Podcasts about Kyoto

In this podcast episode, I talk about “Mental Health Care That Really Worked for Me. I wasn't feeling great...Japan's humid summer kept me inside, inactive, and moody. So I tried five simple routines: morning walks, deep cleaning, swimming, chatting with people, and keeping a sketch diary. These small changes really helped my mood, sleep, and energy. I also share a few cultural insights about life in Japan. Like elementary school swimming classes, sketch diaries, and school trips to Kyoto and Nara. Tune in for practical wellness tips and a peek into Japanese daily life!

On the Direct Recap ShowOn the Direct Recap Show, ⁠Corey Dirrig⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Stephanie Klimov⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeRon Dawkins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ break down Friday morning's Nintendo Direct, which celebrated Mario's 40th anniversary with the Super Mario Galaxy movie title reveal, the HD bundle of Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 for Nintendo Switch (also playable on Nintendo Switch 2), and two new Super Mario Galaxy amiibo featuring Mario and Rosalina.Nintendo also highlighted a Mario anniversary exhibit and limited-edition tickets to the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, celebrating the franchise's long history. Additionally, Nintendo will sponsor the Kyoto Marathon, with their name featured on every runner's nametag. The segment revealed two new games and one Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade. Super Mario Bros. Wonder will receive a Switch 2 version in 2026, featuring new content, mini-games, and a multiplayer hub in Bellabel Park. Alongside this upgrade, a physical Talking Flower was unveiled, ready to shout at players whenever they like. Mario Tennis Fever and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book were also showcased in depth, giving fans plenty to look forward to.After the anniversary segment, it was business as usual. Nintendo shared release dates for previously announced games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Legends Z-A, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Hades II. They also revealed a few surprises, including adding Virtual Boy to the Virtual Console with a special accessory that replicates the original hardware, DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza, Resident Evil making its return with Resident Evil Requiem, and more.The Direct ended on a high note with the long-awaited next entry in the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. The game introduces an Ancient Greece-inspired aesthetic, new characters, and story elements centered around the Heroic Games. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is set to release in 2026.This and more on the Direct Recap Show.Follow our Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Corey Dirrig⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder of Boss Rush Media and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Klimov⁠⁠⁠, VP of Media and Independent Developer Relations at ⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeRon Dawkins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, VP of Technology and Culture at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Boss Rush Community: Join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network Community Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Boss Rush Network: Follow Boss Rush Network on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Boss Rush Network:Support Boss Rush on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and buy merch on our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Store.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website at BossRush.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more great content.Thank you for your Support!Thank you for watching or listening to Nintendo Pow Block, the Nintendo podcast from Boss Rush Network! If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe to the channel, give the video a Like, and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review—it really helps! For more great content, visit our website at BossRush.net. Thanks for your continued support of Nintendo Pow Block and our independent endeavor with the Boss Rush Network!

Join us as we dressed up in beautiful kimonos, sipped matcha like pros , and soaked in the magic of Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto, Japan.From giggles in geta sandals to unforgettable views, this sisters' trip was everything to rejuvenate our souls!

On the Direct Recap ShowOn the Direct Recap Show, ⁠⁠Corey Dirrig⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Stephanie Klimov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeRon Dawkins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ break down Friday morning's Nintendo Direct, which celebrated Mario's 40th anniversary with the Super Mario Galaxy movie title reveal, the HD bundle of Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 for Nintendo Switch (also playable on Nintendo Switch 2), and two new Super Mario Galaxy amiibo featuring Mario and Rosalina.Nintendo also highlighted a Mario anniversary exhibit and limited-edition tickets to the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, celebrating the franchise's long history. Additionally, Nintendo will sponsor the Kyoto Marathon, with their name featured on every runner's nametag. The segment revealed two new games and one Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade. Super Mario Bros. Wonder will receive a Switch 2 version in 2026, featuring new content, mini-games, and a multiplayer hub in Bellabel Park. Alongside this upgrade, a physical Talking Flower was unveiled, ready to shout at players whenever they like. Mario Tennis Fever and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book were also showcased in depth, giving fans plenty to look forward to.After the anniversary segment, it was business as usual. Nintendo shared release dates for previously announced games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Legends Z-A, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Hades II. They also revealed a few surprises, including adding Virtual Boy to the Virtual Console with a special accessory that replicates the original hardware, DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza, Resident Evil making its return with Resident Evil Requiem, and more.The Direct ended on a high note with the long-awaited next entry in the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. The game introduces an Ancient Greece-inspired aesthetic, new characters, and story elements centered around the Heroic Games. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is set to release in 2026.This and more on the Direct Recap Show.Follow our Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Corey Dirrig⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Founder of Boss Rush Media and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Klimov⁠⁠⁠⁠, VP of Media and Independent Developer Relations at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeRon Dawkins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, VP of Technology and Culture at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Boss Rush Community: Join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush Network Community Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Boss Rush Network: Follow Boss Rush Network on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Boss Rush Network:Support Boss Rush on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and buy merch on our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Store.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boss Rush on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and visit our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website at BossRush.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more great content.Thank you for your Support!Thank you for watching or listening to Nintendo Pow Block, the Nintendo podcast from Boss Rush Network! If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe to the channel, give the video a Like, and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review—it really helps! For more great content, visit our website at BossRush.net. Thanks for your continued support of Nintendo Pow Block and our independent endeavor with the Boss Rush Network!

This week we welcome Nintendo legend Takaya Imamura, the visionary artist behind F-Zero, Star Fox, and Majora's Mask. We hear some incredible stories from his three decades at Nintendo: from being interviewed by Shigeru Miyamoto, to creating Captain Falcon on a whim, to the wild one-year crunch that gave birth to Majora's Mask. He reveals how a shrine in Kyoto inspired Fox McCloud, why Tingle was born out of pure exhaustion, and the surprising comic book roots of his latest project Omega Six.  This chat was recorded live at Retromessa in Norway. Contents: 00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories  44:22 - Takaya Imamura Interview Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Play Expo Blackpool: https://www.playexpoblackpool.com/ Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://theretrohour.com/support/ https://www.patreon.com/retrohour Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8 Website: http://theretrohour.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/ X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Show notes Dreamcast Wireless Controller: https://tinyurl.com/yzr5kwdx Fallout 1 3D: https://tinyurl.com/476fu3b4 Vectrex Mini Updates: https://tinyurl.com/3hs2sphw Limited Run FMV Games: https://tinyurl.com/yc23t2fu Clive Sinclair Comedy: https://tinyurl.com/56s3hyhr Wolfhound Trailer: https://youtu.be/bBVXgchDEXk

Last time we spoke about the surrender of Japan. Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender on August 15, prompting mixed public reactions: grief, shock, and sympathy for the Emperor, tempered by fear of hardship and occupation. The government's response included resignations and suicide as new leadership was brought in under Prime Minister Higashikuni, with Mamoru Shigemitsu as Foreign Minister and Kawabe Torashiro heading a delegation to Manila. General MacArthur directed the occupation plan, “Blacklist,” prioritizing rapid, phased entry into key Japanese areas and Korea, while demobilizing enemy forces. The surrender ceremony occurred aboard the Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, with Wainwright, Percival, Nimitz, and UN representatives in attendance. Civilians and soldiers across Asia began surrendering, and postwar rehabilitation, Indochina and Vietnam's independence movements, and Southeast Asian transitions rapidly unfolded as Allied forces established control. This episode is the Aftermath of the Pacific War Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, 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 world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two 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 you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  The Pacific War has ended. Peace has been restored by the Allies and most of the places conquered by the Japanese Empire have been liberated. In this post-war period, new challenges would be faced for those who won the war; and from the ashes of an empire, a defeated nation was also seeking to rebuild. As the Japanese demobilized their armed forces, many young boys were set to return to their homeland, even if they had previously thought that they wouldn't survive the ordeal. And yet, there were some cases of isolated men that would continue to fight for decades even, unaware that the war had already ended.  As we last saw, after the Japanese surrender, General MacArthur's forces began the occupation of the Japanese home islands, while their overseas empire was being dismantled by the Allies. To handle civil administration, MacArthur established the Military Government Section, commanded by Brigadier-General William Crist, staffed by hundreds of US experts trained in civil governance who were reassigned from Okinawa and the Philippines. As the occupation began, Americans dispatched tactical units and Military Government Teams to each prefecture to ensure that policies were faithfully carried out. By mid-September, General Eichelberger's 8th Army had taken over the Tokyo Bay region and began deploying to occupy Hokkaido and the northern half of Honshu. Then General Krueger's 6th Army arrived in late September, taking southern Honshu and Shikoku, with its base in Kyoto. In December, 6th Army was relieved of its occupation duties; in January 1946, it was deactivated, leaving the 8th Army as the main garrison force. By late 1945, about 430,000 American soldiers were garrisoned across Japan. President Truman approved inviting Allied involvement on American terms, with occupation armies integrated into a US command structure. Yet with the Chinese civil war and Russia's reluctance to place its forces under MacArthur's control, only Australia, Britain, India, and New Zealand sent brigades, more than 40,000 troops in southwestern Japan. Japanese troops were gradually disarmed by order of their own commanders, so the stigma of surrender would be less keenly felt by the individual soldier. In the homeland, about 1.5 million men were discharged and returned home by the end of August. Demobilization overseas, however, proceeded, not quickly, but as a long, difficult process of repatriation. In compliance with General Order No. 1, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters disbanded on September 13 and was superseded by the Japanese War Department to manage demobilization. By November 1, the homeland had demobilized 2,228,761 personnel, roughly 97% of the Homeland Army. Yet some 6,413,215 men remained to be repatriated from overseas. On December 1, the Japanese War Ministry dissolved, and the First Demobilization Ministry took its place. The Second Demobilization Ministry was established to handle IJN demobilization, with 1,299,868 sailors, 81% of the Navy, demobilized by December 17. Japanese warships and merchant ships had their weapons rendered inoperative, and suicide craft were destroyed. Forty percent of naval vessels were allocated to evacuations in the Philippines, and 60% to evacuations of other Pacific islands. This effort eventually repatriated about 823,984 men to Japan by February 15, 1946. As repatriation accelerated, by October 15 only 1,909,401 men remained to be repatriated, most of them in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the Higashikuni Cabinet and Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru managed to persuade MacArthur not to impose direct military rule or martial law over all of Japan. Instead, the occupation would be indirect, guided by the Japanese government under the Emperor's direction. An early decision to feed occupation forces from American supplies, and to allow the Japanese to use their own limited food stores, helped ease a core fear: that Imperial forces would impose forced deliveries on the people they conquered. On September 17, MacArthur transferred his headquarters from Yokohama to Tokyo, setting up primary offices on the sixth floor of the Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Building, an imposing edifice overlooking the moat and the Imperial palace grounds in Hibiya, a symbolic heart of the nation.  While the average soldier did not fit the rapacious image of wartime Japanese propagandists, occupation personnel often behaved like neo-colonial overlords. The conquerors claimed privileges unimaginable to most Japanese. Entire trains and train compartments, fitted with dining cars, were set aside for the exclusive use of occupation forces. These silenced, half-empty trains sped past crowded platforms, provoking ire as Japanese passengers were forced to enter and exit packed cars through punched-out windows, or perch on carriage roofs, couplings, and running boards, often with tragic consequences. The luxury express coaches became irresistible targets for anonymous stone-throwers. During the war, retrenchment measures had closed restaurants, cabarets, beer halls, geisha houses, and theatres in Tokyo and other large cities. Now, a vast leisure industry sprang up to cater to the needs of the foreign occupants. Reopened restaurants and theatres, along with train stations, buses, and streetcars, were sometimes kept off limits to Allied personnel, partly for security, partly to avoid burdening Japanese resources, but a costly service infrastructure was built to the occupiers' specifications. Facilities reserved for occupation troops bore large signs reading “Japanese Keep Out” or “For Allied Personnel Only.” In downtown Tokyo, important public buildings requisitioned for occupation use had separate entrances for Americans and Japanese. The effect? A subtle but clear colour bar between the predominantly white conquerors and the conquered “Asiatic” Japanese. Although MacArthur was ready to work through the Japanese government, he lacked the organizational infrastructure to administer a nation of 74 million. Consequently, on October 2, MacArthur dissolved the Military Government Section and inaugurated General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, a separate headquarters focused on civil affairs and operating in tandem with the Army high command. SCAP immediately assumed responsibility for administering the Japanese home islands. It commandeered every large building not burned down to house thousands of civilians and requisitioned vast tracts of prime real estate to quarter several hundred thousand troops in the Tokyo–Yokohama area alone. Amidst the rise of American privilege, entire buildings were refurbished as officers' clubs, replete with slot machines and gambling parlours installed at occupation expense. The Stars and Stripes were hoisted over Tokyo, while the display of the Rising Sun was banned; and the downtown area, known as “Little America,” was transformed into a US enclave. The enclave mentality of this cocooned existence was reinforced by the arrival within the first six months of roughly 700 American families. At the peak of the occupation, about 14,800 families employed some 25,000 Japanese servants to ease the “rigours” of overseas duty. Even enlisted men in the sparse quonset-hut towns around the city lived like kings compared with ordinary Japanese. Japanese workers cleaned barracks, did kitchen chores, and handled other base duties. The lowest private earned a 25% hardship bonus until these special allotments were discontinued in 1949. Most military families quickly adjusted to a pampered lifestyle that went beyond maids and “boys,” including cooks, laundresses, babysitters, gardeners, and masseuses. Perks included spacious quarters with swimming pools, central heating, hot running water, and modern plumbing. Two observers compared GHQ to the British Raj at its height. George F. Kennan, head of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, warned during his 1948 mission to Japan that Americans had monopolized “everything that smacks of comfort or elegance or luxury,” criticizing what he called the “American brand of philistinism” and the “monumental imperviousness” of MacArthur's staff to the Japanese suffering. This conqueror's mentality also showed in the bullying attitudes many top occupation officials displayed toward the Japanese with whom they dealt. Major Faubion Bowers, MacArthur's military secretary, later said, “I and nearly all the occupation people I knew were extremely conceited and extremely arrogant and used our power every inch of the way.” Initially, there were spasms of defiance against the occupation forces, such as anonymous stone-throwing, while armed robbery and minor assaults against occupation personnel were rife in the weeks and months after capitulation. Yet active resistance was neither widespread nor organized. The Americans successfully completed their initial deployment without violence, an astonishing feat given a heavily armed and vastly superior enemy operating on home terrain. The average citizen regarded the occupation as akin to force majeure, the unfortunate but inevitable aftermath of a natural calamity. Japan lay prostrate. Industrial output had fallen to about 10% of pre-war levels, and as late as 1946, more than 13 million remained unemployed. Nearly 40% of Japan's urban areas had been turned to rubble, and some 9 million people were homeless. The war-displaced, many of them orphans, slept in doorways and hallways, in bombed-out ruins, dugouts and packing crates, under bridges or on pavements, and crowded the hallways of train and subway stations. As winter 1945 descended, with food, fuel, and clothing scarce, people froze to death. Bonfires lit the streets to ward off the chill. "The only warm hands I have shaken thus far in Japan belonged to Americans," Mark Gayn noted in December 1945. "The Japanese do not have much of a chance to thaw out, and their hands are cold and red." Unable to afford shoes, many wore straw sandals; those with geta felt themselves privileged. The sight of a man wearing a woman's high-buttoned shoes in winter epitomized the daily struggle to stay dry and warm. Shantytowns built of scrap wood, rusted metal, and scavenged odds and ends sprang up everywhere, resembling vast junk yards. The poorest searched smouldering refuse heaps for castoffs that might be bartered for a scrap to eat or wear. Black markets (yami'ichi) run by Japanese, Koreans, and For-mosans mushroomed to replace collapsed distribution channels and cash in on inflated prices. Tokyo became "a world of scarcity in which every nail, every rag, and even a tangerine peel [had a] market value." Psychologically numbed, disoriented, and disillusioned with their leaders, demobilized veterans and civilians alike struggled to get their bearings, shed militaristic ideologies, and begin to embrace new values. In the vacuum of defeat, the Japanese people appeared ready to reject the past and grasp at the straw held out by the former enemy. Relations between occupier and occupied were not smooth, however. American troops comported themselves like conquerors, especially in the early weeks and months of occupation. Much of the violence was directed against women, with the first attacks beginning within hours after the landing of advance units. When US paratroopers landed in Sapporo, an orgy of looting, sexual violence, and drunken brawling ensued. Newspaper accounts reported 931 serious offences by GIs in the Yokohama area during the first week of occupation, including 487 armed robberies, 411 thefts of currency or goods, 9 rapes, 5 break-ins, 3 cases of assault and battery, and 16 other acts of lawlessness. In the first 10 days of occupation, there were 1,336 reported rapes by US soldiers in Kanagawa Prefecture alone. Americans were not the only perpetrators. A former prostitute recalled that when Australian troops arrived in Kure in early 1946, they “dragged young women into their jeeps, took them to the mountain, and then raped them. I heard them screaming for help nearly every night.” Such behaviour was commonplace, but news of criminal activity by occupation forces was quickly suppressed. On September 10, 1945, SCAP issued press and pre-censorship codes outlawing the publication of reports and statistics "inimical to the objectives of the occupation." In the sole instance of self-help General Eichelberger records in his memoirs, when locals formed a vigilante group and retaliated against off-duty GIs, 8th Army ordered armored vehicles into the streets and arrested the ringleaders, who received lengthy prison terms. Misbehavior ranged from black-market activity, petty theft, reckless driving, and disorderly conduct to vandalism, arson, murder, and rape. Soldiers and sailors often broke the law with impunity, and incidents of robbery, rape, and even murder were widely reported. Gang rapes and other sex atrocities were not infrequent; victims, shunned as outcasts, sometimes turned to prostitution in desperation, while others took their own lives to avoid bringing shame to their families. Military courts arrested relatively few soldiers for these offenses and convicted even fewer; Japanese attempts at self-defense were punished severely, and restitution for victims was rare. Fearing the worst, Japanese authorities had already prepared countermeasures against the supposed rapacity of foreign soldiers. Imperial troops in East Asia and the Pacific had behaved brutally toward women, so the government established “sexual comfort-stations” manned by geisha, bar hostesses, and prostitutes to “satisfy the lust of the Occupation forces,” as the Higashikuni Cabinet put it. A budget of 100 million yen was set aside for these Recreation and Amusement Associations, financed initially with public funds but run as private enterprises under police supervision. Through these, the government hoped to protect the daughters of the well-born and middle class by turning to lower-class women to satisfy the soldiers' sexual appetites. By the end of 1945, brothel operators had rounded up an estimated 20,000 young women and herded them into RAA establishments nationwide. Eventually, as many as 70,000 are said to have ended up in the state-run sex industry. Thankfully, as military discipline took hold and fresh troops replaced the Allied veterans responsible for the early crime wave, violence subsided and the occupier's patronising behavior and the ugly misdeeds of a lawless few were gradually overlooked. However, fraternisation was frowned upon by both sides, and segregation was practiced in principle, with the Japanese excluded from areas reserved for Allied personnel until September 1949, when MacArthur lifted virtually all restrictions on friendly association, stating that he was “establishing the same relations between occupation personnel and the Japanese population as exists between troops stationed in the United States and the American people.” In principle, the Occupation's administrative structure was highly complex. The Far Eastern Commission, based in Washington, included representatives from all 13 countries that had fought against Japan and was established in 1946 to formulate basic principles. The Allied Council for Japan was created in the same year to assist in developing and implementing surrender terms and in administering the country. It consisted of representatives from the USA, the USSR, Nationalist China, and the British Commonwealth. Although both bodies were active at first, they were largely ineffectual due to unwieldy decision-making, disagreements between the national delegations (especially the USA and USSR), and the obstructionism of General Douglas MacArthur. In practice, SCAP, the executive authority of the occupation, effectively ruled Japan from 1945 to 1952. And since it took orders only from the US government, the Occupation became primarily an American affair. The US occupation program, effectively carried out by SCAP, was revolutionary and rested on a two-pronged approach. To ensure Japan would never again become a menace to the United States or to world peace, SCAP pursued disarmament and demilitarization, with continuing control over Japan's capacity to make war. This involved destroying military supplies and installations, demobilizing more than five million Japanese soldiers, and thoroughly discrediting the military establishment. Accordingly, SCAP ordered the purge of tens of thousands of designated persons from public service positions, including accused war criminals, military officers, leaders of ultranationalist societies, leaders in the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, business leaders tied to overseas expansion, governors of former Japanese colonies, and national leaders who had steered Japan into war. In addition, MacArthur's International Military Tribunal for the Far East established a military court in Tokyo. It had jurisdiction over those charged with Class A crimes, top leaders who had planned and directed the war. Also considered were Class B charges, covering conventional war crimes, and Class C charges, covering crimes against humanity. Yet the military court in Tokyo wouldn't be the only one. More than 5,700 lower-ranking personnel were charged with conventional war crimes in separate trials convened by Australia, China, France, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of the 5,700 Japanese individuals indicted for Class B war crimes, 984 were sentenced to death; 475 received life sentences; 2,944 were given more limited prison terms; 1,018 were acquitted; and 279 were never brought to trial or not sentenced. Among these, many, like General Ando Rikichi and Lieutenant-General Nomi Toshio, chose to commit suicide before facing prosecution. Notable cases include Lieutenant-General Tani Hisao, who was sentenced to death by the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal for his role in the Nanjing Massacre; Lieutenant-General Sakai Takashi, who was executed in Nanjing for the murder of British and Chinese civilians during the occupation of Hong Kong. General Okamura Yasuji was convicted of war crimes by the Tribunal, yet he was immediately protected by the personal order of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek, who kept him as a military adviser for the Kuomintang. In the Manila trials, General Yamashita Tomoyuki was sentenced to death as he was in overall command during the Sook Ching massacre, the Rape of Manila, and other atrocities. Lieutenant-General Homma Masaharu was likewise executed in Manila for atrocities committed by troops under his command during the Bataan Death March. General Imamura Hitoshi was sentenced to ten years in prison, but he considered the punishment too light and even had a replica of the prison built in his garden, remaining there until his death in 1968. Lieutenant-General Kanda Masatane received a 14-year sentence for war crimes on Bougainville, though he served only four years. Lieutenant-General Adachi Hatazo was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes in New Guinea and subsequently committed suicide on September 10, 1947. Lieutenant-General Teshima Fusataro received three years of forced labour for using a hospital ship to transport troops. Lieutenant-General Baba Masao was sentenced to death for ordering the Sandakan Death Marches, during which over 2,200 Australian and British prisoners of war perished. Lieutenant-General Tanabe Moritake was sentenced to death by a Dutch military tribunal for unspecified war crimes. Rear-Admiral Sakaibara Shigematsu was executed in Guam for ordering the Wake Island massacre, in which 98 American civilians were murdered. Lieutenant-General Inoue Sadae was condemned to death in Guam for permitting subordinates to execute three downed American airmen captured in Palau, though his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1951 and he was released in 1953. Lieutenant-General Tachibana Yoshio was sentenced to death in Guam for his role in the Chichijima Incident, in which eight American airmen were cannibalized. By mid-1945, due to the Allied naval blockade, the 25,000 Japanese troops on Chichijima had run low on supplies. However, although the daily rice ration had been reduced from 400 grams per person per day to 240 grams, the troops were not at risk of starvation. In February and March 1945, in what would later be called the Chichijima incident, Tachibana Yoshio's senior staff turned to cannibalism. Nine American airmen had escaped from their planes after being shot down during bombing raids on Chichijima, eight of whom were captured. The ninth, the only one to evade capture, was future US President George H. W. Bush, then a 20-year-old pilot. Over several months, the prisoners were executed, and reportedly by the order of Major Matoba Sueyo, their bodies were butchered by the division's medical orderlies, with the livers and other organs consumed by the senior staff, including Matoba's superior Tachibana. In the Yokohama War Crimes Trials, Lieutenant-Generals Inada Masazumi and Yokoyama Isamu were convicted for their complicity in vivisection and other human medical experiments performed at Kyushu Imperial University on downed Allied airmen. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial, which began in May 1946 and lasted two and a half years, resulted in the execution by hanging of Generals Doihara Kenji and Itagaki Seishiro, and former Prime Ministers Hirota Koki and Tojo Hideki, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace, specifically for the escalation of the Pacific War and for permitting the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war. Also sentenced to death were Lieutenant-General Muto Akira for his role in the Nanjing and Manila massacres; General Kimura Heitaro for planning the war strategy in China and Southeast Asia and for laxity in preventing atrocities against prisoners of war in Burma; and General Matsui Iwane for his involvement in the Rape of Nanjing. The seven defendants who were sentenced to death were executed at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro on December 23, 1948. Sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, including the last Field Marshal Hata Shunroku, Generals Araki Sadao, Minami Hiro, and Umezu Shojiro, Admiral Shimada Shigetaro, former Prime Ministers Hiranuma Kiichiro and Koiso Kuniaki, Marquis Kido Koichi, and Colonel Hashimoto Kingoro, a major instigator of the second Sino-Japanese War. Additionally, former Foreign Ministers Togo Shigenori and Shigemitsu Mamoru received seven- and twenty-year sentences, respectively. The Soviet Union and Chinese Communist forces also held trials of Japanese war criminals, including the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials, which tried and found guilty some members of Japan's bacteriological and chemical warfare unit known as Unit 731. However, those who surrendered to the Americans were never brought to trial, as MacArthur granted immunity to Lieutenant-General Ishii Shiro and all members of the bacteriological research units in exchange for germ-w warfare data derived from human experimentation. If you would like to learn more about what I like to call Japan's Operation Paper clip, whereupon the US grabbed many scientists from Unit 731, check out my exclusive podcast. The SCAP-turn to democratization began with the drafting of a new constitution in 1947, addressing Japan's enduring feudal social structure. In the charter, sovereignty was vested in the people, and the emperor was designated a “symbol of the state and the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people in whom resides sovereign power.” Because the emperor now possessed fewer powers than European constitutional monarchs, some have gone so far as to say that Japan became “a republic in fact if not in name.” Yet the retention of the emperor was, in fact, a compromise that suited both those who wanted to preserve the essence of the nation for stability and those who demanded that the emperor system, though not necessarily the emperor, should be expunged. In line with the democratic spirit of the new constitution, the peerage was abolished and the two-chamber Diet, to which the cabinet was now responsible, became the highest organ of state. The judiciary was made independent and local autonomy was granted in vital areas of jurisdiction such as education and the police. Moreover, the constitution stipulated that “the people shall not be prevented from enjoying any of the fundamental human rights,” that they “shall be respected as individuals,” and that “their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall … be the supreme consideration in legislation.” Its 29 articles guaranteed basic human rights: equality, freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin, freedom of thought and freedom of religion. Finally, in its most controversial section, Article 9, the “peace clause,” Japan “renounce[d] war as a sovereign right of the nation” and vowed not to maintain any military forces and “other war potential.” To instill a thoroughly democratic ethos, reforms touched every facet of society. The dissolution of the zaibatsu decentralised economic power; the 1945 Labour Union Law and the 1946 Labour Relations Act guaranteed workers the right to collective action; the 1947 Labour Standards Law established basic working standards for men and women; and the revised Civil Code of 1948 abolished the patriarchal household and enshrined sexual equality. Reflecting core American principles, SCAP introduced a 6-3-3 schooling system, six years of compulsory elementary education, three years of junior high, and an optional three years of senior high, along with the aim of secular, locally controlled education. More crucially, ideological reform followed: censorship of feudal material in media, revision of textbooks, and prohibition of ideas glorifying war, dying for the emperor, or venerating war heroes. With women enfranchised and young people shaped to counter militarism and ultranationalism, rural Japan was transformed to undermine lingering class divisions. The land reform program provided for the purchase of all land held by absentee landlords, allowed resident landlords and owner-farmers to retain a set amount of land, and required that the remaining land be sold to the government so it could be offered to existing tenants. In 1948, amid the intensifying tensions of the Cold War that would soon culminate in the Korean War, the occupation's focus shifted from demilitarization and democratization toward economic rehabilitation and, ultimately, the remilitarization of Japan, an shift now known as the “Reverse Course.” The country was thus rebuilt as the Pacific region's primary bulwark against the spread of Communism. An Economic Stabilisation Programme was introduced, including a five-year plan to coordinate production and target capital through the Reconstruction Finance Bank. In 1949, the anti-inflationary Dodge Plan was adopted, advocating balanced budgets, fixing the exchange rate at 360 yen to the dollar, and ending broad government intervention. Additionally, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry was formed and supported the formation of conglomerates centered around banks, which encouraged the reemergence of a somewhat weakened set of zaibatsu, including Mitsui and Mitsubishi. By the end of the Occupation era, Japan was on the verge of surpassing its 1934–1936 levels of economic growth. Equally important was Japan's rearmament in alignment with American foreign policy: a National Police Reserve of about 75,000 was created with the outbreak of the Korean War; by 1952 it had expanded to 110,000 and was renamed the Self-Defense Force after the inclusion of an air force. However, the Reverse Course also facilitated the reestablishment of conservative politics and the rollback of gains made by women and the reforms of local autonomy and education. As the Occupation progressed, the Americans permitted greater Japanese initiative, and power gradually shifted from the reformers to the moderates. By 1949, the purge of the right came under review, and many who had been condemned began returning to influence, if not to the Diet, then to behind-the-scenes power. At the same time, Japanese authorities, with MacArthur's support, began purging left-wing activists. In June 1950, for example, the central office of the Japan Communist Party and the editorial board of The Red Flag were purged. The gains made by women also seemed to be reversed. Women were elected to 8% of available seats in the first lower-house election in 1946, but to only 2% in 1952, a trend not reversed until the so-called Madonna Boom of the 1980s. Although the number of women voting continued to rise, female politicisation remained more superficial than might be imagined. Women's employment also appeared little affected by labour legislation: though women formed nearly 40% of the labor force in 1952, they earned only 45% as much as men. Indeed, women's attitudes toward labor were influenced less by the new ethos of fulfilling individual potential than by traditional views of family and workplace responsibilities. In the areas of local autonomy and education, substantial modifications were made to the reforms. Because local authorities lacked sufficient power to tax, they were unable to realise their extensive powers, and, as a result, key responsibilities were transferred back to national jurisdiction. In 1951, for example, 90% of villages and towns placed their police forces under the control of the newly formed National Police Agency. Central control over education was also gradually reasserted; in 1951, the Yoshida government attempted to reintroduce ethics classes, proposed tighter central oversight of textbooks, and recommended abolishing local school board elections. By the end of the decade, all these changes had been implemented. The Soviet occupation of the Kurile Islands and the Habomai Islets was completed with Russian troops fully deployed by September 5. Immediately after the onset of the occupation, amid a climate of insecurity and fear marked by reports of sporadic rape and physical assault and widespread looting by occupying troops, an estimated 4,000 islanders fled to Hokkaido rather than face an uncertain repatriation. As Soviet forces moved in, they seized or destroyed telephone and telegraph installations and halted ship movements into and out of the islands, leaving residents without adequate food and other winter provisions. Yet, unlike Manchuria, where Japanese civilians faced widespread sexual violence and pillage, systematic violence against the civilian population on the Kuriles appears to have been exceptional. A series of military government proclamations assured islanders of safety so long as they did not resist Soviet rule and carried on normally; however, these orders also prohibited activities not explicitly authorized by the Red Army, which imposed many hardships on civilians. Residents endured harsh conditions under Soviet rule until late 1948, when Japanese repatriation out of the Kurils was completed. The Kuriles posed a special diplomatic problem, as the occupation of the southernmost islands—the Northern Territories—ignited a long-standing dispute between Tokyo and Moscow that continues to impede the normalisation of relations today. Although the Kuriles were promised to the Soviet Union in the Yalta agreement, Japan and the United States argued that this did not apply to the Northern Territories, since they were not part of the Kurile Islands. A substantial dispute regarding the status of the Kurile Islands arose between the United States and the Soviet Union during the preparation of the Treaty of San Francisco, which was intended as a permanent peace treaty between Japan and the Allied Powers of World War II. The treaty was ultimately signed by 49 nations in San Francisco on September 8, 1951, and came into force on April 28, 1952. It ended Japan's role as an imperial power, allocated compensation to Allied nations and former prisoners of war who had suffered Japanese war crimes, ended the Allied post-war occupation of Japan, and returned full sovereignty to Japan. Effectively, the document officially renounced Japan's treaty rights derived from the Boxer Protocol of 1901 and its rights to Korea, Formosa and the Pescadores, the Kurile Islands, the Spratly Islands, Antarctica, and South Sakhalin. Japan's South Seas Mandate, namely the Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, and Caroline Islands, had already been formally revoked by the United Nations on July 18, 1947, making the United States responsible for administration of those islands under a UN trusteeship agreement that established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In turn, the Bonin, Volcano, and Ryukyu Islands were progressively restored to Japan between 1953 and 1972, along with the Senkaku Islands, which were disputed by both Communist and Nationalist China. In addition, alongside the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan and the United States signed a Security Treaty that established a long-lasting military alliance between them. Although Japan renounced its rights to the Kuriles, the U.S. State Department later clarified that “the Habomai Islands and Shikotan ... are properly part of Hokkaido and that Japan is entitled to sovereignty over them,” hence why the Soviets refused to sign the treaty. Britain and the United States agreed that territorial rights would not be granted to nations that did not sign the Treaty of San Francisco, and as a result the Kurile Islands were not formally recognized as Soviet territory. A separate peace treaty, the Treaty of Taipei (formally the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty), was signed in Taipei on April 28, 1952 between Japan and the Kuomintang, and on June 9 of that year the Treaty of Peace Between Japan and India followed. Finally, Japan and the Soviet Union ended their formal state of war with the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, though this did not settle the Kurile Islands dispute. Even after these formal steps, Japan as a nation was not in a formal state of war, and many Japanese continued to believe the war was ongoing; those who held out after the surrender came to be known as Japanese holdouts.  Captain Oba Sakae and his medical company participated in the Saipan campaign beginning on July 7, 1944, and took part in what would become the largest banzai charge of the Pacific War. After 15 hours of intense hand-to-hand combat, almost 4,300 Japanese soldiers were dead, and Oba and his men were presumed among them. In reality, however, he survived the battle and gradually assumed command of over a hundred additional soldiers. Only five men from his original unit survived the battle, two of whom died in the following months. Oba then led over 200 Japanese civilians deeper into the jungles to evade capture, organizing them into mountain caves and hidden jungle villages. When the soldiers were not assisting the civilians with survival tasks, Oba and his men continued their battle against the garrison of US Marines. He used the 1,552‑ft Mount Tapochau as their primary base, which offered an unobstructed 360-degree view of the island. From their base camp on the western slope of the mountain, Oba and his men occasionally conducted guerrilla-style raids on American positions. Due to the speed and stealth of these operations, and the Marines' frustrated attempts to find him, the Saipan Marines eventually referred to Oba as “The Fox.” Oba and his men held out on the island for 512 days, or about 16 months. On November 27, 1945, former Major-General Amo Umahachi was able to draw out some of the Japanese in hiding by singing the anthem of the Japanese infantry branch. Amo was then able to present documents from the defunct IGHQ to Oba ordering him and his 46 remaining men to surrender themselves to the Americans. On December 1, the Japanese soldiers gathered on Tapochau and sang a song of departure to the spirits of the war dead; Oba led his people out of the jungle and they presented themselves to the Marines of the 18th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company. With great formality and commensurate dignity, Oba surrendered his sword to Lieutenant Colonel Howard G. Kirgis, and his men surrendered their arms and colors. On January 2, 1946, 20 Japanese soldiers hiding in a tunnel at Corregidor Island surrendered after learning the war had ended from a newspaper found while collecting water. In that same month, 120 Japanese were routed after a battle in the mountains 150 miles south of Manila. In April, during a seven-week campaign to clear Lubang Island, 41 more Japanese emerged from the jungle, unaware that the war had ended; however, a group of four Japanese continued to resist. In early 1947, Lieutenant Yamaguchi Ei and his band of 33 soldiers renewed fighting with the small Marine garrison on Peleliu, prompting reinforcements under Rear-Admiral Charles Pownall to be brought to the island to hunt down the guerrilla group. Along with them came former Rear-Admiral Sumikawa Michio, who ultimately convinced Yamaguchi to surrender in April after almost three years of guerrilla warfare. Also in April, seven Japanese emerged from Palawan Island and fifteen armed stragglers emerged from Luzon. In January 1948, 200 troops surrendered on Mindanao; and on May 12, the Associated Press reported that two unnamed Japanese soldiers had surrendered to civilian policemen in Guam the day before. On January 6, 1949, two former IJN soldiers, machine gunners Matsudo Rikio and Yamakage Kufuku, were discovered on Iwo Jima and surrendered peacefully. In March 1950, Private Akatsu Yūichi surrendered in the village of Looc, leaving only three Japanese still resisting on Lubang. By 1951 a group of Japanese on Anatahan Island refused to believe that the war was over and resisted every attempt by the Navy to remove them. This group was first discovered in February 1945, when several Chamorros from Saipan were sent to the island to recover the bodies of a Saipan-based B-29. The Chamorros reported that there were about thirty Japanese survivors from three ships sunk in June 1944, one of which was an Okinawan woman. Personal aggravations developed from the close confines of a small group on a small island and from tuba drinking; among the holdouts, 6 of 11 deaths were the result of violence, and one man displayed 13 knife wounds. The presence of only one woman, Higa Kazuko, caused considerable difficulty as she would transfer her affections among at least four men after each of them mysteriously disappeared, purportedly “swallowed by the waves while fishing.” According to the more sensational versions of the Anatahan tale, 11 of the 30 navy sailors stranded on the island died due to violent struggles over her affections. In July 1950, Higa went to the beach when an American vessel appeared offshore and finally asked to be removed from the island. She was taken to Saipan aboard the Miss Susie and, upon arrival, told authorities that the men on the island did not believe the war was over. As the Japanese government showed interest in the situation on Anatahan, the families of the holdouts were contacted in Japan and urged by the Navy to write letters stating that the war was over and that the holdouts should surrender. The letters were dropped by air on June 26 and ultimately convinced the holdouts to give themselves up. Thus, six years after the end of World War II, “Operation Removal” commenced from Saipan under the command of Lt. Commander James B. Johnson, USNR, aboard the Navy Tug USS Cocopa. Johnson and an interpreter went ashore by rubber boat and formally accepted the surrender on the morning of June 30, 1951. The Anatahan femme fatale story later inspired the 1953 Japanese film Anatahan and the 1998 novel Cage on the Sea. In 1953, Murata Susumu, the last holdout on Tinian, was finally captured. The next year, on May 7, Corporal Sumada Shoichi was killed in a clash with Filipino soldiers, leaving only two Japanese still resisting on Lubang. In November 1955, Seaman Kinoshita Noboru was captured in the Luzon jungle but soon after committed suicide rather than “return to Japan in defeat.” That same year, four Japanese airmen surrendered at Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea; and in 1956, nine soldiers were located and sent home from Morotai, while four men surrendered on Mindoro. In May 1960, Sergeant Ito Masashi became one of the last Japanese to surrender at Guam after the capture of his comrade Private Minagawa Bunzo, but the final surrender at Guam would come later with Sergeant Yokoi Shoichi. Sergeant Yokoi Shoichi survived in the jungles of Guam by living for years in an elaborately dug hole, subsisting on snails and lizards, a fate that, while undignified, showcased his ingenuity and resilience and earned him a warm welcome on his return to Japan. His capture was not heroic in the traditional sense: he was found half-starving by a group of villagers while foraging for shrimp in a stream, and the broader context included his awareness as early as 1952 that the war had ended. He explained that the wartime bushido code, emphasizing self-sacrifice or suicide rather than self-preservation, had left him fearing that repatriation would label him a deserter and likely lead to execution. Emerging from the jungle, Yokoi also became a vocal critic of Japan's wartime leadership, including Emperor Hirohito, which fits a view of him as a product of, and a prisoner within, his own education, military training, and the censorship and propaganda of the era. When asked by a young nephew how he survived so long on an island just a short distance from a major American airbase, he replied simply, “I was really good at hide and seek.”  That same year, Private Kozuka Kinshichi was killed in a shootout with Philippine police in October, leaving Lieutenant Onoda Hiroo still resisting on Lubang. Lieutenant Onoda Hiroo had been on Lubang since 1944, a few months before the Americans retook the Philippines. The last instructions he had received from his immediate superior ordered him to retreat to the interior of the island and harass the Allied occupying forces until the IJA eventually returned. Despite efforts by the Philippine Army, letters and newspapers left for him, radio broadcasts, and even a plea from Onoda's brother, he did not believe the war was over. On February 20, 1974, Onoda encountered a young Japanese university dropout named Suzuki Norio, who was traveling the world and had told friends that he planned to “look for Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the abominable snowman, in that order.” The two became friends, but Onoda stated that he was waiting for orders from one of his commanders. On March 9, 1974, Onoda went to an agreed-upon place and found a note left by Suzuki. Suzuki had brought along Onoda's former commander, Major Taniguchi, who delivered the oral orders for Onoda to surrender. Intelligence Officer 2nd Lt. Onoda Hiroo thus emerged from Lubang's jungle with his .25 caliber rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, and several hand grenades. He surrendered 29 years after Japan's formal surrender, and 15 years after being declared legally dead in Japan. When he accepted that the war was over, he wept openly. He received a hero's welcome upon his return to Japan in 1974. The Japanese government offered him a large sum of money in back pay, which he refused. When money was pressed on him by well-wishers, he donated it to Yasukuni Shrine. Onoda was reportedly unhappy with the attention and what he saw as the withering of traditional Japanese values. He wrote No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, a best-selling autobiography published in 1974. Yet the last Japanese to surrender would be Private Nakamura Teruo, an Amis aborigine from Formosa and a member of the Takasago Volunteers. Private Nakamura Teruo spent the tail end of World War II with a dwindling band on Morotai, repeatedly dispersing and reassembling in the jungle as they hunted for food. The group suffered continuous losses to starvation and disease, and survivors described Nakamura as highly self-sufficient. He left to live alone somewhere in the Morotai highlands between 1946 and 1947, rejoined the main group in 1950, and then disappeared again a few years later. Nakamura hinted in print that he fled into the jungle because he feared the other holdouts might murder him. He survives for decades beyond the war, eventually being found by 11 Indonesian soldiers. The emergence of an indigenous Taiwanese soldier among the search party embarrassed Japan as it sought to move past its imperial past. Many Japanese felt Nakamura deserved compensation for decades of loyalty, only to learn that his back pay for three decades of service amounted to 68,000 yen.   Nakamura's experience of peace was complex. When a journalist asked how he felt about “wasting” three decades of his life on Morotai, he replied that the years had not been wasted; he had been serving his country. Yet the country he returned to was Taiwan, and upon disembarking in Taipei in early January 1975, he learned that his wife had a son he had never met and that she had remarried a decade after his official death. Nakamura eventually lived with a daughter, and his story concluded with a bittersweet note when his wife reconsidered and reconciled with him. Several Japanese soldiers joined local Communist and insurgent groups after the war to avoid surrender. Notably, in 1956 and 1958, two soldiers returned to Japan after service in China's People's Liberation Army. Two others who defected with a larger group to the Malayan Communist Party around 1945 laid down their arms in 1989 and repatriated the next year, becoming among the last to return home. That is all for today, but fear not I will provide a few more goodies over the next few weeks. I will be releasing some of my exclusive podcast episodes from my youtube membership and patreon that are about pacific war subjects. Like I promised the first one will be on why Emperor Hirohito surrendered. Until then if you need your fix you know where to find me: eastern front week by week, fall and rise of china, echoes of war or on my Youtube membership of patreon at www.patreon.com/pacificwarchannel.

A Kyoto University research group has developed a new type of protein that marks out cancer cells for easier removal.

durée : 00:04:04 - Le Grand reportage de France Inter - Au Japon, la villa Kujoyama accueille artistes, plasticiens, écrivains et artisans d'art en résidence. Un lieu de travail et de coopération, mais aussi un lieu de vie, ou les résidents vivent entre quatre et six mois. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

"That city's name is Sendai."Date Masamune founds a new city with a name fit for the home of a Daoist immortal, while Tokugawa Ieyasu sees to the disposition of rewards and punishments after Sekigahara.Script and sources available at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://riverside-wings.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riversidewings on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or buy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠some merch at Fourthwall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. (Music is "Shinshun Ryoutei," "Kyoto no Ohayashi," "Hokora Uta," and "Yamagami no Yashiro," from 「MOMIZizm MUSiC（もみじば）｜フリーBGM 」)

Today we have Dr. Mari Dezawa, one of the world's leaders in stem-cell research and regenerative medicine. Mari is a pioneer in this emerging field and is known worldwide for her discovery of MUSE cells, a unique type of stem cell with exciting clinical potential. MUSE is short for Multilineage-Differentiating Stress-Enduring Cells. The discovery of the MUSE cell in humans has many biological and medical implications, and the human body may have a greater regenerative potential than we might have ever imagined. In collaboration with major national and international institutions, Mari and her colleagues are promoting research on MUSE cell-based regenerative medicine for diseases without definitive treatments. She and her team are also exploring the differences in regenerative capacity between less and more complex animals from the viewpoint of the stem-cell system. Mari is a professor and chair of the Division of Stem Cell Biology and Histology at Tohoku University School of Medicine. She has published more than 200 papers and is particularly known for her 2010 paper on the mechanisms of MUSE cells. In 2018, she was appointed a fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Japanese Government's Prize for the Commendation for Science and Technology. Show notes: [00:04:10] Ken opens the interview by mentioning that although Mari was born in Japan, her family moved to the U.S. when she was only eight months old. Ken asks if it is true that Mari finds it difficult to answer the question of where her hometown is. [00:05:23] Ken asks Mari how she handled moving so much as a child. [00:05:52] Ken mentions that Mari's father was a researcher and asks when she became passionate about research and science. [00:06:58] Ken mentions that Mari attended the Chiba University School of Medicine and asks what inspired her to go to medical school. [00:07:19] Ken explains that after Mari earned her medical degree, she attended Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine for her Ph.D. Ken mentions that while Mari was initially a cardiology resident, she later decided to focus on clinical research and became a stem-cell researcher. Ken asks what led her to shift from cardiology to stem-cell research. [00:08:25] Ken explains that Mari is well-known for her research into the role of stem cells in regeneration and functional recovery of nerve and muscle cells. Ken asks how and when she first became interested in stem cells. [00:09:56] Ken asks Mari to give a brief overview of stem cells and their significance. [00:11:18] Ken mentions that Mari remained at Chiba University as a research associate after earning her Ph.D in 1995. She then took a position as an associate professor at Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine before accepting a position at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine as an associate professor in 2003. Ken explains that while at Kyoto, Mari developed methods to induce bone marrow stromal cells to generate neuro and skeletal muscle cells, which play a crucial role in tissue repair and regeneration and are widely studied for their potential to serve as therapeutic agents. Ken asks Mari to give a quick primer on the crucial role these cells play in tissue repair. [00:13:25] Ken explains that in 2003, a member of Mari's technical staff at Kyoto asked her whether they should discard some cultured adult rat and human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after she had noticed several strange cell clusters. Ken asks Mari to share what happened next and how this set her on the path to the discovery of Multilineage-Differentiating Stress-Enduring Cells. [00:16:03] Ken asks Mari to elaborate on this story and explain how a mistake led to this incredible discovery. [00:20:48] Ken explains that in 2008 Mari became professor and chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Histology at Tohoku University Graduat...

「千年先も続く心地よさを目指して。ホテル「THE THOUSAND KYOTO」が示す、循環という新たなホスピタリティ【京都CE特集】」　京都のあるホテルでは、屋上でミツバチが舞い、割れた食器は野菜を育む肥料に。「千年先の心地よさ」を追求し、従業員発・102個のアクションで変化を生み出すTHE THOUSAND KYOTOを取材し、その舞台裏を聞いてきました。The post 千年先も続く心地よさを目指して。ホテル「THE THOUSAND KYOTO」が示す、循環という新たなホスピタリティ【京都CE特集】 first appeared on IDEAS FOR GOOD.

We're back from Japan, and we're breaking down our full 2-week Japan itinerary including stops in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Naoshima, Himeji, Hakone, and then ending back in Tokyo for a baseball game! This was a fun and unique 14-day Japan itinerary for first timers that combined classic places you need to go at least once and then lesser-visited spots like Okayama and spending more time in Hakone to dive deeper. Would you go on this trip?   Relevant Links (may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links, we earn a small commission-at no additional cost to you!): -Hotel in Tokyo (Hyatt Regency Tokyo) in Shinjuku: https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/slLm0tQaRF -Hotel in Kyoto (Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/iMzHI_oMTs -Alternative Japan Destinations: https://substack.com/home/post/p-159927917 -Hotel in Okayama (Koraku Hotel): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/2fWMi3hz6p -Travel Japan Together Tour of Hiroshima: https://yatra.thick.jp/hiroshima-miyajima-private-custom-tour-with-local-guide/ (Our guide was Joe) -Hotel in Hakone (Ryokan Hakone Ginyu): https://tripadvisor.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/wxI8q9vMyr   Check us out on Substack: Follow for updates, free and paid posts, and exclusive podcast episodes! Subscribe here to get this exclusive content now! Traveling to France? Check out our Facebook Group called France Travel Tips to ask/answer questions and learn more! Don't forget to follow along! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldwidehoneymoon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldwidehoneymoon TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@worldwidehoneymoon World Wide Honeymoon Blog: https://worldwidehoneymoon.com France Voyager Blog: https://francevoyager.com Subscribe to the World Wide Honeymoon blog here for monthly updates and tips + get our FREE trip planning guide: https://www.subscribepage.com/o4e5c2

4 Year Podcast Celebration, Giving Thanks, And Baseball Lost Without Japan, Season 5, Episode 119 Thank you so much for a wonderful 4 years of podcasting about Japan and for many more years in the future. Lost Without Japan Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/lostwithoutjapan/  Please Consider Kindly Supporting Our Crowd-Funded Show By Supporting Us Through Our Show's Patreon: https://patreon.com/lostwithoutjapanpodcast?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator As always, the link to our show's Google Resource doc can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEVbRmvn8jzxOZPDaypl3UAjxbs1OOSWSftFW1BYXpI/edit#  Baseball Spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EziEFQ1R-8UDJIVmGr2PN7s0zKryqG_qKCLaHJeQ2Go/ 

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Finding Serenity: A Kyoto Tea Ceremony's Timeless Lesson Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2025-09-01-22-34-02-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 清水寺の緑豊かな丘が広がる京都の静かな一角。En: In a quiet corner of Kyoto, the green, lush hills of Kiyomizu-dera spread out.Ja: 夏の名残を感じるセミの声が響く中、ハルトは友達のユキと一緒に茶室に向かって歩いていました。En: As the sound of cicadas echoed, still carrying the remnants of summer, Hiroto walked towards a tea room with his friend Yuki.Ja: 「ねえ、ハルト、今日はちゃんとリラックスしてね」とユキが笑顔で言いました。En: "Hey, Hiroto, make sure to relax today," Yuki said with a smile.Ja: 彼女は地元の人で、京都の伝統や文化が大好きです。En: She is a local and loves the traditions and culture of Kyoto.Ja: ハルトは真面目な学生で、すぐに始まる大学の授業を気にして心が乱れがちです。En: Hiroto is a serious student, often troubled by thoughts of the university classes about to begin.Ja: 「わかってる。でも、考えずにいるのは難しいよ」とハルトはため息まじりに答えました。En: "I know, but it's hard not to think about it," he replied with a sigh.Ja: 茶室は畳が敷かれた静かな場所です。En: The tea room is a quiet place with tatami mats.Ja: 入口に立つと、茶の道具が整然と並べられ、美しい和の空間が広がりました。En: Standing at the entrance, the tea utensils were neatly arranged, and a beautiful Japanese atmosphere spread out before them.Ja: 茶道師匠の直子さんがやわらかく微笑み、二人を迎えました。En: The tea ceremony master Naoko welcomed the two with a gentle smile.Ja: 「ようこそ。どうぞ、お座りください。今日は心を落ち着けて、茶の美しさを楽しんでください。」En: "Welcome. Please, have a seat. Today, calm your mind and enjoy the beauty of tea."Ja: ハルトは緊張しつつも座り、周りを見回しました。En: Although nervous, Hiroto sat down and looked around.Ja: 窓からは青々とした草木が見え、風が心地よく窓を通り抜けます。En: Outside the window, verdant greenery was visible, and a pleasant breeze passed through the window.Ja: しかし、心の中では未来の不安が続いていました。En: However, within his heart, the anxiety of the future lingered.Ja: そんな時、ナオコさんが静かに言いました。「今この瞬間が大切。茶は一瞬、美しいものを感じるためのものです。」En: Just then, Naoko quietly said, "This moment is important. Tea is meant to make you appreciate beauty in a fleeting moment."Ja: ナオコさんが茶を立て始めると、ハルトの目から不安が少しずつ溶け出しました。En: As Naoko began to prepare the tea, Hiroto's anxiety gradually began to dissolve.Ja: 茶の色、香り、そしてナオコさんの動きすべてが調和して、特別な空気が生まれました。En: The color of the tea, its aroma, and all of Naoko's movements harmonized to create a special atmosphere.Ja: ユキも静かにその様子を見守っています。En: Yuki also silently observed the scene.Ja: そして茶を飲む瞬間、ハルトはふいに気づきました。忙しい未来のことを考えるよりも、今を生きることの美しさ。En: In the moment he drank the tea, Hiroto suddenly realized the beauty of living in the now, rather than worrying about the busy future.Ja: それを忘れてはいけないんだ。En: He didn't want to forget this.Ja: ハルトの顔には、次第に微笑みが浮かびました。En: His face slowly began to show a smile.Ja: 茶会が終わると、彼の心には静かな平和が満ちていました。En: When the tea ceremony ended, a calm peace filled his heart.Ja: 「今日は本当にありがとう、ユキ、ナオコさん。学ぶことができてよかった」とハルトは心から感謝しました。En: "Thank you so much, Yuki, Naoko. I'm glad I could learn this," Hiroto expressed his heartfelt gratitude.Ja: その日、ハルトは心の中に新しい決意を持って帰路につきました。未来の不安よりも、今を大切に生きること。En: That day, Hiroto headed home with a new determination in his heart: to cherish the present rather than worrying about future anxieties.Ja: 清水寺の夜空を見上げ、ハルトは微笑みました。En: Looking up at the night sky over Kiyomizu-dera, Hiroto smiled.Ja: その空は、何も言わずに彼の決意を優しく受け入れていました。En: The sky tenderly embraced his resolve, saying nothing at all. Vocabulary Words:lush: 緑豊かなechoed: 響くremnants: 名残utensils: 道具tatami: 畳verdant: 青々としたharmonized: 調和fleeting: 一瞬anxiety: 不安linger: 続いているobserve: 見守るresolve: 決意cherish: 大切にするdetermination: 決意acknowledged: 気づくatmosphere: 空間glimpse: 見回すentrance: 入口gently: やわらかくperspective: 観点serene: 静かなmomentous: 大切embraced: 受け入れてgrateful: 感謝anticipation: 期待admire: 楽しんでbreeze: 風vista: 見えるapreciate: 感じるcreate: 生まれます

For many artists, an art career takes many twists and turns—an adventure shaped by different mediums, jobs, and ways of sustaining creative work  while at the same time, educating oneself with the histories of your chosen path.  On this episode of The Unfinished Print: A Mokuhanga Podcast, I speak with printmaker Charles Spitzack. We talk about his discovery of mokuhanga and how it connects to his broader printmaking practice. Charles shares his early experiences making mokuhanga, his teaching methods, and how his understanding of the medium developed through a Western American perspective. He also speaks about his time at the Mokuhanga Project Space, and his thoughts on the differences between oil-based and water-based mokuhanga. Please follow The Unfinished Print: A Mokuhanga Podcast and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me theunfinishedprint@gmail.com Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase. Artists works follow after the note if available. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted. Dimensions are given if known. Print publishers are given if known. Charles Spitzack - website, Instagram Seattle Print Arts - is a printmaking association based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It maintains a membership and is dedicated to the exchange of knowledge related to various printmaking practices. More info can be found, here.  High Point Center for Printmaking -is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is dedicated to increasing the understanding of printmaking and operates a co-op, gallery, and educational programs. More info can be found, here.  Cornish College of the Arts - is an independent art college located in Seattle, Washington, United States. Its programs emphasize experimentation and critical thinking. More info can be found, here.  Mokuhanga (木版画) - is a Japanese word meaning "wood" and "print." Traditionally, it refers to a relief printing method using woodblocks, water, natural handmade papers, and water-based pigments. With the rise of the sōsaku hanga (creative print) movement in the early to mid 20th century, mokuhanga expanded to include works made with Western oil pigments as well. Today, mokuhanga can be difficult to define, as many artists experiment with new approaches while others remain dedicated to traditional water-based methods. This balance between innovation and tradition shows that mokuhanga is limitless, continually evolving while still grounded in its past. sōsaku-hanga - or creative prints, is a style of printmaking which is predominantly, although not exclusively, prints made by one person. It started in the early twentieth century in Japan, in the same period as the shin-hanga movement. The artist designs, carves, and prints their own works. The designs, especially in the early days, may seem rudimentary but the creation of self-made prints was a breakthrough for printmakers moving away from where only a select group of carvers, printers and publishers created woodblock prints.  Stephen Hazel (1934-20120 - was a painter and printmaker based in the Pacific Northwest. He created works on paper, and educated upon the subject. More info can be found, here.  Beautiful Display 10: Beauties of Chinatown (1977) 24" x 17 11/16" Katheleen Rabel - is an American printmaker, painter and sculptor. More info can be found, here.  Penedo Alto (sōsaku hanga) 50″ x 39″ Hideo Hagiwara (1913-2007) - was a mokuhanga printmaker who came of age during the sōsaku hanga period of the mid 20th Century in Japan. He studied printmaking with Un'ichi Hiratsuka (1896-1997). Hagiwara made prints that were expressive of the self and abstract. He taught at Oregon State University in 1967.   Lady No. 6 (1975) 24.75" x 18.25"  kentō - is the registration system used by printmakers in order to line up the colour woodblocks with your key block, or outline block, carved first.   floating kentō - is like the traditional kentō registration technique but is carved on an "L" shaped piece of wood, and not onto the wood block.  monotype print - is a unique print created from an image painted or drawn on a smooth surface, such as glass or metal, and then transferred to paper. Unlike most printmaking methods, where multiple copies of the same image can be produced, a monotype typically has a single, one-of-a-kind image. It's called a "mono" type because it is not part of an edition like traditional prints (e.g., lithographs, etchings), where you can make multiple copies.  Mike Lyon  -  is an American artist. His medium has varied throughout his career such as "square tiles," or "pixels," through to making mokuhanga, monoprinting, and machine-assisted etching, drawing and mezzotint. Mike Lyon also has a large woodblock print collection which he has curated for the public, here. More information about his work can be found, here. Mike's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.  Grass 4 (2010) 77" x 22" Naoko Matsubara - is a Japanese/Canadian contemporary artist, and sculptor, who lives and works in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.  She has focused much of her artistic life on making mokuhanga and has gained critical acclaim for it.  Naoko Matsubara's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.  Conducting (2004) 22.05" × 15.59" Katsutoshi Yuasa - is a Japanese contemporary artist, and sculptor, who works predominantly in mokuhanga. He has  produced an incredible mount of work. Katsu's interview with the Unfinished Print can be found, here.  On The Dawn of Night and Fog (2025) 39.37" in × 78.74" Antonio Frasconi (1919-2013) - was a Urugyuan printmaker who lived and worked in the United States. He cerated coloured woodcuts and was an educator and author. Frasconi's themes could be political in nature. More info can be found, here.  Cows (1955) 7 1/2" x 12 15/16" The Arts and Crafts Movement in America - flourished from the late 19th to early 20th century, emphasizing simplicity of design, and the use of natural materials as a response to industrial mass production. Inspired by the ideals of John Ruskin (1819-1900) and William Morris (1834-1896) in Britain, the movement in the United States was closely tied to architecture, furniture making, and decorative arts, promoting honesty and a functional beauty.  There was a link with social reform, criticizing modernity and industry and fostering communities of makers across the country. In Japan this folk movement was explored in the mingei movement of the early 20th Century.  William S. Rice (1873-1963) - was a painter, educator and woodblock artist from the United States. Having moved to California early in his life, Rice made landscape prints and paintings of California. At the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition, Rice had a chance to see Japanese mokuhanga in person and was influence by those prints in his woodcuts.  The Windy Summit (1925) 9" x 12" Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922) - was an American printmaker who was greatly influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e. He wrote a book on the subject of printmaking called Composition which was published in 1905.    Lily (Ipswich Prints x 1901) 5½" x 4⅛"   Toledo Museum Shin Hanga Exhibitions (1930 & 1936) - were held at the Toledo Museum of Fine Arts in the United States. These two exhibitions played an important role in introducing Japanese woodblock prints to the American market. They were curated by J. Arthur MacLean and Dorothy L. Blair. Artist Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) had traveled to the United States in the 1920s, helping to set the stage for these exhibitions. More info can be found, here.    Walter J. Phillips (1884–1963) - was a British-Canadian printmaker who began his career as a commercial artist. After moving to Canada, he produced etchings, watercolors, and color woodcuts. Influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e, Phillips's prints offer a distinctive view of Canada in the early to mid-20th century.My interview with Sophie Lavoie of The Muse/Lake Of The Woods/Douglas Family Arts Centre about the life and times of Walter J. Phillips can be found, here.      Warren's Landing, Lake Winnipeg (1931) 6.30" × 9.45"   Kathleen Hargrave - is a printmaker and kiln formed glass maker. Kathleen explored various printmaking methods but uses mokuhanga in her practice. Kathleen's mokuhanga is abstract and uses colour in a fantastic way. More info can be found, here.      Resilience 5   Pratt Fine Arts Center - is a nonprofit arts educator in Seattle, Washington. It offers classes and instruction on various artistic expressions such as blacksmithing, glass, jewelry, paintings and printmaking. More info can be found, here.     Mokuhanga Project Space - is a mokuhanga residency located in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. It was established in 2016 and is led by printmaker Keiko Hara. My interview with Keiko Hara and Benjamin Selby of MPS can be found, here. More info can be found, here.    Shoichi Kitamura - is a woodblock carver and printmaker based in Kyoto, Japan. Shoichi has been involved in MI Lab through his demonstrations on carving. More info can be found, here.    Utagawa Kuniyoshi - from The Series Bravery Matched With The Twelve Zodiac Signs. A Modern Reproduction 4.13" x 11.15" (2017) printed and carved by Shoichi Kitamura   April Vollmer - is an established artist who works predominantly in mokuhanga. Her book Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop is one of the most authoritative books on the subject and has influenced many mokuhanga artists. April's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.     It Happened To Me  (1995) 11" x 14"   Andrew Stone - is an American mokuhanga printmaker based in Florence, Italy. He is also a baren maker. The baren is a mokuhanga specific tool. Andrew's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.    Tutto Bene? (2024)   Davidson Galleries - is a gallery situated in Seattle, Washington. Opening in 1973 Davidson Galleries focus on works on paper. In their stable of artists is Charles Spitzack and Andy Farkas. More info can be found, here.    SGC International - the Southern Graphics Council is a member supported printmaking organization which supports printmakers throughout the world. It is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States. More info can be found, here.    Karen Kunc - is an American printmaker and Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and is based in Nebraska. Karen Kunc works in various artistic and printmaking styles but has worked in mokuhanga for many years. My interview with Karen Kunc for The Unfinished Print can be found, here. More information can be found on her website, here.      Weight of Air (2018) 12" x 24" Woodcut, etching, pochoir, watercolor   Tollman Collection  - is a well known Japanese art gallery located in Daimon, Tokyo, Japan and New York City, NY. More information can be found, here.    Ballinglen - is an arts foundation based in Ballycastle, Co Mayo, Ireland. The groups aim is to "enhance cultural awareness," of North County Mayo. This is done via fellowships, education, exhibitions and workshops. More info can be found, here.    Pomegranate - is a company which sells items such as jigsaw puzzles, holiday cards, etc using different types of artists  and their work in these pieces. More info can be found, here.    Gustave Baumann (1881-1971) - was a colour woodcut printmaker, and painter of German descent who made his life in the United States. More info can be found, here.      Marigolds (1960) colour woodcut 12 7/8" x 12 7/8" © Popular Wheat Productions logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny  Intro music by Oscar Peterson, I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)  from Night Train (1963) Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :)  Слава Українi If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know.  ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***                  

And we're back! In this special first episode after the summer break, Christof takes you on a sensory journey to Japan with a series of 'audio postcards' recorded in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Koyasan. It's an immersive exploration of sound, mindfulness, and creativity. Stick around for the second half, where Christof makes three major announcements about the future of Music Thinking, including a new way for you to support the show and an upcoming online workshop. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL HEAR: Audio Postcard #1: The serene water basin and surrounding soundscape of the Ryoanji Temple garden in Kyoto. Audio Postcard #2: The chaotic, energetic wave of sound at the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo. Audio Postcard #3: The meditative, rhythmic sound of a Zen garden being raked by artisans in Koyasan. Announcement 1: Introducing a brand new, simple way to support the podcast on Ko-fi. Announcement 2: Details on the new 'Music Thinking 101' online workshop. Announcement 3: A preview of the exciting new guest episodes and Japan specials coming this season. ❤️ SUPPORT THE SHOW If you find value in Music Thinking, you can now support the show directly and help keep it ad-free and independent. Become a member for perks or make a one-time 'thank you' donation on our new Ko-fi page: ▶︎ https://ko-fi.com/musicthinking

The Tokugawa and Ishida armies stumble into each other in the misty Mino mountains at Sekigahara. But meanwhile in Michinoku, Date Masamune goes for broke on all fronts.Script and sources available at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://riverside-wings.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riversidewings on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or buy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠some merch at Fourthwall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. (Music is "Shinshun Ryoutei," "Kyoto no Ohayashi," "Hokora Uta," and "Yamagami no Yashiro," from 「MOMIZizm MUSiC（もみじば）｜フリーBGM 」)

Sengende Sommer, furchtbare Fluten, warme Winter - seit 30 Jahren versucht die Staatengemeinschaft auf Klimagipfeln die Erderwärmung zu bremsen. Im brasilianischen Belem zieht die Welt im November Bilanz - zehn Jahre nach der historischen Klimavereinbarung von Paris. Dort sowie bei den Gipfeln in Kyoto und Kopenhagen wurden Chancen und Grenzen der Klimadiplomatie besonders deutlich: Wie Staaten einander ausspielen oder zusammenwirken, wie Weltpolitik den Klimaprozess bestimmt, wie wichtig Mut und Geschick Einzelner sind, um 190 Staaten zu bewegen. Sicher ist: Es geht viel zu langsam. ARD-Korrespondent Jakob Mayr hat sich unter ehemaligen Chefunterhändlern von Bundesregierung und EU sowie NGO-Vertretern der ersten Stunde umgehört.

Getting into some of the new core beers from Shogun by Embolden, William brings another beer showcasing Matcha tea, but this version features a toasted Matcha called Hojicha and it opens up a whole new flavor profile for this lager style beer.

We're talking Otakon! Join DJ Ranma S and co-host BerryMelon as she discusses her Otakon weekend in depth! Also, we bring back the Open Forum Topic, "Should convention raves be age restricted?" We also discuss Hitomi, the ‘legendary' maid, guardian angel of Akihabara, and Rumiko Takahashi celebrates Doraemon's anniversary with crossover art! Meanwhile in Japan... Kyoto's pinkest, cutest new restaurant is the start of a new life for retired train cars, and a household cleaner makes a survival horror game for Steam?!

✅ Soutenez LIMIT !⁠⁠https://fr.tipeee.com/limit/⁠⁠⁠⁠https://paypal.me/limitmediaNouveau "TALK" sur LIMIT avec Matthieu Auzanneau,, auteur et directeur du think tank de la transition énergétique The Shift Project nous abordons l'inexorable épuisement des ressources fossiles et ses conséquences géopolitiques (Golfe Persique, Irak, Ukraine)La dépendance de l'Europe au pétrole et au gaz.Les grands moments historiques du pétrole (pic de 1970, Mer du Nord, boom du shale aux USA)Les premiers accords climatiques (Protocole de Kyoto) et la croissance paradoxale de la consommation de gazL'analogie du corps humain pour montrer que l'énergie est l'« organe vital » de nos sociétésLes pistes de sortie de la « marriage pétrolier » : sobriété organisée, souveraineté industrielle, transition vers les renouvelablesEt un appel à l'élaboration d'un plan clair et collectif pour réduire la dépendance aux énergies carbonées« Decarbonons la France ! »

You've heard those shimmering disco strings in Miley Cyrus's "Flowers," the cinematic arrangements on Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher, and the orchestral flourishes across Taylor Swift's catalog, but you probably didn't know they're all the work of one person: Rob Moose. The violinist and multi-instrumentalist has contributed to nearly 1,000 albums, quietly becoming pop music's most prolific string architect. In this conversation, Moose reveals how he translates classical training into contemporary pop language, working with everyone from Sufjan Stevens to Bon Iver to create arrangements that feel both intimate and epic. We dive into his process, explore how he's reshaped what strings can do in popular music, and uncover the craft behind those arrangements you can't get out of your head. MORE Subscribe to our newsletter to receive your own bingo card! Songs Discussed Miley Cyrus “Flowers” Phoebe Bridgers “Punisher” Phoebe Bridgers Copycat Killer (EP, includes re-arranged versions of “Punisher,” “Kyoto,” “Savior Complex,” “Chinese Satellite”) Sufjan Stevens “Chicago” Bon Iver “Everything Is Peaceful Love” RINI “Miracle” Bon Iver “Short Story” Bon Iver “Speyside” Phoebe Bridgers “Chinese Satellite” Phoebe Bridgers “Savior Complex” Phoebe Bridgers “Kyoto” Lizzy McAlpine “Ceilings” Gracie Abrams “I Love You, I'm Sorry” Rob Moose “I Bend But Never Break” ft Brittany Howard Alabama Shakes “Sound & Color” Taylor Swift “Hoax” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kyoto and Kashima lead the way at the top of J1 after the weekend's Matchday 27, and after rounding up their very contrasting results (to 16:30), Jonny and Ben are joined by Kashiwa correspondent Seamus Johnston to chat about Reysol's brilliant come from behind home win over Urawa on Friday night and other talking points around the club (to 39:50). Then Jonny and Ben run through the other results from the weekend, before looking ahead to midweek Emperor's Cup quarter finals and Thursday's national team squad announcement.

Step foot into Kyoto with me this week.As we step foot off of the iconic Shinkansen and into the traditional streets of Kyoto - we come face to face with ritual and systems. Designing our business like a tea ceremony, this week is about finding consistent practises, things we do, systems we implement for the broken parts of our business. We are celebrating breaks and painting them gold this week. I hope you love it, and welcome to one of my favourite places in the entire world! let's build a system!

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Unexpected Adventures: Capturing Magic in Arashiyama's Rain Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2025-08-25-22-34-02-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 京都の嵐山竹林は、夏の日差しを浴びて緑に輝いていた。En: The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto was shining green under the summer sun.Ja: ところが、その日の午後、突然の雨が降り始めた。En: However, that afternoon, a sudden rain began to fall.Ja: ハルキ、愛子、そしてゲンジの三人は、嵐山竹林を訪れていた。En: Haruki, Aiko, and Genji were visiting the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.Ja: ハルキはカメラを手に、完璧な写真を撮ろうと夢中だった。En: Haruki was engrossed in trying to take the perfect photo with a camera in hand.Ja: 彼の心の中には、愛子を感動させたいというひそかな思いがあった。En: In his heart, he had a secret desire to impress Aiko.Ja: 愛子は、のんびりとうまい祭りの食べ物を楽しみたかった。En: Aiko wanted to leisurely enjoy delicious festival food.Ja: ゲンジは常に準備万端な友人だが、今日はなぜか傘を忘れてしまっていた。En: Although Genji is a friend who is always prepared, today, for some reason, he forgot his umbrella.Ja: 天気は、さっきまで晴れていたのに、急に雨が強くなった。En: The weather had been clear until just a moment ago, but suddenly the rain got stronger.Ja: 「どうする？En: "What should we do?"Ja: 」と、ゲンジは少し焦りながら言った。En: Genji asked, a little flustered.Ja: 雨に濡れてはいけないカメラを守るために、ハルキは素早くカメラバッグを頭上に掲げた。En: To protect the camera that must not get wet, Haruki quickly raised the camera bag over his head.Ja: 「こっちだ！En: "This way!"Ja: 」とハルキが叫んで、みんなを雨宿りできる場所へ導いた。En: Haruki shouted, leading everyone to a place where they could take shelter from the rain.Ja: しかし、愛子とゲンジは、どちらの道が正しいのかで少し口論を始めた。En: However, Aiko and Genji started a slight argument about which path was correct.Ja: 「ここと思う！En: When Aiko said, "I think it's this way!"Ja: 」と愛子が言えば、「いや、あっちだろう」とゲンジが反論する。En: Genji countered, "No, it's that way!"Ja: それでもハルキは、「僕についてきて」と冷静に言った。En: Still, Haruki calmly said, "Follow me."Ja: 泥まみれになりながらも、彼らは笑い声を響かせて竹林の中を走った。En: Covered in mud, they ran through the bamboo grove with laughter echoing around them.Ja: 突然、ハルキの目に美しい光景が映った。En: Suddenly, a beautiful scene caught Haruki's eye.Ja: 竹の間を降り注ぐ雨が、幻想的な虹を作っていた。En: The rain pouring between the bamboo created a magical rainbow.Ja: 彼は一瞬立ち止まり、その瞬間をカメラに収めた。En: He stopped for a moment and captured that scene with his camera.Ja: その後、三人はなんとか雨宿り場所にたどり着き、びしょ濡れになった服を絞った。En: Afterward, the three of them somehow managed to reach a shelter and wrung out their soaked clothes.Ja: ハルキは撮った写真を愛子に見せた。En: Haruki showed the picture he had taken to Aiko.Ja: 愛子はその美しい写真に驚き、満面の笑みを浮かべた。En: Aiko was surprised by the beautiful photo and had a beaming smile.Ja: 「これ、すごいね！En: "This is amazing!"Ja: 」と彼女が言った。En: she said.Ja: 雨が上がると、三人は祭りの屋台で温かい食べ物を楽しみながら笑い合った。En: When the rain cleared, the three enjoyed warm food at the festival stalls while laughing together.Ja: ハルキは、完璧な瞬間は計画外から生まれることもあると学んだ。En: Haruki learned that perfect moments could also arise from unplanned events.Ja: 計画通りにいかない日が、心に残る一日になることもあるのだ。En: A day that doesn't go according to plan can become a memorable one.Ja: 嵐山竹林を後にするとき、三人の笑い声がまだ竹の間に残っていた。En: As they left the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, their laughter still lingered among the bamboo.Ja: 雨の中での冒険が、忘れられない夏の一ページとなったのだった。En: The adventure in the rain had become an unforgettable page of summer. Vocabulary Words:grove: 竹林engrossed: 夢中leisurely: のんびりflustered: 焦りshelter: 雨宿りargument: 口論countered: 反論calmly: 冷静echoing: 響かせてmagical: 幻想的beaming: 満面の笑みstalls: 屋台unplanned: 計画外memorable: 心に残るsudden: 突然forgot: 忘れてcaptured: 収めたbeaming: 満面の笑みadventure: 冒険unforgettable: 忘れられないprepared: 準備万端stronger: 強くprotected: 守るguided: 導いたpath: 道moment: 瞬間rainbow: 虹soaked: びしょ濡れecho: 響くlaughter: 笑い声

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Family Bonds and Spiritual Traditions at Kyoto's Kinkakuji Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2025-08-24-22-34-02-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 夏の日差しが眩しい中、金閣寺の前庭はにぎわっていました。En: Under the dazzling summer sun, the front garden of Kinkakuji was bustling with activity.Ja: 緑に包まれた風景、池に映る金色の寺、そして香の香りが漂う場です。En: The scenery enveloped in greenery, the golden temple reflecting in the pond, and the scent of incense wafting through the air.Ja: 遠くからは、セミの鳴き声とお祭りの太鼓の音が聞こえてきます。En: From afar, the chirping of cicadas and the sound of festival drums could be heard.Ja: サトシは大学生で、家族の先祖を偲ぶため、妹のハナと一緒に京都を訪れていました。En: Satoshi was a university student who had come to Kyoto with his younger sister Hana to honor their ancestors.Ja: 今日はお盆の日です。En: Today was the day of Obon.Ja: サトシは、静かな時間を見つけて、金閣寺でお香を焚き、先祖に敬意を表したいと考えていました。En: Satoshi wanted to find a quiet moment at Kinkakuji to burn incense and pay his respects to their ancestors.Ja: ハナは建築や芸術に興味があり、金閣寺の美しさに感動していました。En: Hana, who was interested in architecture and art, was awed by the beauty of Kinkakuji.Ja: 「すごいね、兄さん！」と彼女は目を輝かせました。En: "It's amazing, niisan!" she exclaimed with shining eyes.Ja: 彼らのガイド、ユキは金閣寺の歴史に詳しい地元の人で、友好的に案内していました。En: Their guide, Yuki, was a friendly local person knowledgeable about the history of Kinkakuji, guiding them amicably.Ja: しかし、そのとき、突然ハナが苦しそうに息を始めました。En: However, at that moment, Hana suddenly began to breathe with difficulty.Ja: 彼女はぜんそくの発作を起こしていました。En: She was having an asthma attack.Ja: サトシは動揺し、どうするべきかを考えました。En: Satoshi was distressed, contemplating what he should do.Ja: 彼の頭には、祖先への敬意という大事な目的がありましたが、妹の健康が心配でした。En: He had the important purpose of honoring their ancestors in mind, but he was worried about his sister's health.Ja: 「ハナ、大丈夫？」と心配するサトシに、ユキが冷静に声をかけます。「すぐに近くの救護所に行きましょう。」En: "Hana, are you okay?" Satoshi asked worriedly as Yuki calmly spoke up, "Let's go to the nearby first aid station immediately."Ja: サトシは即断し、ユキの指示に従いました。En: Satoshi made a quick decision and followed Yuki's instructions.Ja: 彼は、妹を助けるという大切なことを最優先にしました。En: He prioritized the important task of helping his sister.Ja: 救護所でハナが回復している間、ユキはサトシに付き添ってくれました。En: While Hana was recovering at the first aid station, Yuki stayed with Satoshi.Ja: 「家族は最も重要です」とユキが静かに話しかけます。En: "Kazoku is the most important," Yuki said quietly.Ja: その後、ハナの状態が落ち着き、サトシは静かな庭の一角で、ユキとハナと一緒にお香を焚き、小さなお盆の儀式を行いました。En: Later, when Hana's condition had stabilized, Satoshi performed a small Obon ceremony in a quiet corner of the garden, burning incense with Yuki and Hana.Ja: サトシは感じました、家族と一緒にいることが、どんな伝統よりも大切なのだと。En: Satoshi realized that being with family is more important than any tradition.Ja: 金閣寺の庭を後にするとき、サトシは新たな気持ちでいっぱいでした。En: As they left the garden of Kinkakuji, Satoshi was filled with a renewed sense of purpose.Ja: 彼は、家族の絆と優先順位の大切さを理解するようになりました。En: He had come to understand the importance of family bonds and priorities. Vocabulary Words:dazzling: 眩しいbustling: にぎわっていましたenveloped: 包まれたscenery: 風景incense: 香wafting: 漂うchirping: 鳴き声ancestors: 先祖respect: 敬意architecture: 建築awed: 感動していましたexclaimed: 輝かせましたguide: ガイドfriendly: 友好的にknowledgeable: 詳しいamicably: 案内していましたasthma: ぜんそくdistressed: 動揺しcontemplating: 考えましたprioritized: 最優先ceremony: 儀式tradition: 伝統renewed: 新たなbonds: 絆priorities: 優先順位recovery: 回復aid station: 救護所decision: 即断purpose: 目的honor: 偲ぶ

國際盛會 guójì shènghuì – international grand event大阪 Dàbǎn – Osaka, a major city in Japan關西 Guānxī – Kansai, a region in Japan including Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe世博會 (世界博覽會) shìbóhuì (shìjiè bólǎnhuì) – World Expo; a large-scale international exposition held every few years讓生命閃耀光輝的未來社會藍圖 ràng shēngmìng shǎnyào guānghuī de wèilái shèhuì lántú – “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the theme of the Osaka 2025 World Expo機構 jīgòu – organization; institution碳中和 tàn zhōnghé – carbon neutrality數位科技 shùwèi kējì – digital technology次世代交通工具 cìshìdài jiāotōng gōngjù – next-generation transportation tools虛擬 xūnǐ – virtual永續 yǒngxù – sustainability再生 zàishēng – recycling; regeneration海洋塑料 hǎiyáng sùliào – ocean plastic貨架 huòjià – shelf (for displaying goods)購物籃 gòuwù lán – shopping basket生物氣體發電廠 shēngwù qìtǐ fādiànchǎng – biogas power plant微生物 wéishēngwù – microorganism廢棄物 fèiqìwù – waste; discarded materials再生能源 zàishēng néngyuán – renewable energy反思 fǎnsī – reflection; introspection週邊商品 zhōubiān shāngpǐn – peripheral products; merchandise絨毛玩偶 róngmáo wán'ǒu – plush toy鑰匙圈 yàoshǐquān – keychain大開眼界 dàkāi yǎnjiè – to greatly broaden one's horizonsPlanning to travel or move to Taiwan? If you'd like to improve your Chinese before you go, feel free to book a one-on-one lesson with me.I'll help you improve your Chinese so you can settle in more comfortably when you arrive.Book a one-on-one trial lesson with me !

Tokugawa Ieyasu marches north. Date Masamune's armies descend like an avalanche on the Uesugi men. And in the west, Torii Mototada stands fast as the trap Ieyasu feared is sprung.Script and sources available at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://riverside-wings.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riversidewings on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or buy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠some merch at Fourthwall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. (Music is "Shinshun Ryoutei," "Kyoto no Ohayashi," "Hokora Uta," and "Yamagami no Yashiro," from 「MOMIZizm MUSiC（もみじば）｜フリーBGM 」)

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Harmony in Bamboo: Haruto's Tea Ceremony Transformation Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2025-08-22-22-34-02-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 青々とした竹林が広がる嵐山。En: A lush bamboo grove spreads across Arashiyama.Ja: 京都のこの美しい場所で、夏の風が静かに竹を揺らす。En: In this beautiful place in Kyoto, the summer breeze gently sways the bamboo.Ja: 光が葉の間を通り抜け、地面に斑模様の光を落とす。En: Light filters through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground.Ja: ここで、ハルトは特別なお茶会の準備をしている。En: Here, Haruto is preparing for a special tea ceremony.Ja: ハルトは若く、伝統的なお茶の作法を学ぶ見習いだ。En: Haruto is young, an apprentice learning the traditional methods of tea.Ja: 今日の茶会で、師匠に自分の進歩を見せたいという強い思いがある。En: He has a strong desire to show his progress to his master at today's tea ceremony.Ja: 友人であり、お茶の先生でもあるユキがハルトを見守っている。En: His friend and tea instructor, Yuki, is keeping an eye on him.Ja: ユキは伝統を大切にしつつも、若い世代に少し懐疑的だ。En: While Yuki values tradition, she is somewhat skeptical of the younger generation.Ja: オボンの季節が訪れ、先祖を敬う時期だ。En: The Obon season has arrived, a time to honor ancestors.Ja: ハルトはこの特別なお茶会を成功させ、家族を敬い、師匠に認めてもらいたい。En: Haruto wants to make this special tea ceremony a success, to honor his family and win his master's approval.Ja: だが、彼はプレッシャーと不安で緊張している。En: However, he is tense with pressure and anxiety.Ja: 伝統を重んじる一方で、彼は現代的な要素を取り入れたいと考えている。En: While he respects tradition, he also wants to incorporate modern elements.Ja: しかし、ユキは「伝統は守るべきだ」と忠告する。En: Yet, Yuki advises, "Tradition should be upheld."Ja: ついに、ハルトは心に決めた。自分を信じて新しい要素を取り入れよう、と。En: Finally, Haruto decided in his heart: to believe in himself and incorporate new elements.Ja: 茶会の日、ハルトの新しいアプローチが明らかになった。En: On the day of the tea ceremony, Haruto's new approach became clear.Ja: 竹林の中、参加者たちが静かに座り、彼の動きに注目した。En: In the bamboo grove, the participants sat quietly, focused on his movements.Ja: ハルトはひとつひとつ丁寧にお茶を点てる。その動作はゆっくりと流れるようだ。En: Haruto carefully prepared tea, each movement flowing slowly.Ja: しかし、彼の茶碗には小さなモダンな装飾があった。En: However, there were small modern decorations on his tea bowls.Ja: それはハルトの個性を象徴していた。En: These symbolized Haruto's individuality.Ja: 儀式が終わると、参加者たちは拍手を送った。En: When the ceremony concluded, the participants applauded.Ja: みんな、ハルトの新しい試みに感銘を受けた。En: Everyone was impressed by Haruto's new endeavor.Ja: 師匠もまた、伝統と革新のバランスに感心し、ハルトの成長を認めた。En: The master, too, was impressed by the balance of tradition and innovation, acknowledging Haruto's growth.Ja: ハルトは自信を手に入れた。En: Haruto gained confidence.Ja: 伝統を尊重しつつ、自分を表現する重要性を学んだのだ。En: He learned the importance of expressing himself while respecting tradition.Ja: 竹林の中で、彼は自然と人とが一つになる瞬間を感じた。En: In the bamboo grove, he felt a moment where nature and people became one.Ja: 新たな一歩を踏み出したハルトの顔には、ほのかな安堵の微笑みが浮かんでいた。En: As Haruto took a new step forward, a faint, relieved smile appeared on his face.Ja: 伝統と現代の調和が、また一つ花開いたのだ。En: Harmony between tradition and modernity had blossomed yet again. Vocabulary Words:lush: 青々としたgrove: 竹林breeze: 風dappled: 斑模様のapprentice: 見習いmethods: 作法desire: 思いprogress: 進歩skeptical: 懐疑的ancestors: 先祖anxiety: 不安incorporate: 取り入れるupheld: 守るendeavor: 試みinnovation: 革新acknowledging: 認めたconfidence: 自信expressing: 表現するharmony: 調和blossomed: 花開いたpatterns: 模様individuality: 個性relieved: 安堵のfaint: ほのかなimpressed: 感銘を受けたparticipants: 参加者たちceremony: 儀式gentle: 静かにmoment: 瞬間cast: 落とす

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Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt speaks with Ace Kishi, guesthouse owner, and Jeronimo Gehres, former hotel manager, in Kyoto, who have taken action against Israeli soldiers vacationing in Japan. Both Gehres' refusal to book accommodation for an active duty soldier in June 2024, and Kishi's requirement for guests to sign a “war crimes pledge”, have gone viral More The post Front Desk Intifada w/ Japanese Hotel Managers Resisting Israeli War Criminals appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

Cinquième étape de notre série spéciale Japon.Dans cet épisode, je vous raconte les 4 jours passés à Kyoto, ancienne capitale impériale. Un mélange de temples sublimes, de foules, de chaleur… et de découvertes plus discrètes, toujours basé sur mes articles sur le blog Famille & Voyages, et mis en voix par LM Notebook.

Kelsey interviews Jodie from the Learners & Makers blog and YouTube channel, who joined the podcast live from Japan! Jodie is an above-the-knee amputee who shares her love of family travel and how she navigates mobility differences while exploring the world. Together they dive into the ultimate family trip to Japan - covering Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, plus Tokyo Disney and DisneySea. From Pokémon, anime, and One Piece to karaoke, sushi, and must-try Japanese foods, Jodie shares insider tips that make Japan both magical and manageable for families. They also discuss how to navigate Japan's train system with kids in tow. Even if Japan wasn't on your travel list before, this episode might just change that!Show your support for the podcast by leaving a review or buying me a coffee!Follow Kelsey on Instagram!Mentioned in this episode:- Weak Yen makes for a financially reasonable trip- Two Tokyo airports: Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND)- Klook: App for airport transfers and tours in Japan- Uber and GoTaxi apps- The Shinkansen bullet train in Japan- The Golden Triangle: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka- TOKYO: Ueno Park (playgrounds, zoo), Asakusa (Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo Skytree, "Kitchen Street" = Kappabashi Street, Tokyo Station, SUICA Card, PASMO card, Karaoke, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Shinto (Japanese indigenous religion), JUMP Shops (Anime, Manga), One Piece Mugiwara shops (straw hats), teamLab Museums (Planets and Borderless)- Tokyo Disney & DisneySea (Duffy mech)- KYOTO: Geisha, wander around Gion area (shops), Bamboo Forest, stay in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn), traditional Japanese breakfast, Japanese Souffle Pancakes- OSAKA "The Kitchen of Japan": Native foods to try = Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki ("as you like it"), baseball, Osaka river and Dotonbori, Don Quijote - Ebisu Tower Doutonbori Giant Ferris Wheel, river boat tour, Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine, Namba, Universal Studios Japan- Recommended Japanese chain restaurant: KuraTrip Tales is a travel podcast sharing real vacation stories and trip itineraries for family travel, couples getaways, cruises, and all-inclusive resorts. Popular episodes feature destinations like Marco Island Florida, Costa Rica with kids, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Aulani in Hawaii, Beaches Turks & Caicos, Park City ski trips, Aruba, Italy, Ireland, Portugal's Azores, New York City, Alaska cruises, and U.S. National Parks. Listeners get real travel tips, itineraries, hotel reviews, restaurant recommendations, and inspiration for planning their next vacation.

Doc Kane Life in Hikone And A Special Offer From Maplopo For Listeners Of Lost Without Japan Season 5 EP 118 Get CLEAR on Japanese grammar with Maplopo's Verb Pro Masterclass. Stop grumbling, stumbling, and fumbling your way through Japanese... and finally get to sounding confident and intelligent in the language this year. For a limited amount of time, Lost Without Japan listeners save 70% off the full retail price and pay only $60 through December 31st. PLUS get access to Maplopo's private Discord community for support on your verb-related conjugation questions. Head on over to maplopo.com/lost-without-japan and begin your transformation today. Website: https://maplopo.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@maplopo LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dockaneinjapan/ Gaijinpot: https://blog.gaijinpot.com/author/dockane/  TokyoDev: https://www.tokyodev.com/authors/doc-kane As always, the link to our shows Google Resource doc can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEVbRmvn8jzxOZPDaypl3UAjxbs1OOSWSftFW1BYXpI/edit#   

Quatrième épisode de la série estivale consacrée au Japon.Aujourd'hui, on va à Nakatsugawa, petite ville porte d'entrée de la Nakasendō, l'ancienne route des samouraïs. Un récit entre galères logistiques, bains apaisants et nature dense. Toujours basé sur mes articles sur le blog Famille & Voyages, et mis en voix par LM Notebook.

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.  

On this episode of Japan Station we ask: What was it like walking the Tokaido Road? NOTE: This is a re-broadcast of episode 78 of the Ichimon Japan podcast. Topics Discussed About the Tokaido Challenge About what it was like walking the Tokaido Road About the challenges of walking the Tokaido Road About what it was like walking from Kyoto to Tokyo About getting stopped by police in Kyoto About walking along the Shizuoka coast How long it took to walk the Tokaido And much more! Listen to Ichimon Japan on [btn btnlink="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ichimon-japan-a-podcast-by-japankyo-com/id1492400997" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]Apple Podcasts[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9pY2hpbW9uamFwYW4ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]Google Podcasts[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/japankyocom/ichimon-japan-a-podcast-by-japankyocom" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]Stitcher[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZVgnljVM8gcR1ar98eK0D" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]Spotify[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-ichimon-japan-a-podcast-by-59510504/" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]iHeartRadio[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/mv3zr-ad2df/Ichimon-Japan-A-Podcast-by-Japankyo.com" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]PodBean[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Ichimon-Japan-A-Podcast-by-Japankyocom-p1290988/" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]Tunein[/btn] [btn btnlink="https://ichimonjapan.libsyn.com/rss" btnsize="medium" bgcolor="#0568bf" txtcolor="#ffffff" btnnewt="1" nofollow="1"]RSS[/btn] Support on Patreon & Ko-fi If you enjoy Ichimon Japan and want to ensure that we're able to produce more episodes, then please consider becoming a patron on Patreon.com. You can join for just $1 a month. Patrons get first access to podcast episodes, as well as updates on what I'm working on for JapanKyo.com. If you join the $3 a month tier you get access to the back catalog of the Japanese Plus Alpha podcast (a short series on interesting Japanese words and features of the Japanese language). If you would like to do a one time donation, that is also possible. Just use the Ko-fi link below. All donations are greatly appreciated! And if you can't support financially, that's ok. Consider telling a friend about the show! Support on Patreon https://patreon.com/japankyo Support on Ko-fi https://www.ko-fi.com/japankyo Links, Videos, Etc. Check out the Tokaido Challenge video series on the JapanKyo YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYU41Z0G4Uc&list=PL7ALB_S1KyWunL6kIbGu_Vtmswe1qxlHqTokaido Challenge Video Playlist:    We Want Your Questions Is there something about Japan that confuses you? Is there something about Japanese culture that you would like to learn more about? Is there something in Japanese history that you would like us to explain? We're always looking for new questions about Japan to answer, so if you have one, please send it to ichimon@japankyo.com. Special Thanks Opening/Closing Theme: Produced by Apol (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Fiverr) Ichimon Japan cover art: Produced by Erik R. Follow Japankyo on Social Media Facebook (@JapanKyoNews) Twitter (@JapanKyoNews) Instagram (@JapanKyoNews) Full Show Notes https:///japankyo.com/ichimonjapan  

If you love what we do, become a premium YouTube Subscriber or join our Patreon: • https://www.patreon.com/mapitforward• https://www.youtube.com/mapitforwardCheck out our on-demand workshops here: • https://mapitforward.coffee/workshopsConsider joining one of our Mastermind Groups here:• https://mapitforward.coffee/groupcoachingJoin our mailing list:• https://mapitforward.coffee/mailinglist••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••This is the 5th of a 5-part series on the Map It Forward Middle East Podcast with David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia, owners of the Kurasu UAE franchise.In this series, David and Valeria help us understand the process they went through bringing a globally recognised franchise from Kyoto, Japan, to Dubai and the wider UAE. The five episodes of this series are:1. Bringing a Global Coffee Brand to Dubai - https://youtu.be/8MeB02Wlbfk2. Preparing To Launch a Coffee Franchise in Dubai - https://youtu.be/YAR_78VpKWM3. Launching the First Kurasu in Dubai - https://youtu.be/C1hT-njJJT84. Unexpected Challenges Launching in Dubai - https://youtu.be/zEoKxHNg2DM5. The Future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE - https://youtu.be/sTwXkqCs08gIn the final episode of the podcast series with Lee, Valeria, and David deep dive into the dynamics of the global coffee industry, the challenges faced by coffee farmers, and the evolving consumer behavior towards specialty coffee. The conversation addresses the impacts of climate change, succession planning in coffee farming, and the technological advancements in the industry. The episode also explores the future trajectory of coffee and tea consumption and the potential automation in coffee shops. Tune in to understand why building a business like Kurasu, with a focus on customer experience and specialty products, can provide a competitive edge in the volatile coffee market.Connect with Kurasu DXB/UAE as well as David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia here:https://www.instagram.com/kurasudxb/https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-garcia-16a266176/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzabinsky/••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Connect with Map It Forward here: Website | Instagram | Mailing list

Nouvelle série estivale spéciale Japon. Cet épisode est un guide pratique mis en voix avec LM Notebook, basé sur mes articles de blog sur Famille & Voyages. Objectif : vous donner toutes les clés pour partir sereinement au Japon avec des ados.

Uesugi Kagekatsu builds a new castle. Tokugawa Ieyasu builds a coalition, while Date Masamune goes home to raise an army. And an Englishman from Kent, on a ship from Holland, washes ashore in Kyushu.Script and sources available at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://riverside-wings.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riversidewings on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or buy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠some merch at Fourthwall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. (Music is "Shinshun Ryoutei," "Kyoto no Ohayashi," "Hokora Uta," and "Yamagami no Yashiro," from 「MOMIZizm MUSiC（もみじば）｜フリーBGM 」)

If you love what we do, become a premium YouTube Subscriber or join our Patreon: • https://www.patreon.com/mapitforward• https://www.youtube.com/mapitforwardCheck out our on-demand workshops here: • https://mapitforward.coffee/workshopsConsider joining one of our Mastermind Groups here:• https://mapitforward.coffee/groupcoachingJoin our mailing list:• https://mapitforward.coffee/mailinglist••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••This is the 4th of a 5-part series on the Map It Forward Middle East Podcast with David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia, owners of the Kurasu UAE franchise.In this series, David and Valeria help us understand the process they went through bringing a globally recognised franchise from Kyoto, Japan, to Dubai and the wider UAE. The five episodes of this series are:1. Bringing a Global Coffee Brand to Dubai - https://youtu.be/8MeB02Wlbfk2. Preparing To Launch a Coffee Franchise in Dubai - https://youtu.be/YAR_78VpKWM3. Launching the First Kurasu in Dubai - https://youtu.be/C1hT-njJJT84. Unexpected Challenges Launching in Dubai - https://youtu.be/zEoKxHNg2DM5. The Future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE - https://youtu.be/sTwXkqCs08gIn this episode of the podcast series, Lee, David, and Valeria delve into issues such as customs complications, merchandise delays, and the impact of the coffee crisis on the industry.The conversation also touches upon the matcha craze, the importance of water filtration for quality coffee, and the broader implications for the coffee trade. Don't miss this insightful discussion on the hurdles of starting a coffee business in a new market.Connect with Kurasu DXB/UAE as well as David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia here:https://www.instagram.com/kurasudxb/https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-garcia-16a266176/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzabinsky/••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Connect with Map It Forward here: Website | Instagram | Mailing list

Universal Osaka Find us on Youtube - please like and subscribe!  Looking to plan a Disney World or Disneyland vacation? Let Joe do all the hard work for you, helping you get the best discount, at no cost to you as your travel agent. Get started by e-mailing josephcheung@travelmation.net today!  Episode Description A quick trip report about Universal Osaka - including why Express Pass is worth it, why getting there from Kyoto is annoying, and what not to do with your food! Have you been to Universal Osaka? Let us know by e-mailing disneydeciphered AT gmail DOT com, messaging us on social media, or leaving a comment on our Youtube page. You can also follow us on Instagram! Episode Notes (all timestamps are approximate) 2:54 - Buying tickets 5:55 - Getting there 10:12 - Lunch 13:48 - Nintendo attractions 19:25 - Harry Potter attractions 21:32 - Other attractions  25:45 - General thoughts 30:07  - Disney dos and don'ts If we've helped you to plan your trip and you'd like to thank us we'd appreciate you considering a one time donation. Or if you'd like to receive bonus content, check out our Patreon page and our special subscriber only content! You can also support the show by buying tickets (if they're the best deal, of course) using our Undercover Tourist link or signing up for Mouse Dining through our link. If you like what you hear, please share and subscribe! Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, PlayerFM, iHeartRadio, or Google Podcasts (please leave a positive review if you're enjoying the show), like our Facebook page, or follow us on Bluesky and Instagram! Connect with Leslie @TripsWithTykes on social media and Joe @asthejoeflies.  

If you love what we do, become a premium YouTube Subscriber or join our Patreon: • https://www.patreon.com/mapitforward• https://www.youtube.com/mapitforwardCheck out our on-demand workshops here: • https://mapitforward.coffee/workshopsConsider joining one of our Mastermind Groups here:• https://mapitforward.coffee/groupcoachingJoin our mailing list:• https://mapitforward.coffee/mailinglist••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••This is the 3rd of a 5-part series on the Map It Forward Middle East Podcast with David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia, owners of the Kurasu UAE franchise.In this series, David and Valeria help us understand the process they went through bringing a globally recognised franchise from Kyoto, Japan, to Dubai and the wider UAE. The five episodes of this series are:1. Bringing a Global Coffee Brand to Dubai - https://youtu.be/8MeB02Wlbfk2. Preparing To Launch a Coffee Franchise in Dubai - https://youtu.be/YAR_78VpKWM3. Launching the First Kurasu in Dubai - https://youtu.be/C1hT-njJJT84. Unexpected Challenges Launching in Dubai - https://youtu.be/zEoKxHNg2DM5. The Future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE - https://youtu.be/sTwXkqCs08gIn this episode of the podcast series, Lee, David, and Valeria discuss the challenges, the unexpected viral success, and the emotional and physical toll of opening their first store.Learn about their experience of building a dedicated team and the importance of being hands-on owners. Join us for insights into the hard work and rewarding moments that come with bringing a beloved coffee brand to the UAE.Connect with Kurasu DXB/UAE as well as David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia here:https://www.instagram.com/kurasudxb/https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-garcia-16a266176/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzabinsky/••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Connect with Map It Forward here: Website | Instagram | Mailing list

Interview with Doc Kane, Owner and Operator of Maplopo Season 5 Ep 117 Lost Without Japan Welcome to a very special episode of Lost Without Japan, where we sit down with Doc Kane of MapLopo to discuss Japan and explore the opportunities his services could offer to you, the Lost Without Japan Listener. Website: https://maplopo.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@maplopo LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dockaneinjapan/ Gaijinpot: https://blog.gaijinpot.com/author/dockane/  TokyoDev: https://www.tokyodev.com/authors/doc-kane As always, the link to our shows Google Resource doc can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEVbRmvn8jzxOZPDaypl3UAjxbs1OOSWSftFW1BYXpI/edit#   

This episode is brought to you by Raw Beverage Trading - Your hospitality supply chain partner. Connect at sale@rawcoffee.ae••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••This is the 2nd of a 5-part series on the Map It Forward Middle East Podcast with David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia, owners of the Kurasu UAE franchise.In this series, David and Valeria help us understand the process they went through bringing a globally recognised franchise from Kyoto, Japan, to Dubai and the wider UAE. The five episodes of this series are:1. Bringing a Global Coffee Brand to Dubai - https://youtu.be/8MeB02Wlbfk2. Preparing To Launch a Coffee Franchise in Dubai - https://youtu.be/YAR_78VpKWM3. Launching the First Kurasu in Dubai - https://youtu.be/C1hT-njJJT84. Unexpected Challenges Launching in Dubai - https://youtu.be/zEoKxHNg2DM5. The Future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE - https://youtu.be/sTwXkqCs08gIn this episode of the podcast series, Lee, David and Valeria discuss the critical steps of team building, including hiring criteria focused on experience, confidence, and a genuine appreciation for the Kurasu brand.The conversation also explores the challenges of finding the right location in a competitive market like Dubai, the unique aspects of the Dar Wasl area, and Kurasu's distinct culture of minimalistic and high-quality customer experience. Additionally, David and Valeria share their personal experiences, fears, and inspirations in bringing Kurasu to Dubai. For more insights and details, watch the full episode.Connect with Kurasu DXB/UAE as well as David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia here:https://www.instagram.com/kurasudxb/https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-garcia-16a266176/https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzabinsky/••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Connect with Map It Forward here: Website | Instagram | Mailing list

If you love what we do, become a premium YouTube Subscriber or join our Patreon: • https://www.patreon.com/mapitforward• https://www.youtube.com/mapitforwardCheck out our on-demand workshops here: • https://mapitforward.coffee/workshopsConsider joining one of our Mastermind Groups here:• https://mapitforward.coffee/groupcoachingJoin our mailing list:• https://mapitforward.coffee/mailinglist••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••This is the first of a 5-part series on the Map It Forward Middle East Podcast with David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia, owners of the Kurasu UAE franchise.In this series, David and Valeria help us understand the process they went through bringing a globally recognised franchise from Kyoto, Japan, to Dubai and the wider UAE. The five episodes of this series are:1. Bringing a Global Coffee Brand to Dubai - https://youtu.be/8MeB02Wlbfk2. Preparing To Launch a Coffee Franchise in Dubai - https://youtu.be/YAR_78VpKWM3. Launching the First Kurasu in Dubai - https://youtu.be/C1hT-njJJT84. Unexpected Challenges Launching in Dubai - https://youtu.be/zEoKxHNg2DM5. The Future of Specialty Coffee in the UAE - https://youtu.be/sTwXkqCs08gIn this episode of the podcast series, Lee, Valeria, and David discuss how their admiration for the Japanese coffee brand Kurasu led to their venture of bringing it to Dubai. From discovering Kurasu on YouTube to making the first contact with the founder Yozo Otsuki, and eventually visiting Kyoto to solidify their partnership, David and Valeria share their journey in detail. Topics include the saturated coffee market in Dubai, the couple's background, and their steps in opening the Kurasu franchise in the UAE. Stay tuned to learn the intricacies of navigating a new coffee business in a competitive environment.Connect with Kurasu DXB/UAE as well as David Zabinsky and Valeria Garcia here:https://www.instagram.com/kurasudxb/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-garcia-16a266176/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzabinsky/ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Connect with Map It Forward here: Website | Instagram | Mailing list

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Haruka's Quest: Unveiling Kyoto's Ancient Secrets Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2025-08-11-22-34-02-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 京都の古い寺院に夏の香りが漂っていました。En: The scent of summer lingered around the old temple in Kyoto.Ja: 木々が高く茂り、寺院の静けさを守っています。En: The trees grew tall and lush, preserving the temple's serenity.Ja: ここで、大学生の春香（はるか）は古代の秘密を探求していました。En: Here, a university student named Haruka was delving into ancient secrets.Ja: 彼女は人類学を専攻し、古代の文化と神話に夢中でした。En: She majored in anthropology and was fascinated by ancient cultures and myths.Ja: ある日、寺院で謎の巻物が発見されました。En: One day, a mysterious scroll was discovered at the temple.Ja: その巻物には、ずっと失われていた儀式の秘密が書かれていたのです。En: It held the long-lost secrets of a ritual.Ja: 春の盛りの日、春香はその巻物を手に取り、夢中になりました。En: On a fine spring day, Haruka picked up the scroll and was captivated.Ja: しかし、巻物は難解な漢字で書かれており、寺の僧侶たちは外部の者に対して警戒しています。En: However, the scroll was written in difficult characters, and the monks at the temple were wary of outsiders.Ja: さらに、大学の友人たちからも「そんなことできるの？」と疑われ、困ってしまいました。En: Furthermore, her university friends doubted her, asking, "Can you really do that?" which troubled her.Ja: でも、春香の心は強い。En: But Haruka's resolve was strong.Ja: 彼女は寺に泊まる決意をしました。En: She decided to stay at the temple.Ja: 夜、灯篭の明かりの中で僧侶たちの信頼を得るため、熱心に働きました。En: At night, under the light of lanterns, she worked diligently to gain the monks' trust.Ja: また、友人の蓮（れん）と秋子（あきこ）の助けを借りることにしました。二人は古い言語に詳しいのです。En: She also sought help from her friends, Ren and Akiko, who were knowledgeable about ancient languages.Ja: 皆で協力し、巻物の謎を解きほぐそうとしました。En: Together, they all worked to unravel the mysteries of the scroll.Ja: 時が経ち、夜が明けるたびに少しずつヒントが見つかります。En: As time passed, with each dawn, they found small hints.Ja: そして、迎えたお盆の日。En: Then came Obon day.Ja: 祭りの鐘が鳴り響く中、春香は巻物の隠された部分を偶然発見しました。En: Amidst the resounding festival bells, Haruka accidentally discovered a hidden part of the scroll.Ja: それは儀式の鍵となるものでした。En: It was the key to the ritual.Ja: しかし、その時寺の長老たちに見つかり、巻物を公にすることに反対されました。En: However, at that moment, the temple elders found her, and opposed making the scroll's contents public.Ja: 「儀式の秘密は、霊的なバランスを崩すかもしれない」と言います。En: They said, "The secret of the ritual might disturb the spiritual balance."Ja: 春香は静かに考えました。En: Haruka thought quietly.Ja: 彼女は過去を尊重しつつ、現代にその知識を残すことが大切だと感じました。En: She felt it was important to preserve this knowledge for the modern age while respecting the past.Ja: 春香は長老たちに心から話し、理解を得ることができました。En: Haruka spoke sincerely to the elders and gained their understanding.Ja: 「この古代の知識を守ることで、文化が未来にも伝わります」と説得しました。En: She persuaded them, saying, "By preserving this ancient knowledge, the culture will be passed on to the future."Ja: そして、巻物の内容を発表し、学界で注目を浴びました。En: She then presented the scroll's contents, gaining attention in the academic world.Ja: けれども、彼女は有名になることよりも、歴史を大切にすることを選びました。En: However, she chose to value history over fame.Ja: こうして、春香は知識への欲望と文化への尊敬のバランスを学び、古い伝統に対する深い感謝を持つようになりました。En: In this way, Haruka learned to balance her desire for knowledge with her respect for culture, developing a profound appreciation for old traditions.Ja: 夏の夜、寺院の灯は静かに揺れ、春香の心にも新しい光がともりました。En: On a summer night, the lamps of the temple flickered silently, and a new light kindled in Haruka's heart.Ja: 彼女の旅は終わりましたが、歴史への愛は続いていきます。En: Her journey had ended, but her love for history continued on. Vocabulary Words:scent: 香りlinger: 漂うserenity: 静けさmajored: 専攻anthropology: 人類学fascinated: 夢中mysterious: 謎のscroll: 巻物captivated: 夢中になったcharacters: 漢字wary: 警戒outsiders: 外部の者resolve: 心diligently: 熱心にunravel: 解きほぐすresounding: 鳴り響くaccidentally: 偶然elders: 長老たちoppose: 反対disturb: 崩すsincerely: 心からpersuaded: 説得されましたappreciation: 感謝profound: 深いflickered: 揺れたkindled: ともるpreserve: 守るritual: 儀式balance: バランスacademic: 学界

This week on Supernatural Japan, host Kevin O'Shea meets returning guest and Japan-based writer Phillip Jackson in Osaka's beautiful Utsubo Park for a rare in-person recording. Phillip takes us deep into the eerie side of Dark Kyoto—far beyond the usual temples and tourist spots—to uncover chilling ghost stories, tragic historical events, and unsettling tales that most visitors never hear. From haunted corners to strange happenings in Japan's ancient capital, this episode blends rich history with spine-tingling supernatural lore, offering a unique look at Kyoto's hidden and haunted past.Check out Phillip Jackson's work:https://www.hiddenpathskyoto.com/Follow the podcast: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supernaturaljapanBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/madformaple.bsky.socialX: https://x.com/MadForMapleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/supernaturaljapanEmail: supernaturaljapan@gmail.comSupport the podcast (Help fund the creation of new episodes) MEMBERSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE!: https://buymeacoffee.com/busankevinYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BusanKevinNEW podcast companion blogs! https://justjapanstuff.com/Website: https://supernaturaljapan.buzzsprout.comSupport the show

Cette semaine, nous vous proposons une nouvelle saison de notre série spéciale «Vivre en ville». 8 milliards de voisins vous emmène dans ses valises à la découverte d'Antananarivo, Damas, en passant par Pékin. Urbanisme, société, transports, loisirs : les correspondants de RFI et nos invités présentent la vie quotidienne de nos voisins.  Dans ce cinquième et dernier épisode de notre série Vivre en ville direction le Vatican. Cette cité-État, enclavée dans la ville de Rome en Italie vit au rythme du Saint-Siège. À chaque conclave pour l'élection d'un nouveau pape, les yeux du monde entier se tournent vers le plus petit État du monde. Le Vatican attire aussi les foules, chaque année, environ 6 millions de touristes se déplacent pour admirer ses trésors et toucher du doigt le quotidien du souverain pontife. En réalité, moins de 500 personnes vivent au sein du Vatican, parmi lesquels, le Pape, des cardinaux, des diplomates et les membres du corps de la Garde suisse pontificale. Peu de civils donc. Comment fonctionne l'une des villes les plus mystérieuses au monde ?   Avec : • Loup Besmond de Senneville, rédacteur en chef du journal La Croix. Envoyé spécial permanent au Vatican jusqu'en 2024. Auteur de Vatican Secret – Quatre années au cœur du plus petit État du monde (Stock, 2025).   En fin d'émission, la chronique Ville contre Ville de Juliette Brault. Elles sont en concurrence, se jalousent, se moquent l'une de l'autre... Cette semaine, Juliette Brault explore les rivalités urbaines à travers 5 duels pour comprendre l'origine de ces confrontations, la façon dont elles structurent leurs relations et façonnent le quotidien des habitants.  Aujourd'hui, Tokyo vs Kyoto : le choix entre modernité et tradition. Programmation musicale : ► I Lie - Lele Marchitelli  ► The Loneliest – Maneskin   ► Ti manca l'aria - Coez

A quick update from the Krewe on a short release break & things to come! Big things poppin' with the Krewe!!------ 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! ------ JSNO Info & Upcoming Events ------Support the Krewe - Donate to JSNO!JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!