Podcasts about Chiba

ボビー・オロゴン容疑者知人女性に性的暴行を加えたとして、千葉県警は１４日、不同意性交容疑で、タレントのボビー・オロゴン容疑者、さいたま市浦和区大原、を逮捕した。 The Chiba prefectural police arrested television personality Bobby Ologun on Sunday on suspicion of nonconsensual sexual intercourse with a female acquaintance.

The Chiba prefectural police arrested television personality Bobby Ologun on Sunday on suspicion of nonconsensual sexual intercourse with a female acquaintance.

Welcome to the Art Life Faith Podcast, and I’m your host, Roger Lowther. We are recording live from the JCAMM conference in downtown Tokyo with the theme of “The Beauty of Japan・The Beauty of Heaven.” It’s a week-long conference from Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, May 27, 2026, where we are talking about the arts of Japan, the beauty of Japan, and how that helps us worship God. We’ve had so many amazing guests this week, and now I have the privilege of sitting down with one of our key presenters, a band like no other I’ve ever seen in the world called IziBongo. They sing not only in the various languages of the world, but they use the various instruments of the world and the various styles and genres of the world so people can see what it looks like for the nations to praise God and how that can lead us all in praise of God. So I wanted to sit down with them and have a conversation. I’ve also asked Akira Mori to sit down with us. He is our MC for the conference, and he’s a longtime friend and partner. We got to know each other very well through the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. He’s the pastor of Global Mission Chapel in Iwaki, Japan, not too far south of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. And his amazing church was one of the key centers for relief work for all of Tohoku. Through the years, we’ve gotten to know each other better, and I’ve so appreciated not just his encouragement and the way he leads especially movements of prayer in Japan but the way he’s encouraged me personally and for his friendship. And so I invited him to be the MC for this conference and also to be with us for this podcast episode. So thank you, all of you, for being here. Why don’t we start with a quick introduction? Please tell me who are you and where this name IziBongo came from. It’s kind of an interesting name. Cory Sure, Izibongo is a Zulu word which means praises intoned in honor of a person. It’s a kind of praise poetry. This is a second generation of the group itself, originally called the Wycliffe World Music Band, which came from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Roger Not as catchy… Cory Yeah…, which came from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Roger Okay, so what do you do? Why did you form IziBongo? Cory Originally, the Wycliffe World Music Band was meant to be an illustrative form of the music of the world and to promote Bible translation. That was one of the hopes for the people who organized it. We would go to Christian music festivals and perform there to show how the nations would worship or do their songs. Paul I might add that originally it was an ad hoc group of students in a particular class learning about some of these principles of music and worship around the world. The leader of that class was our mentor, Tom Avery. He would gather the students and throw instruments at them and say, “Sing this and let’s play this.” And so it was just to appreciate the worship around the world. This developed out of that educational starting point to more of a worship focus and whatever it is today. Cathy Another point that Tom would make when teaching us these songs was that music is not a universal language, it’s a universal phenomenon. But different peoples have different ways of singing. We think we might understand what they’re singing about. We might make a judgment if we hear another culture’s music and say, “That’s demonic,” or, “You could not praise God with that music.” But he was teaching us that we need to understand when we go into cultures their music systems. We can’t just go in and say, “No, you have to sing it this way.” Mary And to follow up on that is the focus of outsider-insider, an outsider trying to understand from the insiders, “What does this mean to you? What is the content?” because as outsiders, we can really miss it and not understand what’s actually being expressed. So we have terms. We say etic and emic, outsider/insider perspectives, that we talk about in our courses and our learning. Roger Help us to see what this looks like a little bit more concretely. What countries, what groups are you representing, and what kinds of instruments are you playing? Paul Well, I’m playing about 3 or 4 instruments here. One is a charango from Bolivia, which I bought on the River Walk in San Antonio from a real live player. I’m also playing a Moroccan oud, which we use for other instruments as well. We don’t carry 50 instruments, we carry about 10. And I’m playing a Greek bouzouki, but I’m using that to represent music from other parts of the world as well if the instrument sounds similar to the sounds. So again, we’re approximating all these. We’re never being exactly authentic. We are just Americans. We’re not trying to pretend that we’re something else. But we love the sounds of the world and the praises that they lift up. So we want to approximate those sounds so that you will learn to appreciate their music. As for the countries that we actually sing songs from, we could give a list if you’d like. Cory We do some from South America, so there’s Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia…Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo… Cathy Nigeria… Cory Egypt… Paul Tunisia, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, South Korea…We don’t have a Japanese song yet. Roger Okay, well, we’ll have to fix that. Paul Exactly! We’re working on it. Roger So tell me more about why you do this. What is your purpose in singing these different styles—using different instruments, different languages, representing different countries? Paul Well, for myself, and I think for my wife as well, we were worship leaders in a local church and trying to find the most relevant ways to help people worship in our culture. It was mostly not a mixed culture. It was mostly just a normal American church in Texas, but still we had to wrestle with contemporary versus older styles and who was there and what kind of music they liked. In the South it’s a little more Baptist hymnal kind of songs, which I wasn’t that familiar with. So you always have to learn and find out from the congregation that you’re worshiping with, what helps them express their heart, because that’s really what a worship leader is trying to do, just help the people worship from their heart. So that was where we started, and when we ran into Tom and he was doing that in the jungles of Brazil, it sounded radically different, of course. So we learned from him how to approximate that sound so that we could present it. Cathy So the first time we performed this kind of music, we thought we were just going to give people an educational experience and say, this is what your brothers and sisters sound like over in Africa, or this is what they say to God in their songs. The people that heard us in Memphis, Tennessee, on that very first trip were crying. They said, “This is a kind of worship that we’ve never experienced before.” It wasn’t necessarily something they could participate in, but it was like when you look up at the stars and go, “Wow, God, that’s amazing.” And you get a glimpse of the worship that God is preparing for himself across the world. And it does increase your love for your brothers and sisters. So we wanted to give more people that kind of understanding and that kind of love for brothers and sisters that they’ve never met, maybe an experience that would have them want to pray for those brothers and sisters. And so when we go to a mission conference, we hope, too, that it opens people’s eyes to understand that we want to encourage authentic ethnic worship and not just press our Western songs onto others. Mary I was just going to say one word, beauty. Well, I’ll say a few more words than just that. We have a colleague who decades ago said, why would God have created birds that only sing one song? And so we think about the diversity of artistic communication and think about the beauty of how we can all be different and have different artistic expression, but that it can be unified in the worship of our Creator, and to learn to appreciate that, but also know that it’s perfectly great to have those styles and songs and ways that you can sing and worship that come really from a deep place in your heart. So, we want to get into what that is in each culture to lead people to that place of beauty. Paul It makes me think also the necessity that we feel of presenting things with authentic instrumentation as much as possible and with some costuming. It’s not like we’re not trying to appropriate someone else’s culture. We’re trying to represent so that you will have a deeper appreciation of those—the beauty, not just the sound, but the beauty of those cultures in their expression of worship. Roger I’m glad you all are talking about this because that was one of my next questions is like, why is this important? You know, when I first came to Japan, the first thing that people wanted me and my wife to do is, as musicians, help with worship. And there’s basically two choices you can do. Contemporary or you can do traditional. One or the other. If you play organ and piano, well that’s traditional. If you use the guitar, well then that’s going to be contemporary. Those are the only two choices, so choose. If you go back and forth between the two, then that’s blended, a little of both. So to hear what you all do is so far outside people’s expectations of what worship can be. And that message, I feel, is especially needed in Japan. I would love Mori-Sensei to comment on that. Have you heard anything like this in Japan, this group? Mori No. That’s it. Roger And is it important then for Japan? Mori Absolutely. Japanese people like to feel safe, I guess, and don’t want to be criticized. Therefore, they try to conform to whatever is the mainstream, whether it’s a small group of 3, 4, 5 or a bigger group of 50–100. But that’s what I sense, and that’s what I find in myself from the past. So, especially when you think about the Christian church. The gospel was brought by typically Caucasian Western missionaries, and I don’t think they had any other way than to just do what they were used to. And without being intentional, I believe a kind of very clear line between Christians and non-Christian Japanese was drawn. When I was a teenager and a church member, the pastor said secular songs shouldn’t be sung, not even for yourself when you’re alone. So there was a very clear line, and I think in every church it was the same. And if you dare to play jazz or, rock was not so much in Japan in those days, then you were looked at as unspiritual, not a good Christian. So naturally, for those reasons, the Japanese ethnic or original music was separated from the church. It is still very much the same, I think. Therefore, it’s very difficult to take different styles of music and even ethnic music into the church. We don’t have any group like IziBongo. I don’t know if any other countries do either, but it is great riches brought to the church. Roger You know, when I first came to Japan, I was in language school that first year. We made friends with a clarinetist, and she was feeling turmoil about being in the church because the church told her she couldn’t play. She was a professional clarinet player, but they would not allow her to play clarinet in church because that was not appropriate for Christian worship. But, they said, you can play the piano because we need someone to play the piano. She was like, but I’m not a keyboardist and don’t play the piano very well, and it was hard for her to worship while playing the piano. When we came in, they asked us as missionaries to come give a concert, and we invited her to join us. There were tears in her eyes because that was the first time anyone in the church had ever heard her play the clarinet, which was her heart language. And I was like, wow, well, maybe it’s just this church. Well, then we went and were helping to plant another church out in Chiba, where we met a pastor whose son played the saxophone. And it was the same story. He invited his son to play saxophone once in worship, and the church members got so upset. Saxophone is not appropriate for worship, they said. It sounds worldly. It sounds like jazz, you know. And we’ve come across stories like that over and over again. And I want to tell you one more. Sorry I’m talking so much! But there’s this other story when we met this koto player. She was featured in one of our videos during the conference. I think I’ve shared this in a past podcast episode, but we invited her to come and play koto in worship. That’s a traditional Japanese harp, and it was so beautiful. We loved it, but there were so many people upset afterwards. And there were so many meetings afterwards, not the kind of meetings that you really want to have happen, you know, like with the pastor and the elders. Okay, this person’s upset, and they felt like it was connecting to the non-Christian culture in Japan. They said, “You can’t use the koto in worship. You were distracting me from worship. I was not able to worship God because you had the koto there.” And, you know, the way—I’ve shared this with some of you before—the way that we were able to bring healing to that situation is when they realized how she was able to worship God through her heart language, through the koto, it drew them in and they were able to worship God by seeing how she was worshiping God. It wasn’t a gimmick, you know, it wasn’t like we’re trying to force something on the church, but that this is how she worshiped, and they were able to worship through her. It was that relational key that made all the difference. Mori Um, can I ask you a question? Roger Sure. Mori That was your experience in the beginning. Is that still very much the same in the Japanese churches? Roger I do sometimes continue to hear stories, yeah… Mori This is my subjective, biased opinion, but around 20 years ago, God raised a young man and gave him song after song. An authentic Japanese young man, producing Japanese praise songs, worship songs, and they did some gatherings using yukatas and guitars on the stage, dancing and singing. And those worship songs created by those people, they have quite rapidly spread all across Japan. Roger Oh, wow. I’d like to hear them. Mori Yes. Oh, you know him. Taka. His songs, I believe, have changed the atmosphere of Japanese churches. Nagasawa Takafumi wrote that famous song, “Sono Hi Zen Sekai Ga” (“On That Day”). He started out as a worship leader in his father’s church. Now, he’s the senior pastor. But he was invited as a worship leader to a church in a different place, totally different place, and the pastor, as the congregation sang that song, proudly said to Taka, “Don’t you think this is an awesome song?” He didn’t know that Taka wrote that song, and Taka did not tell him. But today, more instruments are naturally taken into church services. Different styles are tolerated. Not every church, but, by and large, so many churches are resembling Western American churches, worship band in front and leading songs with guitars and drums and bass guitars and keyboard. And it’s spreading. And I just think that change has been happening. But still though, not Japanese authentic instruments or styles. Roger Yeah, that's still pretty rare. Mori Yeah, because of the schism that happened, right in the beginning, the Christians somehow feel that those instruments are not theirs. And to me, that’s okay if Christians don’t play any koto or shakuhachi. Of course, they’re greatly considered by Christians to be a special genre of instrument. Roger Generally. Yeah, Cathy? Cathy That’s one thing that seems to happen when we play. We had an experience in Singapore. A Japanese gal came up and talked to me afterwards and said, “This makes me want to go home and find what is unique from my culture that I can offer to God. It makes me want to go home and find or make something unique from my culture. And so, I think that IziBongo sometimes has that effect when we show what other cultures are doing. Roger Yeah, I also wanted to ask you all, I know that like sometimes I hear this word “appropriation” in the States, because you are not from those cultures, because you are Americans doing that music. If someone was to come at you and say, “Hey, that’s not appropriate for you to be doing that,” how would you respond to them? Paul Well, it depends who it’s coming from, I think, is where we start. We have never had anyone come to us from those nations with a problem with us. In fact, all we’ve ever heard is appreciation that we at least attempted to sing in their language. And again, we don’t do it perfectly. We had one experience up at Prairie Bible College where we played a First Nations song, a Native American song, and there was one young gentleman there who was a young man from the First Nations, and he was so excited. He wanted to sing the song. It was very simple, so he wanted to lead it. It was so amazing to him that he could do that. And almost immediately, we got strong pushback from a missionary couple who’d been there for 30 years working with First Nations peoples who felt like that was very inappropriate for the church. So let me say it this way: What we do is not try to impose on the church what you should do. What we’re doing is saying praise is happening all over the world, not always on Sunday morning. In fact, most of this wouldn’t be in Sunday morning worship, but it’s worship. Some of it’s on the streets of Brazil, a samba. And it was a Christian song sung on the streets of Carnaval. I mean, that’s not Sunday morning. So again, what we’re presenting is just the various expressions of praise. Whether they fit on Sunday morning in the church, your pastor and your worship leaders need to work that out. And we shouldn’t be judging them. They’re the ones who are to guide and guard the flock. So pray for your pastors that they might have vision even when they have reservations. Cathy I would say it’s also not only praise, but Scripture memory songs, storytelling, telling of Bible stories, and historical things. So there are other ways to use the music. Cory And the use of the music that we do when we perform are based on relationships that we have with the communities themselves, either through a Bible translation project or actual one-on-one. So, we have gotten permission to do these songs according to the communities that we’ve come in contact with. Mary And I’ll say that coming back to the U.S. from West Africa and starting to hear this word appropriation, I was a little bit shocked because I was like, oh, what does that mean? You know, I had to say, what does that actually mean? Because to be in West Africa or in that particular culture, you dress with the cloth and you learn their songs and they are thrilled that you are learning their language and wearing their clothes. So appropriation is not about using these things for our own benefit, but it’s about lifting up and respecting that culture. Roger We are almost out of time, but I want to give Mori Sensei the last word. So, think about what you’re going to say. Let me just say that I’ve been moved by talking with all of you, you know, outside this interview, the stories you’ve told me about how people respond saying, wow, I had no idea I could worship God in that way through my culture, through my art, and how it’s encouraging them, empowering them really. You are empowering the nations to say, God has given you these gifts to worship him, and it’s just such an important message. Thank you so much for the time and money you’ve spent to come all the way to Japan to share this with us. We really appreciate it. Mori Sensei, do you have any final comments? Mori Well, thank you very much. I’m so honored. Change is happening in the Japanese churches. It’s not only negative. In one church, 45 minutes away from Tokyo, they started using enka. Enka is very secular, many love songs. They were the songs church members' husbands especially loved. So they invited the husbands and did a couples' night. They served beer and they sang enka. And the people loved it. Actually, the wives loved it too. So, some changes are happening. Also, Japanese instruments—koto, shakuhachi, shamisen—are not widely used in the churches. I think that’s because nowadays Japanese people have grown up without those instruments nearby. But those who have, they should be invited to the churches to perform and make them feel at home. Still, the Japanese churches are very much under the control of pastors. So these gatherings would be excellent for the Japanese pastors to know and come attend, listen to, hear the stories. That’s probably the challenge for the near future. Roger Thank you. Thank you so much, all of you. I really appreciate it. God bless you. You've been listening to the Art Life Faith Podcast. To watch the video of this podcast or many other videos from the conference, please go to our website: www.communityarts.jp. As we say in Japan, “Ja, mata ne.” We'll see you next time.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just around the corner, Dan Orlowitz re-joins the Krewe to preview Japan's tournament outlook. We break down Samurai Blue's final roster, key players to watch, group-stage matchups, and what a successful World Cup would look like for Japan. Plus, Dan shares his predictions for the tournament's biggest surprises, disappointments, and who he thinks will be lifting the trophy when it's all said and done. Whether you're a diehard soccer fan or a once-every-four-years World Cup viewer, this episode is the perfect primer before kickoff. ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Past KOJ Sports-Related Episodes ------ Bridging Communities Through MLB Players Trust ft. Amy Hever & Chris Capuano (S6E18) Japanese Soccer on the World Stage ft. Dan Orlowitz (S6E6) Meet the J.League ft. Dan Orlowitz (S6E4) Kendo: The Way of the Sword ft. Alexander Bennett, 7th Dan in Kendo (S4E16) The Life of a Sumotori ft. 3-Time Grand Champion Konishiki Yasokichi (S4E10) Talking Sumo ft. Andrew Freud (S1E8) ------ About Dan Orlowitz ------ Dan's Socials & Writings J-Talk Podcast ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6/2/26 NPB Japan Prediction Today by Ron Crawford.

Popular seiyuu, artist, and lyricist Shoya Chiba has announced the release of his first conceptual EP, Invention.This is his first-ever conceptual album that, according to King Amusement Creative, is packed with many brilliant ideas that showcase the evolution of Shoya Chiba as an artist.More details: https://www.handthatfeedshq.com/shoya-chiba-to-release-conceptual-ep-invention-in-june/

Almost exactly one year after Season 6's Expo 2025 deep dive with Sachiko Yoshimura, the Krewe closes the loop with two people who were actually there. Lea Disimone & Bridget McCarthy served as Youth Ambassadors at the US Pavilion during Expo 2025 Osaka, and they share what the program was really like from the inside, from a day in the life to the lasting impact it left on them. Two New Orleans connections, one world's fair, and a conversation worth the wait. ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Past KOJ Episodes ------ Expo 2025: Japan on the World Stage ft. Sachiko Yoshimura [S6E2] Hanging Out In Hyogo ft. Rob Dyer of The Real Japan [S5E14] Checking Out Miyagi ft. Ryotaro Sakurai (Guest Host, William Woods) [S5E5] Explore Matsue ft. Nicholas McCullough [S4E19] Travel Hiroshima ft. Joy Jarman-Walsh [S4E4] Travel Aomori ft. Kay Allen & Megan DeVille [S3E17] Hungry For Travel ft. Shinichi of TabiEats [S3E15] Henro SZN: Shikoku & the 88 Temple Pilgrimage ft. Todd Wassel [S3E12] ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 5/22/26 NPB Japan Pick Today by Ron Crawford.

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Saitama Seibu Lions 5/19/26 NPB Japan Pick for Bet by Ron Crawford.

The fraudulent claims amounted to approximately 7 million yen in total, disbursed across 17 municipalities in four prefectures: Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitama, and Tokyo. The respective local governments will demand the return of approximately 9.8 million yen, which includes surcharge penalties. This marks the fifth time since July 2025 that Ibaraki prefecture has revoked a facility's designation due to fraudulent benefit claims and document forgery. Episode notes: ‘Ibaraki Prefecture Announces Revocation of Welfare Facility's License Over 7 Million Yen Fraudulent Benefit Claims': https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026/05/18/ibaraki-prefecture-announces-revocation-of-welfare-facilitys-license-over-7-million-yen-fraudulent-benefit-claims/

Orix Buffaloes vs Chiba Lotte Marines 5/16/26 NPB Japan Betting Tips by Ron Crawford.

"The recording inspired me by setting me into a more landscape and nature sort of environment. But also being from a place which is a big city, I used synthesizers to make the second part of the track. "There's also filter and sequencing of the birds song in the last part, to make it even more unnatural, before going back to the nature landscape again."Birdsong in Chiba, Japan reimagined by stereopsis.

This recording captures a rare early-morning moment on Mt. Nokogiri in June, where multiple Grey-headed woodpeckers drum simultaneously, their distinct rhythms responding to one another and forming an emergent chorus across the forested slopes. The mountain's steep rock faces, softened by light drizzle and humid dawn air, shape the sound through natural reverberation, revealing how weather and topography actively participate in the soundscape.Recorded in Chiba, Japan by Miduno.

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Orix Buffaloes 5/4/26 NPB Japan Betting Tips by Ron Crawford.

Saitama Seibu Lions vs Chiba Lotte Marines 5/2/26 NPB Japan Pick Today by Ron Crawford.

With NASA's Artemis II mission sending humans around the Moon for the first time since the 70s, we're bringing back one of our favorite episodes from 2024. The Krewe sat down with Dr. Kate Kitagawa of JAXA for a fascinating look at Japan's role in the global space race: from SLIM's pinpoint lunar landing to Japan's partnership in the Artemis program and beyond. If the Moon is on your mind right now, this one's for you. ++++++ OG Show Notes ++++++ Prepare for lift off as the Krewe sits down with returning guest Dr. Kate Kitagawa of JAXA to look deep into the past, present, and future of Japan's space program! From pencil rockets & SLIM landers to international collaborative efforts, discover Japan's role in exploring the far reaches of outer space. ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Past Episodes with Dr. Kate Kitagawa ------ The Age of Lady Samurai (S01E12) ------ Links about JAXA & Dr. Kate Kitagawa ------ JAXA (English) on Twitter JAXA (Japanese) on Twitter JAXA on Instagram JAXA (English) on Facebook JAXA (Japanese) on Facebook JAXA Website (Japanese) JAXA Website (English) ISAS (English) on Twitter ISAS (Japanese) on Twitter ISAS on Instagram JAXA on YouTube JAXA Space Education Center Website (English) MMX Game Lunarcraft Game SLIM The Pinpoint Moon Landing Game Kate's Book "The Secret Lives of Numbers" Kate's Website ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

Lisa Chiba’s first executive role was “a bit of a rollercoaster”. After starting in the role of customer service director, the company entered a divestment process – making the entire workforce redundant. It was an experience that would give the now-Momentum Energy CEO some of big lessons on communication and transparency. On this week’s episode, BOSS editor Sally Patten sits down with the chief executive to find out about the skills that helped Chiba navigate the path to executive leadership.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing her daughter by drowning her face in water at a home in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture. The suspect (58) is suspected of killing her daughter Kana (29) by holding her head against a container filled with water at her home in Mobara City on the 8th. Kana was severely disabled and bedridden, and the mother reportedly admitted to the charges, saying, “I intended to kill myself, too.” Episode notes: ‘Mother Arrested in Chiba Over Alleged Drowning Death of Disabled Daughter': https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026/03/09/mother-arrested-in-chiba-over-alleged-drowning-death-of-disabled-daughter/

The Krewe wraps up Season 6 with an episode looking back at the highs, the lows, & what's to come! Join Doug & Jenn for listener feedback and behind-the-scenes stories as they put a bow on the 6th chapter of KOJ Podcast! ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

Our guest is Reverend Dr. Masaki Matsubara, who is an eighteenth-generation Zen priest in the Japanese Rinzai tradition. His career is unique and impressive. Following his Zen monastic training in Heirinji Monastery in Japan, he moved to the US in 1999 to study at Cornell University, where he eventually earned a PhD in Asian religions. Since then, he has taught Buddhist studies at prominent institutions, including U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University, Cornell University, Brown University and the University of Tokyo. Also, Rev. Matsubara is the head abbot of Butsumoji Zen Temple in Chiba, Japan Reverend Matsubara joined us in Episode #377 in September 2025 and discussed important ideas underlying Japanese society, such as the true meaning of Zen and the difference between Zen and mindfulness. Now, he is back to talk about food in Zen practice. Generally speaking, in business organizations, the lower level of the hierarchy tends to be in charge of food matters. CEO's would not choose and order lunch items for their employees, for instance. However, in Zen practice, preparing and serving meals is a very important part of training and the cook is called Tenzo. The idea of prioritizing meal preparation, as much as meditation and studying Buddhism, came from the classic book Tenzo Kyokun, written by the Japanese Zen Buddhist master Dogen in 1237. The book is old and sounds aloof from our daily lives, but there are many valuable lessons for living mindfully in our modern lifestyle. In this episode, we will discuss why food is essential in Zen practice, the precious lessons in the book Tenzo Kyokun, how you can practice a mindful approach to food in your daily life, how Japanese vegetarian cuisine Shojin Ryori exemplifies the essence of mindful eating and much, much more!!! The latest information on Reverend Matsubara's meditation sessions is found here on Instagram:@masakimatsubara.zen@the.gallery.nyc@o.d.o_nySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Min 5: SALVADOR. Netflix (3 estrellas) Creada por Aitor Gabilondo (Patria, Entrevías) y dirigida por Daniel Calparsoro, la ficción de ocho episodios se apoya en la presencia magnética de Luis Tosar para explorar sin concesiones el impacto de la radicalización juvenil y la violencia ideológica en el seno de una familia. La trama sigue a Salvador Aguirre (Luis Tosar), técnico de emergencias sanitarias cuya existencia da un vuelco cuando, durante un enfrentamiento violento entre grupos ultras de fútbol, rescata a su hija Milena (Candela Arestegui) herida y descubre que forma parte de un grupo neonazi llamado White Souls. Obligado a enfrentar una realidad que le repele, Salvador se ve forzado a infiltrarse en ese mundo para desentrañar cómo y por qué su propia hija ha abrazado una ideología racista, violenta y homófoba que contrasta brutalmente con los valores que él le inculcó. Min 16: LAS LEONAS. Netflix. (3,5 estrellas) Ambiciosa serie francesa que combina acción, comedia y drama social en un relato coral protagonizado por mujeres que jamás imaginaron convertirse en delincuentes. La ficción sigue a cinco mujeres comunes, todas atravesadas por situaciones económicas y personales límite, que deciden unir fuerzas para ejecutar un atraco a un banco disfrazadas de hombres como respuesta desesperada a sus deudas, miedos y falta de opciones. El golpe, que les proporciona un subidón de adrenalina y un botín inicial, se transforma rápidamente en un punto de no retorno que las lanza a una espiral de consecuencias que bordea la sátira, el peligro y la crisis de identidad colectiva. Min 21: PADRE NO HAY MÁS QUE UNO: LA SERIE (2,5 estrellas) Salto a plataformas de una de las franquicias más taquilleras del cine español reciente, transformando el fenómeno cinematográfico en una comedia familiar seriada. Más que una simple réplica de las películas, la ficción busca reimaginar el caos doméstico en clave contemporánea: mantiene el tono ligero, el humor cotidiano y la centralidad de la familia como núcleo narrativo, pero lo hace con una narrativa fragmentada en episodios y con nuevos protagonistas que refrescan el universo original. Min 28: BSO: EL AMOR A TRAVÉS DE UN PRISMA (NETFLIX) 4 estrellas La banda sonora de Love Through a Prism —compuesta íntegramente por Naoki “naotyu-” Chiba— no es simplemente un acompañamiento musical accesorio, sino uno de los pilares emocionales que sostienen el tono narrativo de la serie. La música, lanzada en enero de 2026 como un álbum de más de treinta pistas, ofrece una paleta sonora que va desde motivos minimalistas hasta piezas más elaboradas, reflejando con delicadeza y coherencia los altibajos afectivos del relato romántico e histórico que protagonizan los jóvenes protagonistas.

From Astro Boy to Gundam to real-world robots like ASIMO and Pepper, Japan's fascination with robots runs deep. This week, the Krewe is joined by author, cultural commentator, & robot enthusiast Matt Alt to explore how robots became heroes instead of threats in Japanese pop culture and how those sci-fi dreams quietly shaped Japan's modern relationship with technology, AI, and everyday automation. From giant mecha and cyborg icons to robot cafés and beyond, we dig into why Japan seems so comfortable living alongside machines in an episode that's equal parts nostalgia, culture, and future tech.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Matt Alt Links ------Matt's WebsitePure Invention - Publisher's PageMatt's NewsletterPure Tokyoscope PodcastMatt on IG------ Past Matt Alt Episodes ------Akira Toriyama: Legacy of a Legend ft. Matt Alt (S5E3)The History of Nintendo ft. Matt Alt (S4E18)How Marvel Comics Changed Tokusatsu & Japan Forever ft Gene & Ted Pelc (Guest Host, Matt Alt) (S3E13)Yokai: The Hauntings of Japan ft. Hiroko Yoda & Matt Alt (S2E5)Why Japan ft. Matt Alt (S1E1)------ Past KOJ Pop Culture Episodes ------Enjoying Shojo Anime & Manga ft. Taryn of Manga Lela (S5E18)The History & Evolution of Godzilla ft. Dr. William (Bill) Tsutsui (S5E1)Thoughts on Godzilla Minus One ft. Dr. William (Bill) Tsutsui (S4Bonus)Japanese Mascot Mania ft. Chris Carlier of Mondo Mascots (S4E8)Tokusatsu Talk with a Super Sentai ft. Sotaro Yasuda aka GekiChopper (S4E6)The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 2] (S4E3)The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 1] (S4E2)Japanese Independent Film Industry ft. Award Winning Director Eiji Uchida (S3E18)Talking Shonen Anime Series ft. Kyle Hebert (S3E10)Japanese Arcades (S2E16)How to Watch Anime: Subbed vs. Dubbed ft. Dan Woren (S2E9)Manga: Literature & An Art Form ft. Danica Davidson (S2E3)The Fantastical World of Studio Ghibli ft. Steve Alpert (S2E1)The Greatest Anime of All Time Pt. 3: Modern Day Anime  (2010's-Present) (S1E18)The Greatest Anime of All Time Pt. 2: The Golden Age  (1990's-2010's) (S1E16)The Greatest Anime of All Time Pt. 1: Nostalgia (60's-80's) (S1E5)We Love Pokemon: Celebrating 25 Years (S1E3)------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

Welcome to the 2026 edition of the New Year Potpourri! After Wrestle Kingdom and the Year End Awards, this show looks back how the first month of the year went for some of the top companies in Japan. Of course STRIGGA & Dylan start off by breaking down EVIL leaving NJPW and reflecting his legacy with the company. Was he a true top guy? From there on, the Eastern Lariat talks about the identity of Hayabusa and his match on Monday Magic including some more developments in the new season of the show. Then, the show takes a closer look at DDT's busy January including the D GENERATIONS Cup and weird WCW vibes. The show adds in a stop for All Japan Pro Wrestling in Chiba, featuring Kento Miyahara vs. Talos and Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Seigo Tachibana before wrapping up with DRAGONGATE, spotlighting BIGBOSS Shimizu vs. Natural Vibes and possible directions for Yuki Yoshioka and Ryoya Tanaka heading towards Kobe World in the summer.

Chinese tourist numbers to Japan have plummeted amid diplomatic frictions, security warnings, large-scale flight cancellations, and growing concerns over natural disasters and disease outbreaks, experts said on Tuesday.专家周二表示，受外交摩擦、安全警告、大规模航班取消以及对自然灾害和疾病暴发的担忧加剧影响，赴日中国游客数量急剧下降。Chinese carriers have canceled nearly half of all flights from the Chinese mainland to Japan this month. The downturn began in November, when remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi involving Taiwan triggered public backlash, according to Yang Jinsong, a researcher at the China Tourism Academy.中国航空公司本月已取消近半数从中国大陆飞往日本的航班。中国旅游研究院研究员杨劲松指出，自去年11月日本首相高市早苗涉及台湾问题的言论引发公众强烈反响后，航班量便开始下滑。Yang said the drop in traveler demand is the result of multiple overlapping factors. "In addition to fluctuations in bilateral relations that have fueled public sentiment, travelers are increasingly wary of Japan's public security situation, recent earthquake activity, as well as disease outbreaks," Yang said.杨劲松表示，旅客需求下降是由多重因素叠加造成的。他说道：“除了双边关系波动引发的公众情绪波动外，旅客对日本公共安全状况、近期地震活动以及疾病暴发的担忧也在不断加剧。”On Monday, three major carriers — Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines — announced that passengers who purchased tickets before noon that day for Japan-bound flights scheduled between March 29 and Oct 24, 2026, would be eligible for free refunds or changes.周一，三大航空公司——中国国际航空、中国南方航空和中国东方航空——宣布，凡在当天中午之前购买2026年3月29日至10月24日期间飞往日本航班机票的乘客，均可免费办理退票或改签手续。Since Nov 15, 2025, Chinese carriers have canceled a large number of flights to Japan. Data from aviation platform Flight Manager shows that in January 2026, the cancellation rate for flights from the Chinese mainland to Japan reached 47.2 percent, up 7.8 percentage points from the previous month. As of Monday, flights on 49 routes scheduled for February had been canceled.自2025年11月15日起，中国航空公司大幅取消飞往日本的航班。航空平台Flight Manager数据显示，2026年1月中国大陆飞往日本的航班取消率达47.2%，较上月上升7.8个百分点。截至周一，原定2月份执飞的49条航线航班已被取消。According to immigration statistics released by the Japanese government on Jan 15, about 348,700 Chinese nationals, excluding those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, traveled to Japan in December 2025, down about 40 percent from the previous year and about 35 percent from November 2025.日本政府1月15日公布的出入境统计数据显示，2025年12月赴日中国公民（不含香港、澳门及台湾地区）约34.87万人次，较上年同期下降约40%，较2025年11月下降约35%。China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday issued a travel advisory warning that public security in Japan has deteriorated in recent months, highlighting a rise in criminal cases targeting Chinese citizens. Earthquakes in several regions have caused injuries, and the Japanese government has warned of possible follow-up seismic activity, it said.中国外交部周一发布旅行提示，称日本近月来治安状况恶化，针对中国公民的刑事案件有所增加。该提示指出，日本多地发生地震造成人员受伤，日方政府已警告可能出现后续地震活动。"Chinese citizens in Japan are facing serious safety threats," the ministry said in the statement, advising travelers to avoid visiting Japan and those already there to closely monitor security conditions as well as earthquake and disaster alerts.外交部在声明中表示：“在日本的中国公民正面临严重的安全威胁。”建议旅行者避免前往日本，已在当地的人员需密切关注安全状况及地震灾害预警。Meanwhile, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Tuesday that a highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, the country's 18th outbreak this season, was confirmed at a poultry farm in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. More than 100,000 quail were being raised at the farm.与此同时，日本农林水产省周二表示，东京附近的千叶县一家禽类养殖场确诊爆发高致病性禽流感疫情，这是该国本季第18起疫情。该养殖场饲养着超过10万只鹌鹑。On social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, users have been debating whether Japan remains a viable holiday destination. One user, nicknamed Xiaoyu, posted on Tuesday asking for advice on whether to proceed with a planned Spring Festival hiking trip along the Kumano Kodo trail.在社交媒体平台小红书上，用户们正热议日本是否仍是可行的度假目的地。一位昵称为小雨（音译）的用户周二发帖询问，是否该按计划在春节期间前往熊野古道徒步旅行。"I am preparing a 'Plan B' amid fears of flight cancellations and other uncontrollable risks," the user said.小雨（音译）表示：“鉴于航班取消及其他不可控风险的担忧，我正在制定‘B计划'。”While some commenters said they were increasingly worried, others said their trips in December were largely unaffected.虽然部分评论者表示他们越来越担心，但也有人称他们12月的行程基本未受影响。Yang said Chinese travelers may consider alternative destinations for the holiday period, as uncertainty surrounding flights and safety conditions continues to influence travel decisions.杨劲松表示，由于航班安排和安全状况的不确定性持续影响着出行决策，中国游客可能会考虑在假期期间选择其他目的地。aviation/ˌeɪ.viˈeɪ.ʃən/n.航空（学）；飞行（术）；航空工业

Before fully diving into 2026, the Krewe takes a minute (or 64) to reflect on Japan in 2025, recapping & remembering the good, the bad & the wacky. From the top news stories of 2025 to the year's biggest pop culture stand outs, this episode covers it all!------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! Get your very own JAPAN BEAR SHELTER------ Past KOJ Episodes Referenced ------Crash Course in Japanese Politics ft. Tobias Harris of Japan Foresight (S6E13)Social Media & Perceptions of Japan (S6E8)Japanese Soccer on the World Stage ft. Dan Orlowitz (S6E5)Meet the J.League ft. Dan Orlowitz (S6E4)Expo 2025: Japan on the World Stage ft. Sachiko Yoshimura (S6E2)Checking Out Miyagi ft. Ryotaro Sakurai (Guest Host, William Woods) (S5E5)Thoughts on Godzilla Minus One ft. Dr. William (Bill) Tsutsui (S4Bonus)Visiting Themed Cafes in Japan ft. Chris Nilghe of TDR Explorer (S4E15)The Life of a Sumotori ft. 3-Time Grand Champion Konishiki Yasokichi (S4E10)Japan 2021: A Year in Review (S2E13)Japanese Theme Parks ft. TDR Explorer (S2E4)Greatest Anime of All-Time pt. 3: Modern Day Anime (2010-Present) (S1E18)Talking Sumo ft. Andrew Freud (S1E8)------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

We kick off our Chaos Energy J.League Cup previews with five teams from the East group, and after Jonny and Ben run the rule over J1 Champions Kashima (to 14:13), Jon Steele guests to chat about the sensational promotions achieved by J2 Champions Mito and Playoff winners Chiba, and how both teams might fare in the top flight (Mito to 45:20, Chiba to 1:08:10). In Part 3 Jonny and Ben finish off the episode by checking in on Kashiwa (to 1:23:20) and Urawa (to end).

Last time we spoke about the climax of the battle of Changkufeng. A 7–10 August clash near Changkufeng and Hill 52 saw a brutal, multi-front Soviet push against Japanese positions in the Changkufeng–Hill 52 complex and adjacent areas. The Korea Army and Imperial forces rapidly reinforced with artillery, long-range 15 cm and other pieces, to relieve pressure. By 7–8 August, Soviet assault waves, supported by tanks and aircraft, intensified but Japanese defenses, including engineers, machine-gun fire, and concentrated artillery, prevented a decisive breakthrough at key positions like Noguchi Hill and the Changkufeng spine.  By 9–10 August, continued Japanese counterfire, improved artillery neutralization, and renewed defenses kept Hill 52 and Changkufeng in Japanese control, though at heavy cost. The frontline exhaustion and looming strategic concerns prompted calls for intensified replacements and potential diplomatic considerations. It seemed like the battle was coming to an end.   #184 The Lake Khasan Truce Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The casualties were atrocious for both sides, yet they continued to mobilize more forces to the conflict area. While the Russians appeared uninterested in all-out war, they were not rushing to settle the crisis through diplomacy and, at the front, were launching "reckless" counterattacks at inconvenient locations, presumably to occupy positions useful for bargaining. The local Soviet military, having ceded the hills at the outset, must also have been anxious about its prestige. The Kwantung Army's potential threat to the flank undoubtedly made the Russians nervous. Although the leading echelon of the 104th Division did not reach Hunchun until the evening of 13 August, Japanese intelligence heard that the Red Army Headquarters staff at Khabarovsk had detected movements of Kwantung Army elements around 10 August and had been compelled to take countermeasures: they reinforced positions along the eastern and northern Manchurian frontiers, concentrated the air force, ordered move-up preparations by ground forces in the Blagoveshchensk district, and commandeered most of the motor vehicles in the Amur Province. By shifting its main strength to the eastern front, the Kwantung Army exerted, as intended, a silent pressure. The covert objective was to restrain and divert the Russians and to assist Japanese diplomacy, not to provoke war. Nevertheless, an American correspondent who visited the Changkufeng area in mid-August privately reported that the Kwantung Army was massing large numbers of troops near the border and expected further trouble.  Toward its weak neighbor in Korea the Kwantung Army rendered every support. Apart from its major demonstration in eastern Manchuria, the Kwantung Army promptly sent whatever reinforcements of artillery, engineers, and other units that Seoul had desired. Being also intimately involved in anti-Soviet military preparations, the Kwantung Army understandably wanted the latest and most authentic information on Russian Army theory and practice. The Changkufeng Incident furnished such a firsthand opportunity, and the professional observers sent from Hsinking were well received at the front. Military classmate ties contributed to the working relationships between the armies. As one division officer put it, the teams from the Kwantung Army came as "friends," not only to study the battlefield by their respective branches of service but also to assist the front-line forces; "the Kwantung Army was increasingly helpful to us in settling the incident." Foreign Minister Ugaki felt that the pressure of troop movements in Manchuria played a major part in the Russians' eventual decision to conclude a cease-fire. From Inada's viewpoint, it had been a "fine and useful demonstration against the Soviet Union." Pinned at Changkufeng, the Russians did not or could not choose to react elsewhere, too. Army General Staff officers believed that clear and consistent operational guidance furnished by Tokyo produced good results, although the fighting had been very hard for the front-line Japanese troops because of the insistence on exclusive defense, the curbs on interference by the Kwantung Army, and the prohibition on the use of aircraft. It had been close, however. Only by conscious efforts at restraint had the small war at Changkufeng been kept from spilling over into neighboring areas. Escalation of combat in early August had caused the Japanese government to try to break the diplomatic impasse while localizing the conflict. On 2 August Premier Konoe assured the Emperor that he intended to leave matters for diplomacy and to suspend military operations as soon as possible, an approach with which the government concurred. The Changkufeng dispute had been accorded priority, preceding overall settlements and the creation of joint commissions to redefine the borders. On the 3rd, after coordinating with the military, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Shigemitsu that the front-line situation had become "extremely critical" and that a quick suspension of fighting action should be proposed. Soviet and Japanese troops should be pulled back to the setup as of 30 July.  In the midst of the Changkufeng Incident, the USSR intensified harassing tactics against the last Japanese consulates located within the Soviet Union. Forty-eight hour ultimatums to quit the country were delivered to the consuls at Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk on 3 and 4 August, respectively. Although the Japanese government warned that it might retaliate, the Russians were unyielding. The foreign ambassadors, Mamoru Shigemitsu and Maxim Litvinov met on August 4th, whereupon Shigemitsu argued, the best procedure would be to suspend military operations on both sides and to restore the status quo. Litvinov in a long manner explained the stance of the USSR as Shigemitsu put it "the Soviet side had a disposition to cease fighting, provided that conditions were satisfactory."  The Russians were stalling at the very time the Red Army was bending every effort to retake Changkufeng. Coordination between the Army, Navy, and Foreign Ministers produced cease-fire conditions which were rushed to the Japanese ambassador on 6 August. Two alternate lines were proposed, to which both armies would pull back. After the creation of a buffer zone, discussions could begin concerning delineation of boundaries in the region of the incident. The Hunchun pact could be the basis for deliberations, demarcation to be effected by joint investigations on the spot in consultation with documents in the possession of Manchukuo and the USSR; the Japanese would serve only as observers. Shigemitsu conferred once more with Litvinov for three and a half hours on 7 August, but no progress was made. Litvinov insisted that a clash could be averted only if Japanese forces pulled However Litvinov's positive reaction to the idea of a demarcation commission was seen as a good sign.  On August the 10th, both sides seemed to have reached a similar conclusion that a cease-fire needed to rapidly be implemented. At 11pm that night Litvinov called the embassy, asking for Shigemitus to see him as fast as possible. Shigemitsu arrived around midnight whereupon Litvinov showed him a draft of a final accord: 1. Japanese and Soviet forces shall cease all military activities on 11 August at noon local time. Instructions to that effect are to be issued immediately by the governments of the USSR and Japan.  2. Japanese as well as Soviet troops shall remain on those lines which they occupied at midnight local time on 10 August.  3. For redemarcation of the portion of frontier in dispute, there shall be created a mixed commission of two representatives from the USSR and two representatives from the Japanese-Manchurian side, with an umpire selected by agreement of both parties from among citizens of a third state.  4. The commission for redemarcation shall work on the basis of agreements and maps bearing the signatures of plenipotentiary representatives of Russia and China. Shigemitsu agreed to the inclusion of a Japanese commissioner on the Manchukuoan delegation, but he could not assent to the addition of a neutral umpire. Moscow received the news of the truce with gratification mingled with surprise. Few realized that the USSR had taken the step of appeasing or at least saving face for the Japanese even after Shigemitsu had pleaded for and won a cease-fire. The world was told by the Russians only that specific overtures for cessation of hostilities had originated with the Soviet authorities. In general, it was not difficult to guess why the Russian government, distracted by the European political scene and apprehensive about a two-front war, agreed to a cease-fire at Changkufeng.  The slowness of communication across the many miles between Moscow and Tokyo did nothing to alleviate nervousness in the Japanese capital during the night of 10–11 August. Ugaki wrote in his diary that, "after ten days of tension, the struggle between the Japanese and Soviet armies on the USSR–Manchukuo border had reached the decisive brink". Complicating the situation was the fact that, late on 10 August, the president of Domei News Agency conveyed to Konoe a message from one of his Moscow correspondents. Purporting to sum up Shigemitsu's latest outlook, the report stated that success in the negotiations seemed unlikely. The contents of the message were transmitted to Ugaki and Itagaki. Consequently, Konoe and his associates spent a fearful and depressed night. Shigemitsu's own report, sent by telegram, arrived frustratingly slowly.  After definite information had been received from Shigemitsu, Harada happily called Kazami Akira, the prime minister's chief secretary, and Konoe himself. "Until the accord was implemented," Kazami had said, "we would have to be on the alert all day today." Konoe and Kazami seemed "a little relaxed anyhow." Inada had finally retired past midnight on 10–11 August, "agreement or no agreement. I must have been dozing from fatigue when the jangle of the phone got me up. It was a message saying that a truce had been concluded the preceding midnight. Just as I had been expecting, I said to myself, but I felt empty inside, as if it were an anticlimax." The call had to have been an unofficial communication, perhaps the latest Domei news, since the records showed that definitive word from the embassy in Moscow did not reach Tokyo until after 10:00. Attache Doi's report to the Army General Staff came at about 11:00. This was extremely late in terms of getting Japanese troops to cease operations at 13:00 Tokyo time (or noon on the spot); a tardy imperial order might undo the Moscow accord. Complicating this matter of split-second timing was the fact that the first official telegram from Shigemitsu referred to unilateral Japanese withdrawal by one kilometer. At the Japanese high command level, there was agitated discussion when initial word of these arrangements arrived. Inada speculated that on 10 August the Russians had staged persistent close-quarter assaults against Changkufeng and seized the southern edge eventually, although repulsed at all other points. Moscow may have agreed to a truce at that midnight because they expected that the crest of Changkufeng would be in their hands by then and that a fait accompli would have been achieved. Some officers argued that the Russian forces were suffering "quite badly and this caused the authorities' agreeability to a cease-fire." Most exasperating, however, was the provision stipulating a one-sided military withdrawal. Admittedly, such action had been under discussion by the Army General Staff itself, particularly after Terada's sobering appeal of 10 August. It was another matter to have a Japanese withdrawal dictated by the USSR while Russian troops did not have to budge. Initial puzzlement and chagrin began to yield to rationalization. The Japanese side seemed to have made a concession in the negotiations, but there must have been significance to the phrase which said, "the line occupied by Japanese forces has been taken into due consideration." Japanese troops had presumably advanced to the edge of the frontier, while Russian soldiers had not come even close. Thus, it must have been necessary to have the Japanese units withdraw first, to fix the boundaries, since it had been the Japanese who had done the greater advancing. One Japanese office remarked "A pull-back was a pull-back, no matter how you looked at things—and we were the ones who had to do it. But the atmosphere in the command had been far from optimistic on 10 August; so we decided that it was unnecessary to complain about this issue and we approved the agreement in general. Both the senior and junior staff levels seemed to be quite relieved." The 11th of August had been an awkward day to conduct liaison between the Foreign Ministry, the Army, and the Throne, since the Emperor was leaving Hayama to visit naval installations in the Yokosuka area and the navy air unit in Chiba from morning. By the time a conclusive report on the cease-fire could be conveyed to the monarch, he was aboard the destroyer Natsugumo at Kisarazu. Naval wireless facilities in Tokyo had to be used to transmit coded messages to Admiral Yonai, the Navy Minister, for delivery to the Emperor. This was done shortly before 14:45 According to Yonai, the Emperor "was very pleased and relieved when I reported to him… about the conclusion of the truce accord." The appropriate Imperial order was approved promptly. But not until 15:00, two hours after cease-fire time at Changkufeng, did word of Imperial sanction reach the high command.  Japanese soldiers in the lines recalled nothing special on 11 August. "We didn't hear about the truce till the last minute," said one, "and we had become so inured to enemy artillery we hardly noticed any 'last salute.' From Tokyo, on 11 August, it was reported that the Japanese side had suspended operations promptly at noon, as agreed, but that sporadic bursts of fire had continued to come from the Soviet side. Colonel Grebennik, when asked after the war whether the combat did end at noon, replied petulantly: "Yes, but not quite so. The fighting actually ceased at 12:05." According to him, the tardiness was the Japanese side's fault.  The Japanese press told readers that "the cease-fire bugle has sounded—the frontier is cheerful now, 14 days after the shooting began." All was quiet in the area of Changkufeng, where the sounds of firing ceased at noon "as if erased." The most intense period of stillness lasted only a few minutes and was followed by the excited chattering of soldiers, audible on both sides. Korea Army Headquarters spoke of the "lifting of dark clouds [and] return of the rays of peace." In Hongui, a Japanese combat officer told a Japanese correspondent: "Suddenly we noticed the insects making noise; the soldiers were delighted. Once the fighting stopped, Japanese national flags were hoisted here and there along our front. … After the Russians observed what we had done, they broke out red flags also, at various points in their trenches." Some Japanese soldiers were given cookies by Soviet medical corpsmen. At Hill 52, an infantryman remembered, the Japanese and the Russians were facing each other, 50 meters apart, that afternoon. "We just lay there and stared at each other for two hours, waiting grimly. But it was well past cease-fire now, and those same Russians finally started to wave at us. Later that day, when Soviet troops came to salvage their KO'd tanks, we 'chatted' in sign language." After the cease-fire, Ichimoto, whose battalion had seen the most difficult fighting, stuck his head above the trench and waved hello to some Soviet officers. "They waved back. It gave me an odd sensation, for during the furious struggle I had considered them to be barbarians. Now I was surprised to see that they were civilized after all!" A rifleman at Changkufeng remembered swapping watches with an unarmed Russian across the peak. The Japanese front-line troops stayed in their positions confronting the Russians and conducted preparations for further combat while cleaning up the battlefield. Soviet troops also remained deployed as of the time of the cease-fire and vigorously carried out their own construction. The day after the cease-fire went into effect, Suetaka escorted an American reporter to the front. At Changkufeng:  "carpenters were making wooden receptacles for the ashes of the Japanese dead. Funeral pyres still were smoldering. . . . From our vantage point the lieutenant general pointed out long lines of Soviet trucks coming up in clouds of dust [which] apparently were made deliberately in an effort to conceal the trucks' movements, [probably designed] to haul supplies from the front. Soviet boats were pushing across [Khasan] . . . and Soviet soldiers were towing smashed tanks back from no-man'sland. On the Japanese side there was a pronounced holiday spirit. Soldiers, emerging from dugouts, were drying white undershirts on near-by brush and bathing in the Tumen River. The soldiers were laughing heartily. A few were trying to ride a Korean donkey near Changkufeng's scarred slope. The general pointed out three Soviet tanks behind the Japanese advance lines east of Changkufeng. He said the Russians had hauled back seventy others [on the night of 11 August]. . . . The writer was shown a barbed wire fence immediately behind a wrecked village on the west slope of Changkufeng which the general said the Soviet troops built at the beginning of the fighting. Possiet Bay also was pointed out, clearly visible across the swamp." Soviet losses for what became known as the battle of Lake Khasan for the Russians and the Changkufeng incident for the Japanese, totaled 792 killed or missing and 3,279 wounded or sick, according to Soviet records. The Japanese claimed to have destroyed or immobilized 96 enemy tanks and 30 guns. Soviet armored losses were significant, with dozens of tanks knocked out or destroyed and hundreds of "tank troops" becoming casualties. Japanese casualties, as revealed by secret Army General Staff statistics, were 1,439 casualties, 526 killed or missing, 913 wounded; the Soviets claimed Japanese losses of 3,100, with 600 killed and 2,500 wounded. The Soviets concluded that these losses were due in part to poor communications infrastructure and roads, as well as the loss of unit coherence caused by weak organization, headquarters, commanders, and a lack of combat-support units. The faults in the Soviet army and leadership at Khasan were blamed on the incompetence of Blyukher. In addition to leading the troops into action at Khasan, Blyukher was also supposed to oversee the trans-Baikal Military District's and the Far Eastern fronts' move to combat readiness, using an administrative apparatus that delivered army group, army, and corps-level instructions to the 40th Rifle Division by accident. On 22 October, he was arrested by the NKVD and is thought to have been tortured to death. At 15:35 on 11 August, in the Hill 52 sector, high-ranking military delegates bearing a white flag emerged from the Soviet lines and proceeded to Akahage Hill, about 100 meters from the Japanese positions. Cho, as right sector chief, was notified. He sent three lieutenants to converse with the Russians; they learned that the Soviets wanted the Japanese to designate a time and place for a conference. This word was conveyed to Suetaka, who had already dispatched Lieutenant Kozuki to the heights east of Shachaofeng to contact the Russians. Around 4:20, the commander canceled Kozuki's mission and instructed Cho to reply that the delegation ought to convene near the peak of Changkufeng at 18:00 Cho set out promptly with several subordinates; they reached the Changkufeng crest a little before 6. The Russians then said they wanted to meet the Japanese near the Crestline southeast of Changkufeng, the excuse being that the peak was too far for them to go and that they could not arrive by the designated time. Cho took his team to the location requested by the Russians. There, the Japanese found 13 Soviet soldiers and a heavy machine gun on guard, but the Russian delegates had not arrived, although it was 6:18. The irked Japanese clocked a further delay of two minutes before the Russian truce chief, Gen. Grigory M. Shtern, rode up on horseback with a party of eight. Both delegations saluted, the chiefs and team members identified themselves, and all shook hands. The Soviet team was made up of Corps General 3rd rank Shtern, 38, chief of staff, Far East area army; Brigade Commissar Semenovsky political major general, 37 or 38; Colonel Fedotev, 42; and Major Wabilev, about 30. Interpreting for the Russians was Alexei Kim. In Colonel Cho's opinion, "It was always necessary to take the initiative in dealing with the Soviets. So, even in such matters as shaking hands or conversing, he always did things first." During the exchange of greetings, Cho teased Shtern about his bandaged forehead. "A Japanese artillery shell got you, didn't it?" he asked. But Cho began formal discussions on a more dignified note: "Cho: It is very much to be regretted that the Japanese and Soviet armies had to get involved in combat around Changkufeng. Nevertheless, I laud the consummation of the Mos­cow accord on the part of both governments. And, I must say, your forces were quite brave and patriotic. Shtern: I agree with you. The Japanese Army, too, was courageous and strong." Negotiations would go on at the local level and diplomatic level for many days. In Tokyo, on the morning of 13 August, Ugaki had gone to the Meiji shrine to "report" on the cease-fire and to express his gratitude. At 10:00, when received in Imperial audience, he discussed the Changkufeng Incident. "I humbly regret to have troubled Your Majesty so unduly in connection with an unimportant affair on the Soviet-Manchurian frontier" at a time when the monarch was confronted by grave national problems. A long and winding road lay ahead before the incident as a whole was settled, but a good start had been made and "we are going to be even more careful in handling matters, although the Soviet regime  consists of devious, vicious scoundrels." Recognition of the Japanese Army's performance was accorded by the highest authorities in the homeland. As soon as the fighting ceased, Kan'in transmitted a message of appreciation. The day after the cease-fire, the command in North Korea issued a generous communique: "We pay homage to the Japanese for defending themselves against 100 planes, 200 tanks, and 60 pieces of heavy artillery. Our admiration for the bravery of both armies is of the highest." At 14:00 on the 15th, Kan'in was received in audience and reported on the settlement of the crisis. Said the Emperor: "We are gratified by the fact that, during this incident at Changkufeng, Our officers and men achieved their mission fully and manifested prudence and forbearance while confronting difficult circumstances with small forces. Our profound condolences to the casualties. Convey this message to the officers and men." A wire was dispatched promptly to Nakamura. With Imperial use of the wording "Changkufeng Incident," the nomenclature for the affair was fixed in Japan. When the cabinet met on 16 August, the decision was reached officially. After the Changkufeng affair, Japanese officers claimed that the Soviets had dispatched tactical experts "to ascertain why their elite Far Eastern forces had not been able to achieve satisfactory results. They realize the urgency of this investigation in preparation for any great war." Specifically, the AGS heard that on the day of the cease-fire, Blyukher had sent an investigative team of commissars under Romanovsky to the scene. Japanese experts on the USSR speculated that the experience at Changkufeng ought indeed to have impressed the Red Army: "Our forces did seize the hill and hold it. After comparing the strengths involved ... the Russians may well have had to modify their estimates." According to one Japanese commentator, improvements in political leadership were judged imperative by the USSR, gainsaying claims that the Soviet Army had been strengthened through the purge of alleged Japanese tools. Soviet authorities would conclude "As a test of doctrine, the fighting had confirmed the correctness of the basic principles embodied in the 1936 Field Service Regulations." The Soviet infantry had paid dearly for this, as well as for the deficiencies in tactical training. Defense Commissar Voroshilov admitted, "We were not sufficiently quick in our tactics, and particularly in joint operations in dealing the enemy a concentrated blow." In the view of historian Mackintosh: "The Soviet success at Lake Khasan was bought at the cost of heavy casualties and exposed serious defects in the mobilization machinery and the training of troops. There can be little doubt that these factors checked to some extent the Soviet Government's overoptimistic estimate of its own military strength and cast doubt on the effectiveness of its policy of expansion in all fields of military organization". Writing a year and a half after Changkufeng, an Mainichi reporter observed that the greatest harvest from the incident was tangible Japanese experience in determining the fighting strength of the Russians. Purchased with blood, this knowledge could provide valuable evidence for future combat operations. It was a question whether Changkufeng really possessed such strategic significance as was claimed for it, but the Soviet policy of bluff could be interpreted as substantiating the weakness of the defenses of Vladivostok. "The Russians used all kinds of new weapons at Changkufeng and tipped their whole hand. But although mechanization of the Red Army had attained high levels with respect to quantity, their weaknesses in technique and quality were laid bare." Imaoka observed that since the Changkufeng Incident marked the first time that the Japanese and Soviet armies engaged each other in combat involving large strategic elements, divisional and above, Russian fighting strength was studied with keen interest. The Japanese did not rate the capacity of the officers or Soviet quality, in general, as especially high. Still, the Russians did possess quantitative abundance, and Japanese losses had been heavy because the enemy had fired masses of ammunition against fixed targets. Suetaka seemed to have comprehended the scope of tangible Soviet strength in equipment and materiel, as shown by his comment: "I felt deeply that if the gap in manpower went beyond limits, it would be inevitable for our casualties to increase tremendously; this might even cause us danger in specific local areas." Few Japanese officers saw anything new in Soviet tactical methods, although considerations of mass were ever-present. Not only intelligence experts but the whole army worked on ways of coping with Soviet forces that would have the numerical advantage by 3:1. Most awesome was the "fantastic abundance" of hostile materiel, although the Russians could not deploy to surround the Japanese because of the geography. An AGS expert on the USSR summed it up: "We learned that Soviet strength was up to expectations, whereas Japanese arms and equipment had to be improved and reinforced." Worded in a multiplicity of ways, the Japanese conclusion was that patient imperial forces had won a great victory by defending the contested border with flesh vs. steel and by limiting the Changkufeng Incident, till the end, against enemy hordes supported exclusively by planes and tanks. Japanese infantrymen admit that the combat soldiers did not savor their disadvantages. "All our materiel was inferior in quality and particularly in quantity. We had the impression that whereas we relied on muscle power, the enemy used engines. This rendered our fighting particularly hard, but we had full confidence in our spiritual strength [i.e., superiority]."  Nevertheless, the Japanese mode of tactical operation, asserted Iwasaki, the Korea Army senior staff officer, was "the worst possible: fighting with hands tied." This meant that the Russians could fight "to their hearts' content," committing tanks and planes, and striking from all directions. A front-line infantry commander commented: "One's troops ought to be provided meaningful reasons for fighting and for dying happily. It is cruel to ask officers and men to meet masses of steel and to shed their blood without visible cause, and apparently because of inadequate combat preparations." The cease-fire agreement was concluded "at just the right time," General Morimoto admitted. A secret report prepared by AGS analysts sheds light on the larger question of what the army thought it had learned about itself and the Soviet enemy: "In studying Changkufeng, one ought to bear a number of cautions in mind: (1) The incident broke out when we were concentrating on the holy war against China; severe limitations on combat operations were imposed by the necessity to adhere to a policy of nonenlargement. (2) Apparently, the enemy also adopted a policy of localization while continuously attempting to recapture the high ground in the Changkufeng area. (3) Our forces employed units which were on Phase-1 alert from beginning to end; in terms of quality, the personnel were excellent—mainly active-duty types, from key men down. But our numbers were far inferior, and our organization and equipment were not of the best. In addition, we committed no planes or tanks, whereas the enemy used plenty. (4) The 19th Division was thorough, rigorous, and realistic in its combat training prior to the engagement. (5) Battlefield terrain seriously limited the enemy's attacks, especially tank action. But while the Tumen restricted assaults against our flanks and rear, it hampered our own services of supply, notably the provision of position construction materials." The Japanese learned few or erroneous lessons from the Changkufeng affair; the Kwantung Army, for example, was convinced that everything had been handled badly in 1938 by the Korea Army and the high command. When a dispute arose in 1939 at Nomonhan on another border lying between Outer Mongolia and Manchukuo, the staff in Hsinking fostered escalating measures. The USSR, however, learned in 1937 and 1938 that the Japanese Army seemed to respect only force.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Changkufeng incident or battle of Lake Khasan clash saw a fierce Soviet push against Japanese positions around Changkufeng and Hill 52. The cease-fire ended the incident, but not the conflict. Despite the brutal lessons learned by both sides, a much larger conflict would explode the next year that would alter both nations throughout WW2.   

Cooperative Evangelist: Kagawa Toyohiko and His World, 1888-1960 (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025) by Bo Tao uncovers the extraordinary world of a Japanese man who was once described as the “Saint Francis” or the “Gandhi” of Japan. A renowned religious figure on the world stage, Kagawa Toyohiko (1888–1960) received wide acclaim for his work as a street preacher in the slums of Kobe as well as his espousal of nonviolent methods of social reform. His reputation as a pacifist figure, however, rested uneasily with his wartime actions, which became increasingly supportive of the Japanese government and its expansionist policies. Reluctant to speak up against Japan's increasing aggression in the late 1930s, he emerged as a full-blown apologist during the Pacific War, appearing on several Radio Tokyo broadcasts as a propagandist defending the interests of the state. Adopting a transnational approach that accounts for the rapid flow of information between Japan and the United States, Bo Tao examines the career of Kagawa as it unfolded within the context of the wars, imperialism, and economic depression of the early to mid-twentieth century. Using official documents and personal correspondence that have received scant attention in previous works, Tao reveals, for the first time at this level of detail, the extent of Kagawa's cooperative relationship with the Japanese government, as well as the ways in which his idealized image was carefully constructed by his ardent missionary supporters. This book provides a window into the global dimensions of broader cultural shifts during the interwar period, such as the rise of Christian internationalism and the Depression-era popularity of cooperative economics. Offering a holistic and nuanced exploration of the tensions resulting from Kagawa's hybrid identity as a Japanese Christian, Cooperative Evangelist adds a new layer to our understanding of religion, empire, and politics in the shaping of social and international relations. Bo Tao is Lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Chiba University in Chiba, Japan. His research interests include global history, U.S.-Japan relations, religion and politics, modern Japanese history, and the history of Christianity. Shatrunjay Mall is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He works on transnational Asian history, and his dissertation explores intellectual, political, and cultural intersections and affinities that emerged between Indian anti-colonialism and imperial Japan in the twentieth century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history