ricardo Zonta, entre outros. Sempre por dentro do que rola nos bastidores da F1, ele foi convidado pelo Podcast Motorsport.com para comentar o atual cenário da categoria e relembrar histórias. Apresentador da ESPN, Felipe Motta também é um dos convidados. Erick Gabriel (@erickjornalista) e Carlos Costa (@ocarlos_costa), da Motorsport.tv Brasil, ancoram.Bitcoin e criptomoedas? Invista na Mynt, a plataforma cripto do BTG Pactual, e tenha Cashback em Bitcoin até R$ 250 - http://bit.ly/458S3AX

TIME EXTENSION Oscar takes another win, the 3rd driver in McLaren history to have a streak of 8 successive podiums. Steak have had a blinder, Bortoleto just missing Q3, but Hulkenberg was the man of the match. Is this the first sign of a transition to Audi? Alonso in the points, Stroll hit the wall, literally. It's party time at Aston. Here's hoping for more points. And the driver seat swapper has not delivered this week. A few questions to now ask, is Yuki up to it? Has Colapinto added anything more than Doohan? All the plus much much more on this week's episode of BTRL.

In 2017, when I discovered I was in a neurodiverse marriage I bought every book on neurodiverse relationships by Maxine Aston and several of Tony Attwood's books. Each of the books I read made me feel less alone and helped me understand that after 29 years of marriage my journey to understanding was just beginning. In 2020, when I started the Neurodiverse Love podcast I reached out to Maxine to let her know how much her books helped me and I invited her to meet with me to talk about joining me as a guest on the podcast. Maxine graciously responded and we set up what would be the first of many Zoom calls over the years that gave us an opportunity to share our lived experiences and the ups and downs of working with neurodiverse couples.In addition, Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett have been guests on the Neurodiverse Love podcast and they have done presentations at both the 2023 and 2025 Neurodiverse Love conference.I am now honored to have had an opportunity to talk with Maxine and Tony about their new book "Relationship Counselling With Autistic Neurodiverse Couples-A Guide for Professionals". During this episde, they each share a little about their work together and the ways in which they have helped us learn more about how much support and guidance neurodiverse couples need as they navigate their unique journeys. They also share how critical it is for helping professionals to have in-depth knowledge of how neurodivergence may impact couples and each partner. In addition, we discuss the following:Why this book is so important for ND couples and helping professionals.Information about the respondents and their priority needs.Training or personal knowledge was very important.Cost of counseling was high.Both partners may experience depression because of challenges in the relationship.The importance of making your office more ND friendly Need to make it mandatory to get training on ND relationships Addressed different genders and cultural differences.Feels like you're talking different languages (culturally and neurologically).Both partners will feel validated in reading the book.Being believed and validated was important.Many felt hopeless after counseling and ended their relationship.How to understand if you are working with an Autistic partner and may not know it.Emotional, financial and time cost invested in counseling. The value of mediation for ND couplesI highly recommend this book for both helping professionals and ND couples and I hope that all of you who buy the book will learn that you are not alone in the struggles you have had with therapists and coaches who have never been educated about neurodivergent adults.  As a society, we need to do a better job of providing in-depth education on the strengths, challenges and differences that ND couples and families experience!You can learn more about the resources available from Professor Tony Attwood  here and from Maxine Aston hereYou can also learn more about 9the resources Mona has available at the links below:Host of the Neurodiverse Love PodcastBuy the Neurodiverse Love Conversation Cards or WorkbookNewsletter | Instagram | Website | YouTube

Hello Rank Squad!With the conclusion at the weekend of the domestic campaigns still running, we thought it was a good time to look back on the season just gone and hand out some awards for the best (and worst) of what we've seen across the board. We start by talking about our favourite stories of this season, where we both plump for underdogs turning their seasons around, before we head into the main event. Across the Premier League and the rest of continental football, Dean and Jack work through Players, Managers and Clubs of the Season; before finishing off with the Letdowns of this campaign, and the Best Signings for good measure. It's Ranks!  And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

This week Steve Cropley and Matt Prior meet in a Jeep Wrangler to talk their respective Autocar columns. Cropley meets Jo Budge, who decides what your Audi is equipped with, nearly gets run over by an Aston Martin Cygnet, and he and Prior discuss what is the ideal car size, and what the next steps are for Bicester Motion following the tragic fire there two weeks ago. You can make sure you never miss an Autocar podcast by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. And if you'd be wiling to rate and review the Pod, we'd appreciate it more than you know, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The guys are joined by Joe Aston to chat about Qantas, L1, James Hardie, and the growth of Rampart, Catapult's incredible run continues while Adam encourages Adir to start looking for private jets, the RBA's foolish decision to prematurely slash interest rates, why great customer service is so important and Adir's McDonald's mishap.00:00 - Episode 10002:25 - Catapult12:15 - Adir's Question20:23 - Great Customer Service28.45 - Adir at McDonalds32:45 - Interest Rates42:50 - Joe Aston in Studio with Adam & AdirThis Week's Sponsor:Netwealth: ⁠www.netwealth.com.au⁠Vanta: ⁠www.vanta.com/contrarians⁠Thanks for listening!Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-contrarians-with-adam-and-adir-podcastSubscribe on YouTube for all our video content: https://https://www.youtube.com/@ContrariansPodcastFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/contrarianspodFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@contrarianspod

The Phillies are hot.They just swept the lowly Rockies in a four-game series in Colorado. They have won seven in a row. They have a two-game lead over the Mets in the NL East. They have the best record in the National League. They will try to keep it going this weekend against the A's in Sacramento.We talk about Bryce Harper, who's on fire since he shaved his head on May 12; Taijuan Walker's impending full-time move to the bullpen; Bryson Stott and Edmundo Sosa platooning at second base and more.They say Delco's a lot … and they're right. Find a full list of weekend events at VisitDelco.com. On Saturday, May 24, check out the Swarthmore Town Center Farmers Market, which is every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in the Swarthmore Borough Parking Lot. On Memorial Day, May 26, don't miss the Rockdale Memorial Day Parade in Aston. Now in it's 144th year! Free hot dogs, pretzels, drinks and Italian ice for the kids! Plus, a special gift for Veterans at the hospitality tent! Parade starts around 11:15 a.m.Download the HOF app and enter code FOUL to get a 7-day free trial + 50% off your first month at hofbets.comLove The Phillies Show? You can purchase your very own Phillies Show t-shirt by 47 Brand here! We've got maroon and powder blue shirts in stock!@The Phillies Show Subscribe to the show on YouTube and follow us on social media!@Foul Territory We're part of the Foul Territory Network. Follow FT and find more shows, including Fair Territory!If you like The Phillies Show, subscribe and give us a five-star review!

It's time for The Truth!Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at where Arsenal find themselves right now - and whether there is complete faith in Mikel Arteta to make them take that next step to winning serious silverware. After six and a half years in charge, there is no doubt that Arteta has raised Arsenal's floor to a point where they are in the mix every single year, and yet since that first half season, there are no trophies to show for the progress that the Basque has made with this team. Trophies aren't everything, but Arsenal are on a dangerous verge of being considered nearly men, and it means that next season, there may have to be some bang to go with the buck. We examine Arteta's performances as a coach in the last few years, as well as the constant upward trajectory that Arsenal have been on, as well as peeking at the uncomfortable truths of modern management and the complications of squad planning when you're in charge of the entire operation. So, is it as simple as win or bust next season for Arteta? Does it matter who comes in during the summer to help them challenge? Or is this simply a project which needs to be given more time given how things have gone so far? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

This episode we are looking at the early years of the official reign of Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tenno, including the building of a brand new capital on the shores of Lake Biwa. For more information, see: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-126 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 126:  New Beginnings The local farmers couldn't help but talk.  There was so much construction, but it wasn't entirely clear what was being built.  The land between the mountains and the lake had been neatly groomed fields, but now that the government workmen had moved in, all of those fields were being cleared.  This new construction was much larger than anything that people had seen before.  Rocks were coming in from far flung quarries, and local kilns were being set up to create tiles, while woodcutters were sent into the forests to bring logs to the site. There were various stories about what was going on—a new provincial government office, or perhaps a new temple, but perhaps the most outlandish was that this was going to be some kind of royal palace.  The sovereign himself was taking in interest in this little slice of Afumi, and he was going to abandon the Home Territories of Yamato and bring his entire court to the shores of Lake Biwa. What a far-fetched story!  …Wasn't it? Last episode we recapped a lot of the history of Prince Naka no Oe and how he had come to this point: the Isshi Incident, the Taika reforms, as well as the reigns of his uncle, Prince Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou, and his mother, Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou.  With Takara Hime's death, Naka no Oe was now – finally, as he might have thought -- running things officially.  He had prosecuted the war in Baekje, and with that loss, he had turned his focus back to the archipelago.  He now had refugees to settle, and defenses to set up.  And then there were the embassies that would be coming, in an apparent attempt to normalize relations post-conflict.  That could only go so far, however, given that Tang and Silla had simply turned their war efforts against Goguryeo.  So one imagines that any diplomatic discussions were held with the understanding that the international order was still in flux. And so we arrive in the 8th month of 665, as some of the first defensive castles were being erected.  That same month, Tamna—the kingdom on the modern island of Jeju—sent ambassadors to the Yamato court.  The diplomatic ties between Yamato and Tamna were a relatively recent occurrence, but with Baekje gone, one wonders if Yamato wasn't feeling out a new alliance on the continent.  That said, Tamna does not appear to have been a major player on the international stage.    They had been a tributary of Baekje, and may have even been one of the last holdouts of the proto-Japonic language for a long time.  Indeed, a 15th century Joseon history records a foundation myth of Tamna that emphasizes close early ties with the Japanese archipelago. The following month saw another visit by Tang ambassadors, only a year after Guo Wucong had come to the court.  Guo Wucong had been wined and dined, and things seem to have gone well, as this time he returned, but he wasn't the one leading the embassy this time.  That honor went to Liu Degao, sub-prefect of Yizhou, among his many titles.  Yizhou is the same location where the previous missions from Yamato to the Tang court had made landfall.  Presumably, Liu Degao would have had experience with the embassies that passed through Yizhou, so he seems a logical choice to be sent over to the archipelago. This seems like an escalation, with a more titled ambassador leading the party. It is possible that the Tang were trying to not only reset their relationship with Yamato, but also attempt to woo them to their side.  The Tang likely knew that if they defeated Goguryeo, then they would have another problem to work out:  The alliance with Silla.  At the moment both Tang and Silla were in a partnership of convenience, but the Tang empire didn't get where it was by just giving up territory. And Silla was, itself, ambitious.  It would be in the Tang dynasty's best interest to have Yamato on its side in case Silla became a problem.  At the very least, the Tang court could have just been trying to make sure that Yamato would stay out of any continental entanglements, such as by supporting Goguryeo. Within the Yamato court, it is unclear which way, exactly, they were leaning at this point.  The court was clearly building defensive positions—fortresses and more.  At the same time, there were likely those who welcomed any return to stable relations with the Tang.  After all, there were still Wa in Chang'an and elsewhere, and there was still a hunger in the archipelago for the books and other goods that the Silk Road could provide.  On the other hand, they may have felt more at home with Goguryeo, or even Silla.  The bonds with the Korean peninsula were older and likely stronger.  And, as long as the Tang Empire was busy with other states, then perhaps they would be too preoccupied to attack Yamato. Liu Degao and his entourage had arrived at Tsushima on the 28th day of the 7th month.  They would have been put up there for a time, and entertained.  If this embassy followed later conventions, they would have likely pulled into a harbor, like the one near Kofunakoshi.  This is a narrow spot between the two parts of Tsushima, where we know that in the 9th century, ships from the Tang empire would stop, register goods and people, and likely have them transferred to Japanese ships.  All of the checking and cataloging would happen  at nearby Bairinji temple. Even if they didn't have to transport everything to another ship, it is likely that they would held at Tsushima for a while for security purposes.  Tsushima was ideal, both for its distance, halfway between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, but also for its shape, with numerous places that ships could sit at anchor in secluded bays away from any weather or rough seas that could otherwise cause problems. We don't know exactly what the Tang embassy's stay was like, but we know that they were at Tsushima for roughly two months, which was probably the time it took to get a message to the Yamato court and back.  We know how long it was because we learn that it is on the 20th day of the 9th month that they finally made landfall at Tsukushi, or Kyushu, and two days later they forwarded a letter-case to the Yamato court. Two months later, we know they were at the court, as there was a banquet held for Liu Degao on the 13th day of the 11th month, and then a month after that, Liu Degao and the rest of the mission were presented gifts, after which they left and returned to the Tang court.  We are also told that Mori no Kimi no Ohoishi, along with Sakahibe no Muraji no Iwashiki and Kimi no Kishi no Harima all went to the Tang court that same month, no doubt traveling with Degao and Wucong. On the first month of the following year, Neungnu of Goguryeo was sent to the Yamato court to offer tribute.  On the same day, the 11th day of the first month, Tamna also sent someone identified as Prince Siyeo to offer presents.  Immediately, I'm wondering about the way that this is presented.  Both of these states – Goguryeo and Tamna - were allies of the former Baekje kingdom.  I have to wonder how the Goguryeo ships made their way—did they come down the western side of the peninsula, through the Bohai sea, and thus past possible Tang patrols between their peninsular and continental territories, or did they head through the East Sea, aka the Japan Sea, where they would have to pass by the coast of Silla, whom they were also not on great terms with?  The fact that both missions are mentioned at the same time suggests that maybe the Goguryeo embassy sailed down to Tamna, on Jeju Island, and then the two groups made their way over to Yamato together from there. Other things about this entry to note is that the Chroniclers use different terms for these visits to the Yamato court.  Goguryeo uses a term that Aston translates as “offering tribute” while Tamna uses a different term indicating that they were “offering presents”.  This may be as simple as the difference in the various relationships between the polities, as viewed by the Chroniclers.  After all, there was a long relationship between Yamato and Goguryeo, which was considered one of the three Han, or Samhan.  Whether true or not, I could certainly see the Chroniclers feeling that Goguryeo was in a subordinate relationship with Yamato.  Tamna, on the other hand, was a more recent addition to the Yamato diplomatic sphere.  As such, it would be understandable, to me if the Chroniclers still saw it as a more independent entity. It also may hint at different messages being communicated.  As far as we can tell, Tamna wasn't under direct threat by the Tang empire—though they may have been feeling a little bit of heat, given the fall of Baekje and the Tang empire's new outpost on the peninsula.  Goguryeo, however, was under more direct threat, and had been in conflict with the Tang for years.  On top of that, based on what we can tell, it seems that Yeong Gaesomun, the despot who had been ruling Goguryeo and helping it defend against the Tang, had just passed away.  It may have been that the Goguryeo court was seeking support against Tang and Silla, as they were in a moment of instability, themselves.  As such, “Tribute” might indicate that they were more formally petitioning Yamato for support. Goguryeo envoy Neungnu left about 5 months later, on the 4th day of the 6th month but then another envoy, this time Minister Eulsyang Oemchu, arrived a little more than four months later.  Much like with the Tang, this feels like Goguryeo was upping the ante, sending higher ranking officials to negotiate with Yamato.  That lends some credence to the theory that there was something of a bidding war going on for Yamato's involvement in international affairs.  For Yamato, however, it would seem that getting involved in continental affairs was hardly something they were itching to do.  Instead, they continued their moves to fortify. In local events, we know that on the 11th day of the 10th month of 665, while the Liu Degao delegation was still in Yamato, there was a great “review”, by which they seem to mean a sutra reading, at Uji.  It is unclear just where this was held, as I haven't found reference to any particular temple.  However, it does indicate that there was activity in the area. Uji is probably most popular, today, for its role as a setting in the Tale of Genji.  There indeed numerous reminders there of the Heian period, including the hall of Ujigami Shrine, and the famous Hou-ou-do, or Phoenix Hall, of the Byoudouin. In 1053, Fujiwara Yorimichi inherited the villa from his father, Fujiwara Michinaga, and he converted it into a Pure Land temple.  Michinaga is thought to have been one of the people on whom Murasaki Shikibu based the character of the Shining Prince, Hikaru Genji.  That's all too late for this moment in the Chronicles, of course., but we do have earlier references to Uji as a place, as well as in various names.  It seems to have been part of the territory of the Hata, who controlled much of the area of modern Kyoto and environs.  There is a temple, Houjouin, also known as Hashidera, which claims to date back to the 7th century, and may have been the site of the above-mentioned sutra reading in 665.  According to the Temple's own legend, it was built around 604, when Hata no Kawakatsu built the famous Uji bridge, or Hashi, on the orders of Prince Umayado, aka Shotoku Taishi.  Other sources give the date as 646.  The temple was rebuilt in the 13th century, and as far as I can tell, nothing remains of the original temple, but it is possible that it was the site of this review. The next non-Diplomatic record of the Chronicles is from the 3rd month in 666.  The Crown Prince went to the house of Saheki no Komaro no Muraji, paying a sympathy call as Saheki appears to have passed away after having been gravely ill.  Saheki no Komaro no Muraji was one of those who had helped Naka no Oe in the Isshi Incident.  He had been introduced to the plot by Nakatomi no Kamatari, and then critical in the literal execution at the court.  He later led forces against Furubito no Oe, assuming that “Sahekibe no Komaro” is the same as “Saheki no Muraji no Komaro”.  There is also a relative, possibly his son, Takunaha, who was one of the Yamato court's overseas envoys.  Thus, one can understand that he had some importance to the Royal family, and we can probably assume that he had been involved in much more.  The Crown Prince, we are told, lamented him on account of his loyal service from the very beginning. One of the confusing things in this part of the Chronicle is the term “Crown Prince”.  It doesn't help that the Chroniclers were pulling from different records, and sometimes using anachronistic titles for individuals.  Naka no Oe had been known as the Crown Prince since the time of Takara Hime, whether he actually was or not.  Now he was in charge of the government, but it isn't clear that he had been formally invested as tennou.  More than that, there is mention of an investiture in either 667 or 668, several years after his quote-unquote “reign” had begun.  This makes some sense.  After all, when Takara Hime passed away, there was a foreign war to prosecute, and that probably took a fair bit of resources.  Plus, Naka no Oe had been running things for a while before that, or so we are told.  It would make sense if things just kept on going as they had been, and they held the actual investiture when they got around to it. We also know that he was busy with building projects: not just for the defense of the archipelago, but even a new capital and a new palace.  We'll talk about it a bit more, later, but suffice it to say that he may have been taking his time and gathering everything together. All of this makes the Chronicles themselves somewhat confusing.  They throw around the terms “Crown Prince” and “Sovereign”—well, “Sumera no Mikoto”—almost interchangeably.  Meanwhile, they've also stated that the Crown Prince was Prince Ohoama, Naka no Oe's younger brother. Based on my read of things, I believe we can distinguish between the two by whether or not it specifically calls them out as just “Crown Prince”, or “Crown Prince, younger brother to the sovereign”.  The latter is clearly Prince Ohoama, and the first is most likely Naka no Oe.  After all, in this instance, why would Prince Ohoama be the one so struck by the death of Saheki no Muraji?  Based on the story the Chronicles have told us, wouldn't it make more sense that it was Naka no Oe lamenting the death of one who had helped put him on the throne, rather than sending his brother? So keep that in mind as we go through the narrative.  I'll try to point out whom I believe they are speaking about, at least until we reach the point where Naka no Oe actually is invested. Getting back to the Chronicles, in the 7th month of the year 666, some four months after the illness and death of Saheki no Komaro no Muraji, another disaster struck—this time a natural disaster.  Great floods were reported—how widespread we aren't told.  This is often a problem in a land with many mountains that often gets large rains.  It is especially problematic when much of your agriculture is based on being just at or below the level of the rivers and streams so that it can be flooded on purpose.  We are told that the government remitted the land-taxes and commuted taxes that year, likely as a form of disaster relief to those affected by the flooding. In 666, we are also told a story that actually links this reign to the previous.  We are told that a monk, named Chiyu, gave the sovereign something called a south-pointing chariot.  I'll talk about what this was in another episode.  What's important here is to note that there was a previous entry in the era attributed to Saimei Tennou, aka Takara Hime, where a monk named Chiyu, or something similar, using different characters, also created a south-pointing chariot.  Likewise, we are later told in this reign how Naka no Oe installed a clepsydra, a water clock.  This is also mentioned in the previous reign.  It is possible that these reference completely different accounts.  Or they could be connected in some way. The south-pointing chariot is probably not something that we'll have evidence of, as it would have been mobile and probably deteriorated over time.  However, the water clock would have been a fixed installation with some clear architectural remnants, and indeed we think we know where at least one was built in Asuka.  Both of the water clock entries say that it was the “first” time, so make of that what you will. Also in 666, we see that some 2000 people of Baekje were settled in the East, possibly meaning the Kanto region, though this could be anywhere between modern Nagoya out to the far eastern edge of Honshu.  They were maintained at the government expense for three years, after which they were expected to have built new lives for themselves. In later periods, there is much to be said about “Men of the East”.  There are those that point to this region as being the origin point of many of the warrior traditions that would arise and become the military samurai.  Some of the weapons and fighting styles, especially some of the horse-riding archery seems to point to continental influences that made their way to the Kanto region and beyond.  One has to consider just how much did they bring with them and how did it grow, often beyond the view of the court and the court chronicles.  For now, though, it seems to have largely been a form of a refugee program, since the Baekje no longer had a kingdom to return to. Finally, we have an omen.  In the winter of 666, the rats of the capital, in Asuka, headed north to Afumi.  As with previous entries about rats departing a capital for a direction, this is again meant as an omen.  It probably didn't happen.  But it does foreshadow an account in the following year, when, on the 19th day of the 3rd month, the capital, surprise-surprise, moved to Afumi. And perhaps I shouldn't be flippant.  It was a surprise to have the capital move to Afumi.  There are accounts of legendary sovereigns that had their palace outside of the Nara Basin or Kawachi area, but at this point Yamato had been really building up those areas.  So why would they suddenly relocate to Afumi, of all places? Well, probably because of the same thing that had been driving the rest of their large-scale building projects during this period—from the Water Castle protecting the Dazai to the various Baekje style fortresses from Tsushima down to the Nara Basin.  Afumi was a naturally defensive position.  And in such an uncertain time, having a well-defended capital must have seen like a very good idea.  In fact, though they didn't formally change the capital until the 3rd month of 667, they probably had started work on it as soon as they got back from the loss at Hakusukinoe. As far as locations go, it wasn't necessarily a bad choice.  There were still routes to the port at Naniwa, which could still house various delegations when they arrived.  There were also routes to the east, leading to Owari and the rest of central and eastern Honshu, as well as mountain passes to get to the Japan Sea.  The area where the new palace was located was in the district of Ohotsu.  Ohotsu means something like “Big Port” and I don't know if it was already a major port along the banks of Lake Biwa or if that was a name that came from having the capital there.  Ohotsu was a long-inhabited area, even well before the 660's, and an important site for trade.  In the southern end of modern Ohotsu city is Ishiyama-dera, the stone mountain temple, it which was built in the 8th century, but in front of the temple are the remains of the largest freshwater shellmound in Asia.  As you may recall from some of our earliest episodes talking about the prehistoric period in the Japanese archipelago, shell mounds are typically evidence of ancient settlements, remnants of dump sites where they could throw their detritus.  This probably included a lot more than just shells, but shells, bones, and sometimes things like pottery sherds, would remain.  And while much of the wood and waste of the period would have disintegrated over time, shells do not.    These shell mounds accordingly provide important insight into the lives of people back in that day, and the size can also help us understand things about how large a settlement might have been or how long it was there.  The sheer size of the shellmound at Ishiyama-dera likely indicates that the region had been settled for many centuries prior to the 600's. In addition to the shellmound, and more closely related to the current times we are discussing, is evidence of a rock quarry found at the temple site and showing evidence of techniques familiar to people of the 6th to 8th centuries. You see, Ishiyama is a source of a particular white stone called wollastonite.  The quarry sits below the main hall of the temple, and so it probably would not have been quarried after the hall was built, which was in the 700s, so the site is believed to have been active before that.  From the composition of the stone and the markings on the remnants, we can see similarities to stones in the base of one of the buildings at Kawaradera, in Asuka, which we've talked about before and which was one of the pre-eminent temples of its day.  So this demonstrates a link between the region and the court even before the construction of the new Ohotsu palace. Speaking of the palace, we've known of its exact position since 1974,  when archeologists found evidence of the foundation of a large complex in a residential district in Nishikori.  While some initially suggested it was an old temple, further evidence makes it pretty clear that it was the dairi, or inner sanctum, of a palace.  This is very much in the same mould as the Toyosaki Palace in Naniwa and the various palaces in Asuka from around the same period.  In front of the dairi would have been the actual government buildings, but that area has not been excavated. That brings up another question: was this a full-on capital city, Ohotsu-kyo, or just a palace, the Ohotsu-no-miya?  So far we have only found the palace, But since the area is fairly built up, it may take time to find more, assuming it hasn't been destroyed by previous urban development in the area.  There are some hints that there was more: while there were already at a couple of temples that had been built by the mid-7th century, we see several temples built in ways that not only borrow features from important Asuka temples, like the layout of Kawaradera, but they also match the alignment of the Otsu palace ruins, hinting that they were built at the same time.  For example, there is are the ruins of an abandoned temple in Shiga-Minami – actually once thought to have been the Otsu palace. There was also Soufukuji, a temple in the mountains nearby meant to protect the Northwest from malign influences, likely based on continental geomantic concepts, part of what we might today think of as Feng Shui. This same kind of protective temple building is what we see in later capital cities. Of course, we know that this would not be a permanent capital for the nation of Yamato or of Japan—we aren't that far off from the Nara period, and then, a century later, the capital at Heian-kyo.  But that couldn't have been known at the time.  There was no way to know how long tensions with the continent would last, and it was just as possible that people at the time expected this to be a permanent move.  Its preeminence lasted, too: we do have evidence that even centuries later, the region was still known as an ancient “capital”. No matter what Naka no Oe's intentions were in moving the capital to Afumi, however, it didn't exactly go over well.  It was apparently quite unpopular—so unpopular that the move was mocked in song of the time.  That said, Naka no Oe's mind was made up, and the move took place regardless.     Before moving the capital, however, there was still business to attend to.  Takara Hime and Princess Hashibito were reinterred together in the Misasagi on Wochi Hill.  We are told that men of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla all mourned along the processional route.  The Crown Prince—I'm assuming Naka no Oe, this time given his connection to both of these women—apparently had started the work on a stone sarcophagus.  By this was probably meant the actual stone vault of the tomb, rather than just the coffin, which was also likely made of stone.  This was in Kuramaki, in Takatori, in the Takaichi District of the Nara Basin. Three months after the move to the new capital, the district of Kadono, in the west of modern Kyoto, presented to the sovereign a white swallow—an omen of some sort. The following month, on the 11th day of the 7th month, Tamna sent another embassy, led by a Minister known as Cheonma, with presents for Yamato.  This may have been the first envoy to actually visit the new Ohotsu capital, but certainly not the last. Cheonma stuck around for a few months.  In the intercalary 11th month, which is to say the extra 11th month of 667, inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars at least partially aligned, Cheonma and his companions were presented with brocade and other cloth, as well as axes, sickles, and swords, presumably to take home to Tamna. While Cheonma was at the court, there was apparently another bit of diplomatic ping-pong going on.  Liu Jenyuan, the Tang general in charge of Baekje, sent Szema Facong and others to escort Sakahibe no Iwashiki and those with him to the Dazai in Tsukushi.  They didn't stay long, though—we are told they arrived on the 9th day of the 11th month and left only 4 days later, on the 13th day of the same.  When they left, however, they, themselves, were given escorts of Yuki no Muraji no Hakatoko—the same one whose memoirs we relied on for that previous trip to the Tang court—as well as Kaso no Omi no Moroshi.  So I guess they were escorting the escorts?  At what point does it end?  Hakatoko and others made it back about three months later, on the 23rd day of the first month of 668, and reported on their own escort mission.  That suggests that they didn't escort them that far.  They may have just seen them back to the Korean peninsula and that was it. Hakatoko's escort mission did mean that he missed a rather important event—the Crown Prince assuming the dignity.  That is to say, Naka no Oe finally took the title of sovereign.  A note in the text suggests that there were other sources that said it was the third month of the previous year—the same time that the Otsu capital was built.  Four days later they held a banquet in the palace for all of the court ministers. A little over a month later, his wife, Yamato bime, was appointed queen.  We are then told of his other wives and consorts. To be clear, Naka no Oe had been collecting consorts for ages.  So let's talk about a few of them. To start with there was Yamatobime, the Yamato Princess, daughter of none other than Naka no Oe's half-brother, Prince Furubito no Oe, his former rival to the throne. Then there was Wochi no Iratsume, aka Princess Miyatsuko, the daughter of Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa Maro.  She had a son, Prince Takeru, who died in 651 at the age of 8.  That suggests that she and Naka no Oe had been together since at least 643, two years before the Isshi Incident.  Another one of her daughters, Princess Uno, would go on to marry Naka no Oe's younger brother, Prince Ohoama, the new Crown Prince. Wochi no Iratsume seems to have died of grief in 649, after her father and much of her family were destroyed on the orders of her husband, Naka no Oe.  We are told that Naka no Oe also married Wochi no Iratsume's younger sister as well, Mehi no Iratsume.  She had two daughters, Princess Minabe and Princess Abe.  At this point Abe was only about 7 or 8 years old, herself, but she would eventually be married to Prince Kusakabe, the son of Prince Ohoama and Princess Uno, whom we just mentioned. Naka no Oe also had two other consorts.  Tachibana no Iratsume was the daughter of Abe no Kurahashi no Maro no Oho-omi—he was the first Sadaijin, or Minister of the Left, at the start of the Taika reforms, immediately following the Isshi Incident.  And then there was Hitachi no Iratsume, the daughter of Soga no Akaye. Soga no Akaye is an interesting figure.  You may recall the name from Episode 118.  Soga no Akaye was the acting minister in charge in Yamato when Prince Arima tried to start up a revolt against Takara Hime.  It was in his house where Prince Arima laid out his plan, but a broken armrest convinced Soga no Akaye to turn against the conspirators and turn them in.  And so it is interesting to hear that his daughter was married to Naka no Oe. We are also told of four “palace women” that Naka no Oe is said to have had children with.  The implication seems to be that these were women at the palace but they were not formally recognized with the same status as that of the formal consorts and, of course, the queen, his primary wife.  This fits in with at least one theory I've seen that Naka no Oe was something of a ladies' man.  It seems he got around even more than Murasaki Shikibu's fictional “Shining Prince”, Hikaru Genji.  We are told that there were at least 14 children among the nine official wives—and one has to consider that they were unlikely to record many of the women whom he may have slept with that he didn't also have children with.  And there is a theory that one of those not mentioned, may have been his own sister, full blooded sister.  Specifically, his sister Princess Hashibito, who was married to none other than Naka no Oe's uncle, Prince Karu, aka Jomei Tennou. To be clear:  we have no clear evidence that they were anything other than close siblings, but as you may recall how we mentioned back in Episode 114 that there was something that caused a falling out between Prince Karu and Naka no Oe, such that Naka no Oe disobeyed the sovereign's direct order in moving himself and the royal family back to Asuka.  That meant Naka no Oe, his wives, his mother, AND his sister, Princess—now Queen—Hashibito.  So, yeah, he absconded with Prince Karu's wife who was Naka no Oe's full-blooded sister.  And, as we've noted before, ancient Yamato's concept of incest was pretty narrow.  It was only if you had the same mother that you were considered full siblings—even if the father were someone else.  I suspect that this is related to the matrilineal nature of succession as well, which is why it was so important to insist that the ancient sovereigns had a direct lineal connection to the royal line through their mother as much as through their father. So if Naka no Oe and his sister were having any kind of relationship that was considered wrong or scandalous, then that could also help explain why he didn't take the throne sooner, and why it passed over to his mother.  But now, both Takara Hime and Hashibito were quite literally dead and buried, and Naka no Oe had ascended to the throne. Of the so-called “Palace Women” that  are listed as being likewise married to—or at least in a relationship with—Naka no Oe, I'd like to focus on one:  Iga no Uneme no Yakako.  For one, she is specifically mentioned as an uneme—one of the women sent to the court specifically to serve in the palace.  But her parentage isn't further illuminated other than the name “Iga” which is probably a locative, possibly referring to the area of Iga. This is also interesting because we are also told that she gave birth to a son named Prince Iga, also known as Prince Ohotomo.  Despite his mother's apparently unremarkable status, Prince Ohotomo seems to have been quite the apple of his father's eye.  He was born in 648, so in 668 he was about 20 years old, meaning that around this time he was probably just coming into his own at court.  He was married to his cousin, Princess Touchi, daughter of his uncle, Crown Prince Ohoama.  He was also married to Mimotoji, who appears to have been a daughter of Nakatomi no Kamatari, meaning that he was pretty well connected. But we'll get into that in a future episode.  For now, I think we'll leave it here: with the move of the capital to Ohotsu and the formal ascension of Naka no Oe to the throne. We'll talk about what that might mean in the future.  Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

Matt Farah and Zack Klapman review the new 2025 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster and discuss it's German competitors like the Porsche 911 GTS; then we answer Patreon questions including:    Which car brand has the best community?   Miata engine upgrade: Turbo or V8 swap?   What will Singer do when they run out of 964s?   Most memorable travel moments?   Would you buy a car that's been engine swapped? What to look for?   If we were in Cars 4, what cars would we be?   Should a Miata owner buy an old, British roadster?   Worst speeding ticket story   Do police cars have to be visible?   Our choice for the next pope-mobile   How to choose a scooter   Are outdoorsy trims actually tough?   Is a car really a pigeon controlling a horse?   And more!Recorded May 9, 2025 TrueWerkCheck out the full lineup and get 15 percent off your first order at https://TRUEWERK.com/tire CremoHead to Target or Target.com to find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants in the Italian Bergamont and Palo Santo scents MudWtrStart your new morning ritual & get up to 43% off your @MUDWTR with code TIRE at mudwtr.com/tire! #mudwtrpod New merch! Grab a shirt or hoodie and support us! https://thesmokingtireshop.com/ Want your question answered? To listen to the episode the day it's recorded? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! For a 10% discount on your first case go to https://www.offtherecord.com/TST   #cars #comedy #podcastTweet at us!https://www.Twitter.com/thesmokingtirehttps://www.Twitter.com/zackklapman Instagram:https://www.Instagram.com/thesmokingtirehttps://www.Instagram.com/therealzackklapman  Click here for the most honest car reviews out there: https://www.youtube.com/thesmokingtire Want your question answered? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! Enter code TST10 for a 10% discount on your first case on the Off The Record app, or go to http://www.offtherecord.com/TST. Watch our car reviews: https://www.youtube.com/thesmokingtire Tweet at us!https://www.Twitter.com/thesmokingtirehttps://www.Twitter.com/zackklapman Instagram:https://www.Instagram.com/thesmokingtirehttps://www.Instagram.com/therealzackklapman

Tonight, we have an opportunity to bring a piece of Le Mans to you, sharing in the Legend of Le Mans with guests from different eras of over 100 years of racing.  In 2007 Adrián Fernández made his debut at Le Mans taking home a second place in a V8 powered LMP2 prototype. This was the first podium for a Mexican driver at the Circuit de la Sarthe since the 1960s.  Three years later in 2010, Adrián found himself back at Le Mans this time behind the wheel of Aston Martin's LMP1 finishing fifth in class (6th overall).  Returning for the 80th running of Le Mans in 2012, Adrián and Aston Martin took home a third place finish in the GTE-Pro class covering 332 laps without failures or serious mechanical problems. With his help, the team achieved the fastest lap in their class at 3:54.928. And Adrián had the distinct honor of driving the Aston to the checkered flag. On September 12, 2012, Adrián announced his retirement from racing, thus concluding his relationship with Aston Martin Racing, but that wasn't the end of this involvement in the world of Motorsports. ===== (Oo---x---oO) ===== 00:00 Adrian Fernandez's Le Mans Journey 01:56 Early Racing Career and Challenges 03:20 Transition to Endurance Racing 07:54 First Le Mans Experience 10:50 Challenges and Triumphs at Le Mans 13:13 The Art of Endurance Racing 21:45 Aston Martin and Later Years 24:49 Transition to GT Racing 25:58 Final Race and Reflections 29:03 Advice for Aspiring Drivers 34:37 Changes in Motorsport: Safety Innovations 38:32 Historic Cars and Modern Racing 40:55 Life After Racing 45:35 Closing Thoughts and Farewell ==================== The Motoring Podcast Network : Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - motoringpodcast.net More Information: https://www.motoringpodcast.net/ Become a VIP at: https://www.patreon.com/gtmotorsports Online Magazine: https://www.gtmotorsports.org/ To learn more about or to become a member of the ACO USA, look no further than www.lemans.org, Click on English in the upper right corner and then click on the ACO members tab for Club Offers. Once you become a Member you can follow all the action on the Facebook group ACOUSAMembersClub; and become part of the Legend with future Evening With A Legend meet ups.

Audio/Video:  https://www.geeksrising.com/shows/bsp426 Support: http://podcastage.com/support   Topics discussed: The Shure SM57 and Shure SM58 increasing in price and why I think this has happened, sharing my thoughts on the Aston Apex, and explaining that Sound Speeds was not criticizing me for doing tests.   Subscribe to the full audio podcast at http://www.bandrewsays.com   Gear Used This Episode (Affiliate Links): Aston Apex: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/apex Universal Audio x8:  https://sweetwater.sjv.io/uax8   As an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.    Ask Questions: https://www.askbandrew.com Merch: https://www.podcastage.com/store Discord: http://www.podcastage.com/discord   00:00 - Intro 00:24 - Shure Increasing Their Prices China Tariff: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/28/2025-07325/notice-of-implementation-of-additional-duties-on-products-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-pursuant Mexico Tariff: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/#:~:text=For%20Canada%20and%20Mexico%2C%20the,will%20see%20a%2010%25%20tariff USMCA Goods: https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement 11:26 - WIBT: Aston Apex 15:30 - WYHTS: Correcting V-Tuber's Audio 16:52 - WYHTS: Sound Speeds Wasn't Attacking Me. 19:20 - Value for Value (Movie Podcasts & Microphone Self Noise) 27:20 - Conclusion

It's time for The Truth!Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at the Premier League, and the argument that's been raging on social media as to whether this is a Premier League cast that's strong or weak? On one side, you have the earliest that three teams have been confirmed as relegated in Premier League history, as well as Champions in Liverpool who were crowned in April - but realistically haven't lost control since November. Plus, two traditional powerhouses in Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have languished at the bottom, whilst City's title defence never really got going. A lack of jeopardy, perhaps - but what does that say about the strength of the rest?On the other hand, there's a stronger than ever middle class in the Premier League, able to take points off the big boys on a regular basis. Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham are still scrapping for the final European spot, and each of them have had big name scalps, and possess certain players that their mid-table counterparts in some of the European leagues could only dream of. Surely that suggests this is a stronger class than ever before, especially with 12th-placed Crystal Palace making their way to Wembley for an FA Cup final? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

In this week's episode, Dan and Margrethe sit down with Chris Aston to talk about his carvings of god posts and pendants that are inspired by various mythologies and cosmologies.------------------------------------------------Check out Chris's Patreon page to get commissions of his work:https://www.patreon.com/Gungnir_GodpostsAlso follow Chris on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/gungnir_godposts/Follow Margrethe on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/arkeomagsFollow the Podcast on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nordicmythologypodcastIf you like what we do, and would like to be in the audience for live streams of new episodes to ask questions, please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NordicMythologypodcastCheck out Dan's company, Horns of Odin, and the wide range of handmade items inspired by Nordic Mythology and the Viking Age. Visit: https://www.hornsofodin.com Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the death of Takara Hime, and the war on the Korean peninsula, Naka no Ōe was taking hold--or perhaps keeping hold--of the reins of government.  He wasn't finished with his changes to the government.  He also had a new threat--the Tang Empire.  They had destroyed Yamato's ally, Baekje, and defeated the Yamato forces on the peninsula.  While the Tang then turned their attention to Goguryeo, Yamato could easily be next.  The Tang had a foothold on the Korean peninsula, so they had a place to gather and launch a fleet, should they wish to bring Yamato into their empire. For more, especially to follow along with some of the names in this episode, check out our blogpost at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-125     Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 125: The Sovereign of Heavenly Wisdom The people of Baekje looked around at the strange and unfamiliar land.  They had fled a wartorn country, and they were happy to be alive, but refugee status was hardly a walk in the park.  Fortunately, they still knew how to farm the land, even if their homeland was hundreds of miles away, across the sea, and occupied by hostile forces.  Here, at least, was a land where they could make a home for themselves. Some of them had to wonder whether this was really permanent.  Was their situation just temporary until their kingdom was restored?  Or were they truly the last people of Baekje, and what would that mean? Either way, it would mean nothing if they didn't work the land and provide for their families.  And so, as with displaced people everywhere, they made the best of the situation.  They had been given land to work, and that was more than they could have asked for.  They might never return to Baekje, but perhaps they could keep a little of it alive for themselves and their descendants. Greetings, everyone, and welcome back.  Last episode we talked about the downfall of Baekje and the defeat of the Yamato forces at the battle of Hakusukinoe, also known as the Battle of Baekgang, in 663.  And yet, something else happened as well: the sovereign, Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, died as the Yamato forces were setting out.  Immediately Prince Naka no Oe took the reins of government.  He would be known to later generations as Tenji Tennou, with Tenji meaning something like “Heavenly Wisdom”. Now Prince Naka no Oe has been in the forefront of many of our episodes so far, so I'd like to start this episode out with a recap of what we've heard about him so far, as all of this is important to remind ourselves of the complex political situation.  I'm going to be dropping – and recapping – a lot of names, but I'll have many of the key individuals listed on the podcast website for folks who want to follow along.  I would note that this episode is going to be a summary, with some extrapolation by me regarding what was actually happening.  Just remember that history, as we've seen time and again, is often more messy and chaotic than we like, and people are more complex than just being purely good or evil.  People rarely make their way to the top of any social hierarchy purely through their good deeds.  To start with, let's go back to before the year 645, when Naka no Oe instigated a coup against Soga no Iruka and Soga no Emishi.  In the Isshi Incident, covered in Episode 106, Naka no Oe had Soga no Iruka murdered in court, in front of his mother, Takara Hime, when she sat on the throne the first time.  And yet, though he could have taken the throne when she abdicated in apparent shock, he didn't.  Instead, he took the role of “Crown Prince”, but this wasn't him just sitting back.  In fact, evidence suggests that he used that position to keep a strong hand on the tiller of the ship of state. Prior to the Isshi Incident of 645, the rule of the Yamato sovereign had been eroded by noble court families.  These families, originally set up to serve the court and its administration, had come to dominate the political structures of the court.  The main branch of the Soga family, in particular, had found its way to power through a series of astute political marriages and the support of a new, foreign religion:  Buddhism.  Soga no Iname, Emishi's grandfather, had married his daughters to the sovereigns, and thus created closer ties between the Soga and the royal line.  He also helped ensure that the offspring of those marriages would be the ones to take over as future sovereigns.  Soga no Iname, himself took the position of Oho-omi, the Great Omi, or the Great Minister, the head of the other ministerial families.  As Prime Minister, he held great sway over the day-to-day running of the court, and execution of much of the administration.  Much of this was covered in previous episodes, but especially episodes 88, 90, 91, 92, 95, 98, 99, and 103. Soga no Umako, who succeeded his father as Oho-omi, was joined in his effort to administer the government by his grand-nephew, Prince Umayado, also known as Shotoku Taishi, son of Tachibana no Toyohi, aka Youmei Tennou, and thus grandson of Umako's sister, Kitashi-hime, and the sovereign known as Kimmei Tennou.  Umayado's aunt, sister to Tachibana no Toyohi, was Kashikiya Hime, or Suiko Tennou.  The three of them:  Soga no Umako, Prince Umayado, and Kashikiya Hime, together oversaw the development of Yamato and the spread of Buddhism.  Buddhism was also controversial at first, but they turned it into another source of ritual power for the state—ritual power that Soga no Umako, Prince Umayado, and even Kashikiya Hime were able to harvest for their own use. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince, Umayado, died before Kashikiya hime, suddenly leaving open the question of who would take the throne.  Soga no Umako himself, passed away two years before Kashikiya Hime.  When she in turn passed away, there was another struggle for the throne, this time between the descendants of Crown Prince Umayado and Soga no Umako.  Eventually, Soga no Umako's son and heir, Soga no Emishi, made sure that a more pliant sovereign, Prince Tamura, would take the throne, and Prince Umayado's own son, Prince Yamashiro no Oe, was cut out of the succession.  Soga no Emishi, serving as prime minister, effectively ran things much as his father had.  When Tamura diedhis queen, Takara Hime, took the throne, rather than passing it back to Umayado's line—no doubt with Emishi's blessing.  He was careful, however, not to provoke direct action against Yamashiro no Oe, possibly due to the reverence in which Yamashiro's father, Prince Umayado, aka the Buddhist Saint Shotoku Taishi, was held.  Meanwhile, Emishi appears to have been cultivating his grandson by way of Prince Tamura, Furubito no Oe, to eventually succeed to the throne, trying to duplicate what his own father Umako and even grandfather had been able to accomplish. Soga no Emishi's son, Soga no Iruka, was not quite so temperate, however.   Who would have thought that growing up at the top of the social hierarchy might make one feel a bit arrogant and entitled?   When Soga no Emishi was ill, Soga no Iruka took over as Prime Minister, and he didn't just stand back.  He decided that he needed to take out Furubito no Oe's competition, and so he went after Yamashiro no Oe and had him killed. Unfortunately for him, he apparently went too far.  There were already those who were not happy with the Soga family's close hold on power—or perhaps more appropriately, this particular line of the Soga family.  This kind of behavior allowed a group of discontented royals and nobility to gain support. According to the popular story recounted in the Nihon Shoki, the primary seed of resistance started with a game of kickball, or kemari.  Nakatomi no Kamako, aka Nakatomi no Kamatari, was the scion of his house, which was dedicated to the worship of the traditional kami of Yamato.  The Nakatomi were ritualists: in charge of chanting ritual prayers, or norito, during court ceremony.  This meant that their powerbase was directly challenged by the increasing role of Buddhism, one of the Soga patriarchs' key influences on the political system. Kamatari was feeling out the politics of the court, and seemed to be seeking the support of royal family members who could help challenge the powerful Soga ministers.  He found that support in two places.  First, in Prince Karu, brother to Takara Hime, the current sovereign, who had been on the throne ever since her husband, Tamura, had passed away.  And then there was the Prince Katsuraki, better known to us, today, as Prince Naka no Oe.  A game of kemari, where a group of players tried to keep a ball in the air as long as they could, using only their feet, was a chance to get close to the Prince.  When Naka no Oe's shoe flew off in the middle of the match, Kamatari ran over to retrieve it.  As he offered the shoe back to its owner, they got to talking, and one of the most impactful bromances in Yamato history was born. The two ended up studying together.  The unification of the Yellow River and Yangzi basin regions under the Sui and Tang, and the expansion of the Silk Road, had repercussions felt all the way across the straits in Yamato.  Naka no Oe and Kamatari were both avid students and were absorbing all that the continent had to throw at them about philosophy and good governance.  As is so often the case, it seems like idealistic students were the fertile ground for revolutionary new thoughts. There were problems implementing their vision, however.  Although the Nihon Shoki claims that Naka no Oe was the Crown Prince, that honor was probably given to Prince Furubito no Oe, who would have no doubt perpetuated the existing power structures at court.  This is something that the Chroniclers, or perhaps those before them, glossed over and may have even tried to retconned, to help bolster the case that Naka no Oe was actually working for the common good and not just involved in a naked power grab for himself.  There is also the question as to where Yamashiro no Oe had stood in the succession, as he likely had a fair number of supporters. With the destruction of Yamashiro no Oe's family, however, the balance of power shifted.  Although Soga no Emishi had long been an influential member of the court, and not solely because of his role as Prime Minister, Soga no Iruka was relatively new to power.  Yamashiro no Oe's family, in turn, likely had a fair number of supporters, and even neutral parties may have been turned off by Iruka's violent methods to suppress an opponent who had already been defeated politically.  Naka no Oe and Kamatari seem to have seized on this discontent againt the Soga, but they needed at least one other conspirator.  They achieved this by offering a marriage alliance with Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro, a lesser member of the Soga household, whose own immediate family had been supporters of Yamashiro no Oe, and so likely had plenty of grievances with his cousins.  Naka no Oe married Ishikawa no Maro's daughter, Wochi no Iratsume, also known as Chinu no Iratsume.  Together, these three—Naka no Oe, Kamatari, and Ishikawa no Maro—brought others into their plot, and finally, in 645, they struck.  Soga no Iruka was killed at court, in front of a shocked Takara Hime and Prince Furubito no Oe.  By the way, this is another thing that suggests to me that Furubito no Oe was the Crown Prince, because why was he front and center at the ceremony, while Naka no Oe was able to skulk around at the edges, tending to things like the guards?  After the assassination at the court – the Isshi Incident -- Naka no Oe gathered forces and went after Soga no Emishi, since they knew they couldn't leave him alive.  With both Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka dead, and Takara Hime having abdicated the throne in shock at what had just occurred, Naka no Oe could have taken the throne for himself.  However, in what was probably a rather astute move on his part, he chose not to.  He recognized that Furubito no Oe's claim to the throne was possibly stronger, and those who had supported the Soga would not doubt push for him to take the throne.  And so, instead, he pushed for his uncle, Prince Karu, to ascend as sovereign.  Karu was Takara Hime's brother, and they could use Confucian logic regarding deference to one's elders to support him.  Plus, Karu's hands weren't directly bloodied by the recent conflict. As for Prince Furubito, he saw the way that the winds were blowing.  To avoid being another casualty, he retired from the world, taking the vows of a Buddhist monk.  However, there were still supporters who were trying to put him on the throne and eventually he would be killed, to avoid being used as a rallying point. Prince Karu, known as Jomei Tennou, ruled for around a decade. During that time, Naka no Oe and his reformers helped to cultivate a new image of the state as a bureaucratic monarchy.  Naka no Oe was designated the Crown Prince, and Nakatomi no Kamatari was made the “Inner Prime Minister”, or Naidaijin.  Ishikawa no Maro was made the minister of the  Right, while Abe no Uchimaro was made Minister of the Left, and they ran much of the bureaucracy, but the Naidaijin was a role more directly attached to the royal household, and likely meant that Kamatari was outside of their jurisdiction, falling into a position directly supporting Naka no Oe.  They instituted Tang style rank systems, and set up divisions of the entire archipelago.  They appointed governors of the various countries, now seen as provinces, and made them report up to various ministers, and eventually the sovereign.  After all, if you were going to manage everything, you needed to first and foremost collect the data.  This period is known as the Taika, or Great Change, period, and the reforms are known as the Taika reforms, discussed in episode 108. They even built a large government complex in the form of the Toyosaki Palace, in Naniwa, though this may have been a bit much—for more, check out episodes 112 and 113. Years into the project, though, things seem to have soured, a bit.  Rumors and slander turned Kamatari against his ally, Ishikawa no Maro, resulting in the death of Ishikawa no Maro and much of his family.  Naka no Oe and other members of the royal family eventually abandoned the Naniwa palace complex, leaving now-Emperor Karu and the government officials there to run the day-to-day administration, while much of the court made its way back to the Asuka area.  Karu would later pass away, but the throne still did not pass to Crown Prince Naka no Oe, despite his title.  Instead, the throne went back to Takara Hime.  This was her second reign, and one of only two split reigns like this that we know of.  The Chroniclers, who were creating posthumous titles for the sovereigns, gave her two names—Kogyoku Tennou for her reign up to 645, and then Saimei Tennou for her second reign starting in 655.   During her latter reign, Naka no Oe continued to wield power as the Crown Prince, and the Chroniclers don't really get into why she came back into power.  It may be that Naka no Oe, in his role as Crown Prince, had more freedom: although the sovereign is purportedly the person in power, that position can also be limiting.  There are specific things which the sovereign is supposed to do, rituals in which they are expected to partake.  In addition, there were restrictions on who was allowed into the inner sanctum of the palace, and thus limits on who could interact with the sovereign, and how.  That meant that any sovereign was reliant on intermediaries to know what was going on in their state and to carry out their orders.  As Crown Prince, Naka no Oe may have had more flexibility to do the things he wanted to do, and he could always leverage the sovereign's authority. When Baekje was destroyed, and Yamato decided to go to their aid, Naka no Oe appears to have had a strong hand in raising forces and directing movements, at least within the archipelago.  When Takara Hime passed away rather suddenly, he accompanied her funerary procession much of the way back, and then returned to Tsukushi—Kyushu—to direct the war.   This is the same thing that Toyotomi Hideyoshi would do when he sent troops to Korea in the late 16th century.  Moving headquarters closer to the continent would reduce the time between messages.  Theoretically he could have moved out to the islands of Iki or Tsushima, but I suspect that there were more amenities at Tsukushi, where they even built a palace for Takara Hime—and later Naka no Oe—to reside in.  It was likely not quite as spectacular as the full-blown city that Hideyoshi developed in a matter of months, but the court could also leverage the facilities previously created for the Dazaifu. The war took time.  This wasn't like some “wars” that were more like specific military actions.  This was a war that dragged on for several years, with different waves of ships going over to transport people and supplies.  Things came to a head in the 9th month of 663, roughly October or November on the Western calendar.  The Baekje resistance was under siege, and their only hope was a fleet of Yamato soldiers coming to their aid.  The Yamato fleet met with a much smaller Tang fleet at the mouth of the Baek River—the Hakusukinoe.  They attempted to break through the Tang blockade, but the Tang had positional advantage and were eventually able to counterattack, destroying the Yamato fleet.  Without their relief, the Baekje resistance fell. The remnants of the Yamato army, along with those Baekje nobles that were with them, headed out, fleeing back to the archipelago.  One presumes that there may have been other Baekje nobles, and their families, who had already made the trip. After the entry describing this rout, on the 24th day of the 9th month of 663, we have a gap in the Chronicles of just a little more than 4 months.  We then pick up with Naka no Oe's government starting to look at internal affairs.  For one thing, we are told that he selected his younger brother, the Royal Prince Ohoama, as Crown Prince, and he made updates to the cap-rank system, changing it from 19 ranks to 26 ranks.  The first six ranks remained the same, but the name “kwa”, or “flower”, for the 7th through 10th ranks was changed to “Kin”, meaning “brocade”.  Furthermore, a “middle” rank was added between the Upper and Lower ranks, further distinguishing each group, and adding 6 extra ranks.  Finally, the initial rank, Risshin, was divided into two:  Daiken and Shouken.  We aren't told why, but it likely meant that they could have more granular distinctions in rank. At the same time that was going on, the court also awarded long swords to the senior members of the great families, and short swords to the senior members of lesser families.  Below that, senior members of the Tomo no Miyatsuko and others were given shields and bows and arrows.  Furthermore, the vassals, or kakibe, and the domestic retainers, or yakabe, were settled, to use Aston's translation.  The kanji used in the text appears to refer to settling a decision or standardizing something, rather than settling as in giving a place to live.  It seems to me to mean that the court was settling servants on families: determining what kind and how many servants that various houses could have based on their position in the hierarchy.  I can't help but notice that all of these gifts were very martial in nature.  That does not mean, of course, that they were necessarily because of the war over Baekje, nor that they were in response to the concern about a possible Tang invasion -- we've seen in the past where swords were gifted to people who had served the court --but it is hard not to connect these gifts with recent worries.  We also know that this year, Naka no Oe turned his focus on building defenses, setting up guards and beacon fires on the islands of Tsushima and Iki.   Should any unknown fleet be seen coming to the archipelago, the fires would alert the forces at Kyushu, so they could send word and prepare a defense. In addition, the court built an impressive defense for Tsukushi—for the Dazai itself, the seat of the Yamato government in Kyushu.  It is called the Mizuki, or Water Castle, though at the time “castle” was more about walls and fortifications than the standalone fortress we tend to think of, today.  Along those lines, the Mizuki was an earthen embankment, roughly 1.2 kilometers long, extending from a natural ridgeline to the west across the Mikasa river.  Archeological evidence shows it had a moat, and this line of fortifications would have been a line of defense for the Dazai, should anyone try to invade.  This construction was so large and impressive that you can still see it, even today.  It stands out on the terrain, and it is even visible from overhead photographs. In the third month of 664, we are told that Prince Syeongwang of Baekje and his people, were given a residence at Naniwa.  In fact, even though Baekje was no longer an independent kingdom, there appear to have been thousands of Baekje people now living in Yamato, unable to return home.  Many of these were former nobles of the Baekje court, which Yamato treated as a foreign extension of its own.  Resettling these people would be a major theme for the Chronicles, but we will also see, as we read further on, how their talents were leveraged for the state. Also in the third month, a star fell in the north—it says “in the north of the capital”, but I suspect that anywhere north, south, east, or west of the capital would have seen the same thing “in the north”.  There was also an earthquake, which isn't given any particular significance, beyond its mention as a natural phenomenon. On the 17th day of the 5th month of 664, so roughly 2 months later, we are told that Liu Jen'yuan, the Tang dynasty's general in Baekje, sent Guo Wucong  to Yamato with a letter and gifts.  We aren't told the contents of the letter, but one imagines that this may have been a rather tense exchange.  Yamato had just been involved in open warfare against Tang forces on the peninsula, and they still weren't sure if the Tang empire would come after them next.  Their only real hope on that front was Goguryeo, since the Tang and Silla were still trying to destroy the Goguryeo kingdom, and that may have kept the Tang forces tied up for a while.  No doubt Guo Wucong would have seen some of the defenses that Yamato was constructing during his visit. Guo Wucong would hang around for about seven and a half months.  He was given permission to take his leave on the 4th day of the 10th month.  Naka no Oe had his friend and Inner Prime Minister, Nakatomi no Kamatari send the Buddhist Priest, Chisho, with presents for Guo Wucong, and he and his officers were granted entertainments  before they left as well. Finally, Guo Wucong and his people returned to the Tang on the 12th day of the 12th month. While the delegation from the Tang was in Yamato, we are told of several tragedies.  First was that Soga no Murajiko no Oho-omi had passed away.  Soga no Murajiko appears to have been another son of Soga no Kuramaro, and thus brother to Soga no Ishikawa no Maro.  Unfortunately, we don't have much more on him in the record. Just a month later, we are told that the “Dowager Queen” Shima passed away.  Aston translates this as the Queen Grandmother, suggesting that she was Naka no Oe's grandmother. We are also told, that in the 10th month of 664, around the time that Guo Wucong was given leave to depart, that Yeon Gaesomun, the Prime Minister—though perhaps more correctly the despotic ruler—of Goguryeo, died.  It is said that he asked his children to remain united, but, well, even if we didn't know how it all turned out, I think we would look somewhat skeptically on any idea that they all did exactly as they were told.  Sure enough, in 667 we are told that Gaesomun's eldest son, Namseng, left the capital city of Pyongyang to tour the provinces, and while he was gone his younger brothers conspired with the nobility, and when he came back they refused to let him back in.  So Namseng ran off to the Tang court and apparently helped them destroy his own country. This is largely corroborated by other stories about Goguryeo, though the dates do seem to be off.  Tang records put Gaesomun's death around 666 CE, which the Samguk Sagi appears to follow, but on his tomb the date would appear to be 665.  Confusion like this was easy enough given the different dates and trying to cross-check across different regnal eras.  Sure, there were some commonalities, but it was very easy to miscount something. One last note from the twelfth month of 664—it seems that there were omens of apparent prosperity that came to the court from the island of Awaji.    First, there was rice that grew up in a farmer's pig trough.  The farmer's name is given as Shinuta no Fumibito no Mu, and Mu gathered this rice and stored it up, and thus, every day his wealth increased.  Then there was the bridal bed of Iwaki no Sukuri no Oho, of Kurimoto district.  They claimed that rice grew up at the head of his brides' mattress during her first night's stay with him.  And this wasn't just some brand new shoot, but overnight it formed an ear, and by the morning it bent down and ripened.  Then, the following night, another ear was formed.  When the bride went out into the courtyard, two keys fell down from heaven, and after she gave them to her husband, Oho, he went on to become a wealthy man. The exact purpose of these stories is unclear, but it seems to be that the Chroniclers are choosing to focus on stories of wealth and growth, which speak to how they wanted this reign as a whole, including the sovereign, to be remembered. However, more tragedy struck the following year, in 665,  when Hashibito, another Dowager Queen – this time the wife of Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou - passed away on the 25th day of the 2nd month.  On the first day of the 3rd month, 330 people took Buddhist vows for her sake. We are also told that in the second month the ranks of Baekje were cross-referenced with the ranks of Yamato, and then ranks were given out to some of the Baekje nobles that had come over to Yamato.  Kwisil Chipsa, who was originally ranked “Dalsol” in Baekje, was accorded “Lower Shoukin”.  That was rank 12 of the 26.  In comparison, “Dalsol” seems to have been the 2nd rank of 16 in Baekje.  Along with handing out rank, over 400 Baekje commoners, both men and women, were given residence in the Kanzaki district in Afumi.  This appears to be an area along the Aichi river, running from the Suzuka Mountains, west towards Lake Biwa. The court granted them rice-lands in the following month.  At the same time, several high ranking Baekje nobles were put in charge of building castles at strategic points around the archipelago.  These included one castle in Nagato, as well as the castles of Ohono and Woyogi, in Tsukushi.  Two years later, in 667, we also see the building of Takayasu castle, in Yamato and Yashima castle in Yamada, in Sanuki—modern Kagawa, on Shikoku, facing the Seto Inland Sea passageway.  Kaneda castle in Tsushima was also a Baekje-built one. We mentioned something about these castles last episode.  They were in the Baekje style, and as I said, the term “castle” here is more about the walls, which were largely made of rammed earth ramparts.  This means that you pile up earth and dirt in a layer and then the laborers use tools specifically to tamp it down until it is thick and hard.  Then another layer is piled on top and the process is repeated.  These walls were often placed on mountain tops, and they would follow the terrain, making them places that were easy to defend.  Beyond that, they didn't necessarily have a donjon keep or anything like that—maybe a tower so that one could see a little further, but being at the top of a mountain usually provided all the visual cues that one needed. We know there were other castles made as well.  For example, I mentioned last week about Kinojo, in Okayama, the ancient Kibi area.  Kinojo is not mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, but it clearly existed back then, and matches the general description of a 7th century mountain castle as built in Baekje.  The name means Demon Castle, and there is a story about it that is connected to the local Kibitsu Jinja—the Shrine to Prince Kibi.  According to legend, Kibitsu Hiko, aka Prince Kibitsu or, perhaps more appropriately, the Prince of Kibi, came to the area around the time of the Mimaki Iribiko, so probably about the 3rd century, at the head of a large force.  Kibitsu Hiko had come to defeat the demon, Ura, who lived in the nearby castle, hence Kinojo, and legend says that he freed the people from the demon's rule. As I also mentioned, last week, this particular castle may have ended up in the Momotaro story.  There are those who believe that the story of Momotarou is based on the story of Prince Kibitsu Hiko, and his defeat of the so-called demon, “Ura”.   Certainly the story has grown more fantastical, and less connected to the ancient history of the Kibi region, but it still may have its origin in a much more standard legend of a founding prince of the ancient Kibi kingdom that was later changed into a fairy tale.   More likely, the castle was built by a Baekje nobleman, often thought to be a prince, who settled in the area.  There is the possibility that the demon's name “Ura” came from a mistranslation of his name, or it is also possible that he was unrelated to the story at all.  The Kibitsu Hiko legend may have incorporated the castle, Kinojo, at a later date, once people had forgotten when and why the castle was actually built. It would make sense if Kinojo had been built as part of the defenses for Yamato, as that area overlooks a large part of the fertile plains of Okayama and out beyond Kojima to the Seto Inland Sea -- it is perched over a key overland route from the western edge of Honshu to Yamato, and there would have been several ways to signal boats to put to sea to intercept forces on the water.  . This all suggests to me that Kinojo was probably part of Naka no Oe's castle-building effort, even if it isn't specifically remembered in the Chronicle.  But building castles wasn't enough to bring peace of mind that Yamato would survive a Tang invasion, and it is possibly as a defensive measure that Naka no Oe would go on to do something truly incredible—he would eventually move the capital from Asuka and Naniwa all the way to the shores of Lake Biwa itself, establishing the Ohotsu palace.  This was a truly extreme step that didn't endear Naka no Oe to the court, but it had several advantages.  For one thing, this move pulled the capital further away from the sea routes, meaning that if they were attacked, they had a more defensible position.  Even more so than Yamato, the Afumi region around Lake Biwa is surrounded by mountains, with a few narrow passes that restricted movement in and out. One of these is the famous Sekigahara, which remained a choke point even up to modern times.  The name even means the Field of the Barrier, indicating the barrier and checkpoint that had been set up there in ancient times.  Moving the capital also pulled the court away from some of the previous political centers, which may have been another feature that made it attractive to Naka no Oe.  Many capital moves have been made, at least in part, to get farther away from strong Buddhist temples, and this certainly would have moved things out of the Asuka region, which by now was a hotbed of Buddhist temple activity. But we'll talk about that all more, next episode.  Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan

The Kansas City Chiefs selected two defensive linemen to end the 2nd round and begin the 3rd round of the 2025 NFL Draft.Kent Swanson and Matty Lane break down the move on the latest episode of the KCSN Draft Show - LIVE from Holladay Distillery in Weston, Missouri.  —

Hello Rank Squad! We're well into the final stretch of this domestic season now, and whilst there are many things decided - Bayern and Liverpool are going to win their domestic leagues, for example, and certain relegation fights seem over before they've begun - there is still plenty of drama to be getting stuck into if you know where to look. So consider this episode a little bit of a guide - we start with the fight for European football in the Premier League, from the Champions League all the way down to the Conference League; before turning our attention to the title races in Italy and Spain. We also take a look at the European scraps in both of those leagues, as well as a mad Bundesliga dogfight in the middle of the park for very few European spaces. Jack finishes us off with a little whip round some of the most interesting stories from the relegation dogfights in Spain, Italy and France - including a team who were in the opening stages of the Champions League sleepwalking towards relegation, and Parma's unusual method of attempting to draw themselves to safety. It's Ranks!  And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Welcome back to Pitstop! Its the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and boy oh boy do we have some breaking news for you.. Max Verstappen is leaving Red Bull?! Reunited with Adrian Newey at Aston Martin? Thats the BIG rumour in the paddock right now, how crazy would that be! Would he replace Lance or Alonso? Do you think Aston is the right move for 2026? It would be a HUGE gamble for Max with the new regulations but will he put his trust in Adrian Newey? In todays episode we give you our Grand Prix predictions, our thoughts on Colapinto potentially joining Red Bull, We discuss the FIA & Races around the world.. There is a lot going on in todays episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's time for The Truth!Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Chelsea, and a slide in form since the turn of the year that has seen them slide from second in the table to being on the brink of falling out of the Champions League places. So what has happened in 2025 to Enzo Maresca's side, and where has the form that saw them exceed all pre-season expectations gone to?We discuss the squad building and some of the quizzical decisions to let players go in January, the fact that Enzo Maresca's Leicester side had a similar second-half slump in the Championship last year, the lack of experience on the pitch in this squad, the injuries that have hurt Chelsea in key areas, the current style being at odds and loads more as we try to get to the bottom of it. Are Chelsea balancing the squad wrong and has Maresca got them in a spin, or is this just a dip in form that they'll come out of the other side of? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for this week's second Champions League Takeaway - looking back at Wednesday's Quarter Final first legs, where PSG roared back from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-1 and Barcelona romped to yet another astounding win, routinely dismantling a discombobulated Dortmund 4-0. We start with PSG and wonder if anybody could have held up against the power of their attacking might last night - looking at the emergence of Desire Doué as a bona-fide starter and wonderkid, as well as the devastating directness of Kvicha Kvaratskhelia - before going a bit deeper into a discussion of how Luis Enrique has moulded this club to one in his own image - where the team comes first, but individual brilliance is actively encouraged as well. Then in Part Two it's time to head to Catalunya, to take a deep dive into how Barcelona pretty much killed this tie stone dead in the first leg, breaking a host of records in the process. All three of the front line of Raphinha (controversially), Lamine Yamal, and Robert Lewandowski were on the scoresheet - with Lewy making it 29 goals in 28 games against Dortmund since leaving them in 2014. Ouch. It's Ranks! And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Hello Rank Squad! Dean's back in London, so it's less of a Transatlantic Job this week, but that doesn't mean there's not still plenty to discuss. Today, we're looking at the Champions League Quarter Finalists, but in a slightly different way - examining who the most important player is for each of the eight teams remaining in the competition, from the perspectives of how they've played so far, as well as who is most likely to step up going forward. We take the eight teams in turn ahead of their QF matchups, thinking about star performers across the course of the competition, but also about which player their opposition would remove from these games if they were given a choice to do so - giving us some interesting names and discussions around how we rank players in systems. We finish by trying to pick a top three each, but we found that was a harder task than either of us envisaged to begin with! It's Ranks!  And remember, if you'd like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

Adrian Newey began his new job at Aston Martin this week. Is he the man who will make Aston Martin World Champions? How does Adrian's arrival change Fernando Alonso's future plans? How has team owner Lawrence Stroll transformed Aston since he took over in 2018? And what is it really like for Lance Stroll to have his dad as his boss? Tom Clarkson has been listening through his interviews with Lawrence, Adrian, Fernando and Lance from recent years here on F1 Beyond The Grid to find some answers to the key questions facing Aston Martin ahead of the new Formula 1 season. LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEWS HERE Lawrence Stroll  Adrian Newey  Fernando Alonso  Lance Stroll