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VOV1 - Chiều ngày 6/9, tại thành phố Huế, diễn ra Hội nghị “Kết nối Huế - Nhật Bản năm 2026”. Hội nghị có sự tham dự của đại diện Bộ Ngoại giao, Đại sứ quán Việt Nam tại Nhật Bản, Tổng Lãnh sự quán Việt Nam tại Osaka; lãnh đạo thành phố Huế cùng đại diện các cơ quan, tổ chức và doanh nghiệp Nhật Bản. Đại diện các địa phương của Nhật Bản như Nara, Kyoto, Kagawa, Okayama, Kobe, Shimane cũng tham dự.Phát biểu tại Hội nghị, ông Lê Anh Tuấn, Thứ trưởng Bộ Ngoại giao nhấn mạnh, hợp tác địa phương là một kênh quan trọng góp phần làm sâu sắc hơn quan hệ Việt Nam - Nhật Bản. Việc tăng cường kết nối giữa các địa phương tạo điều kiện để hai bên triển khai những chương trình hợp tác sát với nhu cầu thực tế, mang lại lợi ích thiết thực cho người dân và doanh nghiệp. Thứ trưởng Lê Anh Tuấn cho rằng:“Với những lợi thế đặc thù về di sản văn hóa, cảng Chân Mây - Lăng Cô, vị trí trên hành lang kinh tế Đông - Tây, trục giao thông Bắc - Nam, cùng hệ thống giáo dục, y tế chất lượng cao, Huế có nền tảng để phát triển du lịch, logistics, công nghiệp, kinh tế xanh, kinh tế số và thu hút các nhà đầu tư chiến lược, trong đó có doanh nghiệp Nhật Bản”.Hội nghị “Kết nối Huế - Nhật Bản năm 2026”
Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin of the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Order, explores how she has cultivated community and diversity through interfaith dialogue, spiritual practice, and a commitment to making Buddhist teachings accessible while honoring tradition.Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.This week on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin and Vincent chat about:Being grateful for the good in our lives Finding support in spiritual community The emotional process of shaving one's head for the priesthood Being a female in a male-dominated spiritual world Creating community and diversity in Houston, Texas Working to make Buddhist teachings accessible while preserving the integrity of traditions Addressing trauma in the prison system and learning how to support each otherHope for the future and finding common ground in the intersection of faith traditionsThe great change that naturally arises from a dedication to practice Lessons from the Lotus Sutra on respect Finding the purpose and benefit in all that happens to us “Everything about us is perfect, whole, and complete for the path that we're walking. It may be horrible, some of the things that have happened to us, but they're a preparation for us to walk the path in the way we need to walk it. We have to be able to look at everything that happens to us as a benefit. There is a purpose to this happening to us. We can be a gateway for others to walk a better path for themselves. We are perfectly gifted by the experiences we have had.” –Myokei Caine-Barrett, ShoninAbout Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin:Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, stands as a beacon of pioneering spirit, being the first American woman and the first of African Japanese descent to attain full ordination as a Nichiren priest. She holds the esteemed position of bishop for the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Order of North America, the first woman and Westerner to do so. Her guidance emanates from Houston, where she leads as the principal teacher of Myoken-ji Temple. She is among the few westerners, specifically one of three, to undertake and complete the rigorous Aragyo [ascetic practice] at Saijo Inari in Okayama, Japan.Passionate about bringing Buddhism beyond temple walls, Myokei Shonin actively supports three prison sanghas within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. Her interfaith endeavors have seen her as a Fellow with Interfaith America, championing dialogue between Buddhists and Muslims in incarceration. Her roles extend to being a board member of Lion's Roar Magazine and Dharma Relief 2: Healing Racial Trauma.She's actively engaged in programs such as Healing Warrior Hearts, Texas for Heroes, The Gathering, and the International Western Dharma Teachers Gathering. Beyond these, her contributions span across various socio-religious platforms, underlining her commitment to spreading compassionate teachings. As a writer, her voice echoes through publications in Lion's Roar and Tricycle magazines, and she has made notable contributions to The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.About Vincent Moore:Vincent Moore is a creative and creative consultant living in San Francisco, California, with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry and holds a graduate degree in Buddhist Studies. For years, he performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improv and sketch comedy theatre based in New York and Los Angeles. As an actor, Vincent performed on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Seth Meyers, Above Average, and The UCB Show on Seeso. As a writer, he developed for television as well as stage, including work with the Blue Man Group, and his own written projects have been featured on websites such as Funny or Die. Additionally, he received a Master's in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies with a Certificate in Soto Zen Studies and engages in a personal Buddhist practice within the Soto Zen tradition. Vincent is also the creator and host of the podcast, Paths of Practice, which features interviews with Buddhists from all over the world. Learn more on Vincent's website HERE.This conversation was originally recorded on the Paths of Practice Podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ginjo sake brewing is familiar enough, but what about those folks out on the Sanin coast? Some claim they're doing it a little differently, but Jim and Andy aren't so sure. Is it the koji? The yeast? The climate? Come and let's see what's going on in the shadows. Kampai!Vocab:Ajigin 味吟 - A flavor-focused ginjo sake.Chūgoku 中国 - A region of western Japan including Hiroshima, Okayama, Tottori, Shimane, and Yamaguchi prefectures.Hanagin はな吟 - An aroma-focused ginjo sake.San'in 山陰 - The part of the Chugoku region that stands to the north/west of the Chugoku Mountains along the Sea of Japan coast. Mostly associated with Tottori and Shimane Prefectures.Sanyō 山陽 - The coastal area of the CHugoku Region along the Sea of Japan, south/east of the Chugoku mountains.Sōhaze 総はぜ - A koji growth pattern with the filaments covering the whole surface of the rice grains.Tsukihaze 突きはぜ - A koji growth pattern with filaments speckling the surface, with filaments sticking deep inside the rice grain.Recommendations:Andy - Tenon Mukkyu SakeJim - Chiyomusubi Goriki 60 Junmai GinjoDon't forget to support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SakeDeepDive Also, check out Andy's websites at: https://www.originsake.com/ and https://www.originsaketours.comFind Jim at his website www.JimRion.com, where he doesn't talk about sake at all.Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notionsUnder a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-laneMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
Part 1 of this episode is all about Yokohama F.Marinos. We're joined by Osman Asmar to chat about new manager Steve Corica's managerial record and philosophy (to 10:45), before regular F.Marinos correspondent Stuart Woodward discusses their bright start to the season - including Saturday's first win away at Shimizu - and how new arrivals and emerging youngsters have boosted optimism amongst the supporters (to 37:10). Then in Part 2, Jonny and Ben chat about Fukuoka and Okayama also notching first wins on Saturday (to 43:50), the four teams a perfect two wins from two (to 1:01:45), and the three draws from the round, before we finish the episode with a look ahead to the big games on the Matchday 3 slate. As revealed exclusively by Stuart in the latter stages of Part 1, you can now track your JPred LIVE by heading to jpred.football and clicking on Latest.
In this episode, Geoff speaks to Early Career Investigators, Dr. Kazumasa Zensho from the University of Okayama, Japan. They discuss his recent paper, 'Umbilical cord blood markers predict neonatal hypoglycemia in full-term small and large for gestational age infants'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Allen covers Dominion’s $800M tariff hit, Eversource’s 84% profit drop, Nordex’s record quarter, and a looming floating wind vessel shortage. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Good Monday, everyone. Let us start this week with a number. Eight hundred million dollars. That is what tariffs on steel and aluminum added to Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Dominion President Bob Blue shared the damage on a second-quarter earnings call. Two hundred and thirty million dollars … just in the latest quarter alone. That is on top of the five hundred and eighty million from the quarter before. The project is eighty-one percent complete. Thirty-one turbines are already spinning … producing more than four hundred and fifty megawatts. But the finish line just moved. Completion is now expected by the end of twenty twenty-seven. Weather delays. Vessel maintenance. And some particularly complicated turbines to install. Blue says the project will still save customers money. And Dominion expects to pocket more than five hundred million dollars in savings from grid upgrade cost shifts. The total price tag … eleven-point-six billion dollars. Now … if Dominion is feeling the squeeze in Virginia … Eversource up in New England is feeling something worse. The utility’s second-quarter profit dropped eighty-four percent. Net income fell to just fifty-three-point-seven million dollars. Why? A one-hundred-and-sixty-four-million-dollar charge tied to the offshore wind projects they already sold. South Fork Wind. Revolution Wind. Eversource got out of offshore wind back in twenty twenty-four … but the bills keep coming. Higher-than-expected payments to Global Infrastructure Partners are dragging down the bottom line. So one company builds through the pain. Another walks away … and still pays for it. But here is some good news. Over in Hamburg, Germany … Nordex just posted a quarter that would make any CEO smile. Sales up sixteen percent. EBITDA … more than doubled … to two hundred and twenty-four million euros. Margins hit ten-point-three percent. Net income … one hundred and eleven million euros. Up from thirty-one million a year ago. And orders? Up thirty-two percent. Three-point-one gigawatts of new turbine orders in just one quarter. Their total order book now stands at eighteen-point-four billion euros. Nordex CEO José Luis Blanco confirmed the full-year guidance. The onshore wind giant is not just surviving. It is thriving. Now … let us go to sea. Classification society ABS says floating offshore wind is about to create a brand-new problem. Not enough ships. A new report says demand for large anchor-handling vessels and multipurpose support vessels will surge as floating wind projects go from small demonstrations to full commercial scale. Here is the number that tells the story. A single one-gigawatt floating wind farm needs about one hundred and ninety-eight anchors … and nearly two hundred kilometers of mooring lines. That is far more than a single deepwater oil and gas platform. ABS says shortages in certain vessel classes could hit as early as twenty twenty-nine. Global floating wind capacity is expected to grow from about two hundred and seventy megawatts today … to fourteen gigawatts by twenty forty. The race for ships … has begun. And speaking of ships … Japan just finished building one. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines held a naming ceremony in Nagasaki for the Wind Whale. Japan’s first coastal deck carrier built specifically for offshore wind. One hundred and forty-nine meters long. A flush deck designed so that monopiles, towers, blades and nacelles can roll right on from the stern. It even has dynamic positioning … so it can transfer cargo directly to installation vessels at sea. Built in China by Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering … the Wind Whale will carry foundations from a factory in Okayama to construction sites around Japan. A country that once built ships for oil … now builds them for wind. And finally … back home in Iowa. The state Supreme Court ruled that the CEO of Global Fiberglass Solutions can be held personally liable for dumping thirteen hundred used wind turbine blades across the state. CEO Donald Lilly and another executive argued they were never in Iowa. The court disagreed. Lilly signed the contracts. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird put it plainly. They were hired to recycle used wind turbine blades. Instead … they dumped them. Four hundred blades piled up along Interstate 35 near Ellsworth alone. The lesson? You can build an industry on clean energy. But you still have to clean up after yourself. So what does all of this mean … if you work in wind? It means the money is real now. Projects are not getting canceled. They are getting more expensive. And that changes the math for every engineer, every project manager, every supply chain director reading a bid today. Tariffs come and go. But an eleven-billion-dollar project does not stop on a dime. It means the vessels you need may not be there when you need them. If you are planning a floating wind project for the early twenty thirties … your vessel strategy should already be on paper. It means manufacturers who kept their discipline … who held their margins and grew their order books … are the ones writing the next chapter. And it means accountability is coming to every corner of this business. You cannot just build turbines. You have to manage the turbines. This industry asked the world to trust it with the future of energy. That trust comes with responsibility. And that is the state of the wind industry for August 3rd, 2026.
After an extended intro to this episode in which Jonny and Ben discuss the news that Go Oiwa will take over from Hajime Moriyasu after the Asian Cup, we were thrilled to welcome Hiroshima correspondent Robert Turner back to the pod to chat about Sanfrecce's big swings in the transfer market, and how they might fare under Bartosch Gaul (to 34:00). Then in Part 2 we move from west back east, previewing Okayama (34:05 to 45:20), Nagoya (45:20 to 55:50), FC Tokyo (55:50 to 1:08:45), Tokyo Verdy (1:08:45 to 1:20:00), Chiba (1:20:00 to 1:31:05) and Urawa (1:31:05 to end), leaving us with six more clubs to preview next week ahead of the big Friday night kickoff.
Eine neue Folge NachspielDEICH ist da! In der 122. Episode sprechen Host Alexandra von Lingen und DeichStube-Reporter Bjarne Voigt über das Trainingslager des SV Werder Bremen im Zillertal sowie das Testspiel gegen Okayama und machen den großen Kader-Check. Der SV Werder Bremen bereitet sich im Zillertal-Trainingslager auf die neue Bundesliga-Saison vor und hat am Mittwoch ein Testspiel gegen den japanischen Erstligisten Fagiano Okayama mit 2:0 gewonnen. Host Alexandra von Lingen und DeichStube-Reporter Bjarne Voigt widmen sich in der neuen Folge des NachspielDEICH-Podcasts den ersten Erkenntnissen – unter anderem: Wie weit sind die Bremer Talente um Torschütze Mats Heitmann? Ist der Hype um Neuzugang Chuki nach dessen sehenswertem Debüttreffer berechtigt? Und auf welchem Stand ist die Mannschaft insgesamt bereits? Außerdem geht es natürlich um Transfers: Was will Werder noch machen und wie steht es um die möglichen Abgänge von Jens Stage, Justin Njinmah und Co.? Das alles und mehr jetzt in der neuen Folge NachspielDEICH anhören! NachspielDEICH ist ein Fußball-Podcast der DeichStube. Host Alexandra von Lingen spricht nach jedem Bundesliga-Spiel des SV Werder Bremen mit dem Reporter der DeichStube, der das Match der Grün-Weißen live im Stadion verfolgt hat. Furiose Werder-Siege, bittere Pleiten und alles, was dazwischen liegt – NachspielDEICH geht in die Analyse! Und die Werder-Fans können mitmachen: Schickt Eure Fragen nach den Spielen als Text- oder Sprachnachricht an die 0160 98218884 – und die Werder-Analyse NachspielDEICH liefert die Antworten. Neue Folgen gibt es ab sofort immer am Tag nach der Werder-Partie überall, wo es Podcasts gibt.
G'day Tale Tellers and fans of Japanese True Crime!
Amy Chavez talks with Jane Lawson about her book Secret Japan: An Insider's Guide to Deeper Travel in the World's Most Fascinating Country (Simon & Schuster, 2026). Jane encourages people to get off the beaten track to discover the most amazing people, places, and foods. This gives travelers a chance to see and experience Japanese life and culture from the inside by spending time in smaller places. It's the difference between tourism being forced on locals and those locals being granted the choice to reach out and connect. Use Jane's prescription for travel to let the Japanese introduce you to their culture, in their way. Find a more relaxing way of travel by discovering the smaller events and more local foods. Three of Jane Lawson's favorite books on Japanese food: Oishinbo manga series on food and food culture, by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki (English) The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shinbo and Rodica Prato (English) Japanese Cooking as a Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji (English) (Note: If you're wondering about the sound at 27 minutes into the cast, that's the ferry coming into Shiraishi Island (where I'm recording) from the mainland of Okayama. At 29:15 there's another ferry toot, a different ferry, coming in from the further islands and stopping in at Shiraishi before going back to the mainland). Jane Lawson Food, Zenbu Tours on FB, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest www.zenbutravel.com The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
Kebakaran hutan melanda beberapa wilayah di Jepang, khususnya Prefektur Iwate, Ehime, dan Okayama, menghanguskan ratusan hingga ribuan hektar lahan sejak akhir Februari hingga April 2026.
Segunda semana sin Fórmula 1… y lejos de bajar el ritmo, el motorsport ha firmado uno de los fines de semana más intensos del año. El arranque de la European Le Mans Series en Barcelona dejó una carrera caótica, marcada por bandera roja, estrategias al límite y la inesperada victoria de Panis. En paralelo, el GT World Challenge Europe se decidió en los últimos minutos con un Aston Martin golpeando en el momento clave. Pero la gran cuestión va más allá de los resultados: circuitos llenos, miles de aficionados… ¿estamos ante un crecimiento real del motorsport o es solo el efecto del parón de la F1? Además, repasamos todo lo ocurrido en competición: el exigente Rally de Croacia en el WRC con sorpresa incluida, la primera victoria de Ty Gibbs en NASCAR Cup Series, Supercars en Taupo, Super GT en Okayama, los arranques de F4 y toda la acción del off-road con Supercross, EnduroGP y MXGP. En la sección de noticias, analizamos las claves del fin de semana y el debate que deja: desde el caos en Croacia hasta la reunión que divide al paddock de Fórmula 1. Cerramos con la Pregunta de Coronas de Laurel, horarios y todas las claves del próximo fin de semana.
たった30分で、完全初心者はどのくらいドイツ語を話せるようになるのか？今回は、ドイツ語完全初心者のゲスト・宮田志保さんに対して行った、リアルな30分自己紹介レッスンの様子をそのままお届けします◎ドイツ語学習では年齢を気にされる方が多いですが、志保さんは今年で56歳。楽しんで受講してくれました＾＾ゼロからどこまで話せるようになるのか、その変化をぜひ聞いてみてください。今すぐ使える丸暗記フレーズや、自然な表現のポイントも紹介しています。ぜひ一緒に口に出しながら楽しんで学んでいきましょう！───────志保さんが代表を務める「株式会社エフスタイル」公式サイト https://www.fstyle-ltd.jpオンラインお悩み相談サービス「Advio(アドビオ)」https://advio.jpNPO法人「フラウネッツ」https://www.fraunetz.com───────● 今日のまとめDanke schön.Guten Tag!Hallo!Tschüs.Ciao!Ich heiße Komachi. Ich komme aus Japan. Ich komme aus Kobe und jetzt wohne ich in Okayama. Ich bin Geschäftsführerin von Vollmond. Wir machen eine Online-Deutschschule. Ich mag Deutschland. Ich lerne Deutsch, Englisch und Französisch. Meine Hobbys sind Lesen, Podcast und Reisen.Ich heiße Shiho.Ich komme aus Japan.Ich wohne in Tokyo.Ich bin Geschäftsführerin. (ゲシェフュツフューラリン)Ich bin Angestellte.Ich bin Geschäftsführer.Ich möchte nach Deutschland reisen.Blumenarrangement───────● ドイツ語オンラインレッスン「Vollmond(フォルモント)」ドイツ語学習には、私が代表をしているオンラインドイツ語スクール「Vollmond(フォルモント)」をぜひご利用ください。おすすめは、仲間と一緒に学べる「少人数コース」。スケジュールが合わない方や、じっくり学びたい方には「プライベートコース」もあります。▶︎ https://vollmond.online/完全初心者の方も、長く学んでいる方も、「ドイツ語を学びたい」という気持ちがある方は誰でも大歓迎です◎───────● フランス語オンラインレッスンも受付中フランス語学習に興味がある方も募集中です！現在は個人レッスンのみのご案内となりますが、プロの講師がお待ちしています◎▶︎ https://note.com/komachi_vollmond/n/n7085eecdb8df───────● 番組への感想・質問・リクエスト以下のお便りフォームからお気軽にお送りください♩いただいたメッセージは、すべて大切に読ませていただいています。▶︎ https://form.run/@podcast───────● komachiの個別サービス一覧ドイツ語学習コーチングサービス https://vollmond.online/beratungsstunde動画学習コース「ゼロからドイツ語文法講座」 https://vollmond.online/videokurs起業・経営相談 https://advio.jp/user/76───────● Japanischドイツ語カフェドイツ人の友だちRike(リケ)と2人で配信している、ドイツ語中上級者向けのポッドキャスト番組です。日常の話題からドイツ語・ドイツ文化の話まで、ゆるくお話ししています。よかったらこちらも聴いてみてください^^▶︎ https://vollmond.online/podcast───────● 話し手komachi（オンラインドイツ語スクール「Vollmond(フォルモント)」代表）兵庫出身、岡山在住。大学でドイツ語学習をゼロから始め、ドイツ・ビーレフェルトへの留学を経験。ゲーテC1試験に合格後、ドイツ語講師として活動を開始し、「Vollmond(フォルモント)」を起業。その後も学習を継続し、ゲーテC2試験にも合格。多くの日本人学習者をサポートする中で見えてきた、共通する悩みやよくするアドバイスを、ポッドキャストやSNSで発信中。趣味は読書と旅行。
Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Stearns Mandel
Ruth and David are recording from Okayama, Japan, and the shift you're about to hear is bigger than language. Professor Kanako Masui of Nihon Fukushi University joins David and Ruth to explain why so many domestic violence and child protection systems get stuck asking the wrong questions and how the Safe & Together Model helps professionals see what's been in front of them all along.Kanako shares her journey as both a former practitioner and a researcher who has interviewed domestic violence survivors, including adults who grew up with domestic abuse in childhood. That experience led her to a hard truth: When we focus on “why she didn't leave” or “why she didn't protect the kids,” we blur accountability and miss the survivor's real, often invisible protective efforts. Ruth, David, and Kanako dig into how a perpetrator's pattern of behaviour as a parent drives harm to children, how to document those choices clearly, and how to work with survivors with dignity and respect while keeping child safety at the center.They also talk about what implementation looks like on the ground in Japan—from cross-agency collaboration with child guidance centers and women's support centers to large seminars reaching hundreds of practitioners—and the intensive work of translating the Safe & Together material and David's book into Japanese so teams can share a common model and language.Kanako closes with a message to helpers who feel isolated and a direct message to survivors: You are not to be blamed.If you want practical, trauma- and domestic abuse–informed ways to improve domestic violence intervention, child welfare decision-making, and perpetrator accountability, listen now. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review telling us what language you want to change first.Send us Fan MailCheck out David Mandel's new book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence.Visit the Safe & Together Institute website.Start taking Safe & Together Institute courses. Check out Safe & Together Institute upcoming events.
Creating a textbook that engages with university students in Japan is a challenge but a Professor at Okayama university, John Rucynski has found a winning formula for writing a textbook with stories of successful international professionals working in Japan. https://deepjapan.org/john-rucynski/https://cengagejapan.com/elt/ListeningVideo/page/?no=1412662013bfq7a
Welcome to 听故事说中文, the podcast where stories come alive to help you improve your Chinese language proficiency and cultural competency. In today's episode, we are diving into the world of sports, but we aren't talking about loud personalities or flashy headlines. Instead, we're looking at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a pitcher who redefined success through quiet persistence. Yamamoto wasn't the tallest or the most physically imposing player on the field. In fact, many underestimated him early on. But while others relied on raw power, Yamamoto relied on something arguably more difficult to master: precision and emotional discipline. From his humble beginnings in Okayama to the high-stakes mounds of Major League Baseball, his journey is a masterclass in how to handle pressure without saying a word. ************************************************************ Support Our Podcast If our podcast brings value to your life and you'd like to help us continue creating great content, consider becoming a patron for as little as $7 a month. As a patron, you will enjoy: ✨ Ad-free episodes for an uninterrupted listening experience.
Planning a trip to Japan and wondering what to eat—and how to find truly great food? In this Japan food guide podcast episode, we break down the must-try Japanese dishes and share practical tips for finding amazing places to eat across the country. We cover iconic Japanese foods like ramen, sushi, okonomiyaki, tempura, yakitori, and more, explaining each dish. We also share our favorite restaurants and casual eateries, along with tips for spotting good local spots, avoiding tourist traps, and eating well! You'll learn: What to eat in Japan How to find good restaurants in Japan as a visitor How to tell if a place is worth the wait Our favorite places to eat in Tokyo, Kyoto, Okayama, and more! Whether you're visiting Japan for the first time or planning a return trip, this episode will help you build a food-focused itinerary and eat confidently throughout your travels.
We head west for this week's previews, and we were thrilled to be joined by Daniel Kuroda, one half of the Vivi Cast podcast, to chat about Nagasaki's 2025 campaign, and their long-awaited return to J1 in the Chaos Energy J.League Cup (to 42:30). In Part 2 Jonny and Ben begin with a depth chart explainer and praise for the collaboration between Yokohama FC and J.League Journeys, then run the rule over Fukuoka (to 1:01:45), Hiroshima (to 1:15:00), Okayama (to 1:27:45) and Kobe (to end). As a special bonus, we've smashed down the Patreon paywall this week so that all listeners can access Jonny's depth charts for the five teams featured on this episode by clicking on this link.
Welcome to 听故事说中文, the podcast where stories come alive to help you improve your Chinese language proficiency and cultural competency. In today's episode, we are diving into the world of sports, but we aren't talking about loud personalities or flashy headlines. Instead, we're looking at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a pitcher who redefined success through quiet persistence. Yamamoto wasn't the tallest or the most physically imposing player on the field. In fact, many underestimated him early on. But while others relied on raw power, Yamamoto relied on something arguably more difficult to master: precision and emotional discipline. From his humble beginnings in Okayama to the high-stakes mounds of Major League Baseball, his journey is a masterclass in how to handle pressure without saying a word. ************************************************************ Support Our Podcast If our podcast brings value to your life and you'd like to help us continue creating great content, consider becoming a patron for as little as $7 a month. As a patron, you will enjoy: ✨ Ad-free episodes for an uninterrupted listening experience.
Meet Victoria, a local ambassador for Bizen, Okayama, who sits down to talk to us about her work promoting tourism for a small Japanese town. She talks about her time on the Rural Revitalization Program, her transition to independent business owner, and how she found her place as a foreigner in rural Japan.--Follow Victoria:https://www.instagram.com/letsvisitbizen_okayama/https://www.tiktok.com/@happyberry666?https://www.villashinobi.com/enFollow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/
In August, Chris and I spent 2 weeks in Japan. We visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Naoshima, Himeji, and then wrapped up in Hakone in the mountains before our last full day in Tokyo. While many people just come here on a day trip from Tokyo, we spent 3 days here. And it was WELL worth it! We relaxed in our epic ryokan complete with its own private onsen, we went hiking, and we even did the Hakone Round Course. 3 days in Hakone was a great amount of time to get to know the area and enjoy being in nature while in Japan! Check out the best things to do in Hakone, where to stay, and more in this podcast episode! 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!): -Shinkansen High Speed Train: https://smart-ex.jp/en/lp/app/ -Ryokan Hakone Ginyu: https://tripadvisor.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/5hMRu9RGIO -Hakone Free Pass: https://odakyu-global.com/passes/hakone-freepass/ -TikTok video I mentioned: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTreDa8kV/ -Hakone Open Air Museum: https://www.hakone-oam.or.jp/ -Coffee Shop: Café Ryusenkei 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
参院選の１票の格差を巡る訴訟で、広島高裁岡山支部の判決後、「違憲状態」などと書かれた紙を掲げる升永英俊弁護士ら、１３日午後、岡山市北区「１票の格差」が最大３．１３倍だった７月の参院選は投票価値の平等に反して違憲だとして、升永英俊弁護士らのグループが選挙無効を求めた訴訟の判決が１３日、広島高裁岡山支部であり、井上一成裁判長は「違憲状態」と判断した。 The Okayama branch of Hiroshima High Court ruled Thursday that the July election for Japan's House of Councillors was held in a state of unconstitutionality due to vote-value disparities.
During our 2-week trip to Japan, we spent several days in Okayama and took day trips. On our last day in Okayama, we opted for a half-day trip to Himeji to see Himeji Castle, visit Kokoen Garden, and enjoy a great bowl of seafood ramen. 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 (Koraku Hotel in Okayama): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/PH-cUT2oZz -Himeji Castle Tickets (we booked the combo ticket with the garden): https://himejicastle.ntaticketing.com/ -Himeji Castle Information: https://www.himejicastle.jp/en/ 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
愛知県警本部、名古屋市中区教員グループが女子児童らの盗撮動画などをＳＮＳで共有していた事件で、愛知県警は６日、児童買春・ポルノ禁止法違反の疑いで、岡山県備前市立小教諭、甲斐海月容疑者、岡山市中区、を逮捕した。 Police have arrested an elementary school teacher in the western Japan prefecture of Okayama, marking the seventh and final arrest in a group of teachers who shared voyeuristic videos of schoolgirls on social media.
During our 2-week trip to Japan, we spent several days in Okayama and took day trips. One of those day trips was a "choose your own adventure" day. We had 3 options: -Shimanami Kaido cycling route from Onomichi if it were a perfect day -Kibi Plain if it were nice but hot outside -Naoshima Art Island for a rainy day It was a rainy day, so off to Naoshima we went! This is how to do a day trip to Naoshima Art Island in Japan from Okayama including the best things to do in Naoshima. 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 (Koraku Hotel in Okayama): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/PH-cUT2oZz -Benesse Art Site Naoshima (for all your reservations): https://benesse-artsite.jp/en/ -Benesse Art Site Naoshima app: https://benesse-artsite.jp/en/app/index.html -Lee Ufan Museum Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Ufan_Museum 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
If you're staying in a place like Osaka or Okayama (or even the Hiroshima area itself) this is a day trip you must take! We started out by meeting our guide, Joe with Travel Japan Together, and taking the ferry over to explore Miyajima Island. We loved exploring the island, boating under the floating torii gate, and visiting some temples. Then, we went back to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Peace Memorial Museum. It was a heavy afternoon learning about the events of August 6, 1945, days after its 80th anniversary. It's tough to learn about tragic history and dark history including the aftermath of such devastation. We learned a lot this day, and while heavy, it was well worth it. Because if we never learn about our past, we're doomed to repeat our mistakes. 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!): -Travel Japan Together Tour: https://yatra.thick.jp/hiroshima-miyajima-private-custom-tour-with-local-guide/ (our guide was Joe)! 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
Send us a textA centuries-old mermaid mummy rests in Enjuin Temple, Okayama—said to bring luck, warning, or eternal life. In this episode of Supernatural Japan, we dive into the strange tale of this relic, the legend of Yao Bikuni, and Japan's long tradition of yokai hoaxes and supernatural curiosities from the Edo era. Discover the truth behind one of Japan's most haunting maritime mysteries.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.comTales from Kevin Podcast (My personal diary podcast):https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tales-from-kevin/id1767355563Support 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
“Why are you going to Okayama?” To be fair, we got this question more than once while traveling around Japan. I get it. It's not really a tourist hot spot like Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. So when we told people where we were going, there were certainly a few raised eyebrows. But hear us out: Okayama is incredible! The city has enough things to do on its own like Okayama Castle, Korakuen Garden, and Kurashiki nearby! AND It's a top-notch base for day trips to Hiroshima, Naoshima Art Island, Himeji, and more! So in this episode, we're discussing the top things to do in Okayama Japan, best day trips from Okayama, and why we chose this lesser known city to spend 4 nights during our 2 week trip to Japan. 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!): -Okayama Hotel (Koraku Hotel): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/PH-cUT2oZz -Fat Bear Week: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week -Donate to The Otis Fund for Katmai National Park: https://katmaiconservancy.org/donate 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
~ The Japanese dialogue in this English language video podcast has been shortened for timing purposes. ~ The way of the Buddha is more a philosophy than a religion. It is a path, not a faith. Its core precepts describe a practice that leads to an experience. Arnold Toynbee once said that the coming of the dharma to the West might prove the greatest event of the 20th century. Shodo Harada Roshi has been described as a teacher's teacher of Zen Buddhism. He is a longtime friend of Commonweal. Come join us for a unique and precious experience of the Buddhist truth, the Buddhist way, and the Buddhist community. Shodo Harada Roshi Shodo Harada Roshi is Abbot of Sogen-ji, a 300-year-old Rinzai Zen monastery in Okayama, Japan. He is also Abbot of Tahoma Monastery on Whidbey Island north of Seattle. He founded Enso House, a hospice affiliated with Tahoma, where his students attend the dying. He is a master of Japanese calligraphy, and has conducted demonstrations at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. His translator and colleague, Priscilla Daichi Storandt, is co-abbot at Tahoma and a senior teacher in her own right. Find out more on his website. Host Michael Lerner Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press). *** The New School is Commonweal's learning community and podcast — we offer conversations, workshops, and other events in areas that Commonweal champions: finding meaning, growing health and resilience, advocating for justice, and stewarding the natural world. We make our conversations into podcasts for many thousands of listeners world wide and have been doing this since 2007. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.
En la 1426-a E_elsendo el la 20.09.2025 ĉe www.pola-retradio.org: • En la hodiaŭa elsendo ni interparolas kun la renkontita dum la 110-a UK Karina Oliveira, redaktoro de „Kontakto”, dank' al kiu ni povis legi multajn interesajn revunumerojn. Sed temas ne nur pri la redaktado. La interparolo ebligas al ni konatiĝi kun tiu interesa brazila esperantistino, antaŭ kiu Esperanto malfermis pordon i.a. al la Interlingvistikaj Studoj en Poznano, al ŝanĝo de la vivmedio, ne laste al familia vivo en Finnlando. • Por la hodiaŭa kalendarfolio ni elektis diversajn historiajn eventojn en Pollando kaj en la mondo ligitajn kun la 20-a de septembro. Krome en novaĵbulteno ni informas pri poldevenuloj studontaj en Pollando en la akademia jaro 2025/26; pri Pollando kiel signifa eksportanto de presmaterialoj; pri grava profesia distingo por pola arkitektura laborejo. • La sciencan rubrikon ni dediĉas al japanaj esploroj pri la rezultoj de la longdaŭra efiko de aromo je la cerbofunkciado. • Ni salutas la partoprenantojn de la Azia-Oceania Kongreso kaj de la Japana E-kongreso, ĝojante kundividi la etoson, kiu sabate ekregis en Okayama, per ĉerpaĵo el la muzika registraĵo en fejsbuko. • Por pliaj muzikaj momentoj ni elektis ĵusan registraĵon de Feri Floro por la vortoj de Liven Dek, de popola meksika kanto „La Bamba”. Nian programinformon akompanas interreta foto rilata al nia sciencbultena temo. • En unuopaj rubrikoj de nia paĝo eblas konsulti la paralele legeblajn kaj aŭdeblajn tekstojn el niaj elsendoj, kio estas tradicio de nia Redakcio ekde 2003. La elsendo estas aŭdebla en jutubo ĉe la adreso: https://www.youtube.com/results?q=pola+retradio&sp=CAI%253D I.a. pere de jutubo, konforme al individua bezono, eblas rapidigi aŭ malrapidigi la parolritmon de la sondokumentoj, transsalti al iu serĉata fragmento de la elsendo.
After spending 2 weeks in Japan, we certainly learned a lot! And after reflecting upon our trip to Japan, we have 5 things we wish we would've done differently while in Japan, but also 5 things we are glad we did do in Japan. From Japan travel regrets like not visiting Uji to being glad we went to Okayama, this is what we are happy we did and things we'll just have to do differently next time! 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!): -Tour of Uji with Matcha grinding experience: https://getyourguide.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/kh_8FW0zB9 -Nintendo Museum: https://museum.nintendo.com/index.html -Giant's Baseball: https://www.giants.jp/en/schedule/ 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
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
Last time we spoke about the Soviet Victory in Asia. After atomic bombings and Japan's surrender, the Soviets launched a rapid Manchurian invasion, driving toward Harbin, Mukden, Changchun, and Beijing. Shenyang was taken, seeing the capture of the last Emperor of China, Pu Yi. The Soviets continued their advances into Korea with port captures at Gensan and Pyongyang, and occupation of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, ahead of anticipated American intervention. Stalin pushed for speed to avoid US naval landings, coordinating with Chinese forces and leveraging the Sino-Soviet pact while balancing relations with Chiang Kai-shek. As fronts closed, tens of thousands of Japanese POWs were taken, while harsh wartime reprisals, looting, and mass sexual violence against Japanese, Korean, and Chinese civilians were reported. This episode is the Surrender of Japan 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. With the Manchurian Campaign over and Japan's surrender confirmed, we've reached the end of the Pacific War and the ushering of a new era. This journey took us 3 years, 8 months, and 27 days and it's been a rollercoaster. We've gone over numerous stories of heroism and horror, victory and defeat, trying to peel back a part of WW2 that often gets overshadowed by the war in Europe. Certainly the China War is almost completely ignored by the west, but fortunately for you all, as I end this series we have just entered the China war over at the Fall and Rise of China Podcast. Unlike this series where, to be blunt, I am hamstrung by the week by week format, over there I can tackle the subject as I see fit, full of personal accounts. I implore you if you want to revisit some of that action in China, jump over to the other podcast, I will be continuing it until the end of the Chinese civil war. One could say it will soon be a bit of a sequel to this one. Of course if you love this format and want more, you can check out the brand new Eastern Front week by week podcast, which really does match the horror of the Pacific war. Lastly if you just love hearing my dumb voice, come check out my podcast which also is in video format on the Pacific War Channel on Youtube, the Echoes of War podcast. Me and my co-host Gaurav tackle history from Ancient to Modern, often with guests and we blend the dialogue with maps, photos and clips. But stating all of that, lets get into it, the surrender of Japan. As we last saw, while the Soviet invasion of Manchuria raged, Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire on August 15. Public reaction varied, yet most were stunned and bewildered, unable to grasp that Japan had surrendered for the first time in its history. Many wept openly as they listened to the Emperor's solemn message; others directed swift anger at the nation's leaders and the fighting services for failing to avert defeat; and some blamed themselves for falling short in their war effort. Above all, there was a deep sympathy for the Emperor, who had been forced to make such a tragic and painful decision. In the wake of the Emperor's broadcast, war factories across the country dismissed their workers and shut their doors. Newspapers that had been ordered to pause their usual morning editions appeared in the afternoon, each carrying the Imperial Rescript, an unabridged translation of the Potsdam Declaration, and the notes exchanged with the Allied Powers. In Tokyo, crowds of weeping citizens gathered all afternoon in the vast plaza before the Imperial Palace and at the Meiji and Yasukuni Shrines to bow in reverence and prayer. The shock and grief of the moment, coupled with the dark uncertainty about the future, prevented any widespread sense of relief that the fighting had ended. Bombings and bloodshed were over, but defeat seemed likely to bring only continued hardship and privation. Starvation already gripped the land, and the nation faced the looming breakdown of public discipline and order, acts of violence and oppression by occupying forces, and a heavy burden of reparations. Yet despite the grim outlook, the Emperor's assurance that he would remain to guide the people through the difficult days ahead offered a measure of solace and courage. His appeal for strict compliance with the Imperial will left a lasting impression, and the refrain “Reverent Obedience to the Rescript” became the rallying cry as the nation prepared to endure the consequences of capitulation. Immediately after the Emperor's broadcast, Prime Minister Suzuki's cabinet tendered its collective resignation, yet Hirohito commanded them to remain in office until a new cabinet could be formed. Accordingly, Suzuki delivered another broadcast that evening, urging the nation to unite in absolute loyalty to the throne in this grave national crisis, and stressing that the Emperor's decision to end the war had been taken out of compassion for his subjects and in careful consideration of the circumstances. Thus, the shocked and grief-stricken population understood that this decision represented the Emperor's actual will rather than a ratified act of the Government, assuring that the nation as a whole would obediently accept the Imperial command. Consequently, most Japanese simply went on with their lives as best they could; yet some military officers, such as General Anami, chose suicide over surrender. Another key figure who committed seppuku between August 15 and 16 was Vice-Admiral Onishi Takijiro, the father of the kamikaze. Onishi's suicide note apologized to the roughly 4,000 pilots he had sent to their deaths and urged all surviving young civilians to work toward rebuilding Japan and fostering peace among nations. Additionally, despite being called “the hero of the August 15 incident” for his peacekeeping role in the attempted coup d'état, General Tanaka felt responsible for the damage done to Tokyo and shot himself on August 24. Following the final Imperial conference on 14 August, the Army's “Big Three”, War Minister Anami, Chief of the Army General Staff Umezu, and Inspectorate-General of Military Training General Kenji Doihara, met at the War Ministry together with Field Marshals Hata and Sugiyama, the senior operational commanders of the homeland's Army forces. These five men affixed their seals to a joint resolution pledging that the Army would “conduct itself in accordance with the Imperial decision to the last.” The resolution was endorsed immediately afterward by General Masakazu Kawabe, the overall commander of the Army air forces in the homeland. In accordance with this decision, General Anami and General Umezu separately convened meetings of their senior subordinates during the afternoon of the 14th, informing them of the outcome of the final Imperial conference and directing strict obedience to the Emperor's command. Shortly thereafter, special instructions to the same effect were radioed to all top operational commanders jointly in the names of the War Minister and Chief of Army General Staff. The Army and Navy authorities acted promptly, and their decisive stance proved, for the most part, highly effective. In the Army, where the threat of upheaval was most acute, the final, unequivocal decision of its top leaders to heed the Emperor's will delivered a crippling blow to the smoldering coup plot by the young officers to block the surrender. The conspirators had based their plans on unified action by the Army as a whole; with that unified stance effectively ruled out, most of the principal plotters reluctantly abandoned the coup d'état scheme on the afternoon of 14 August. At the same time, the weakened Imperial Japanese Navy took steps to ensure disciplined compliance with the surrender decision. Only Admiral Ugaki chose to challenge this with his final actions. After listening to Japan's defeat, Admiral Ugaki Kayō's diary recorded that he had not yet received an official cease-fire order, and that, since he alone was to blame for the failure of Japanese aviators to stop the American advance, he would fly one last mission himself to embody the true spirit of bushido. His subordinates protested, and even after Ugaki had climbed into the back seat of a Yokosuka D4Y4 of the 701st Kokutai dive bomber piloted by Lieutenant Tatsuo Nakatsuru, Warrant Officer Akiyoshi Endo, whose place in the kamikaze roster Ugaki had usurped, also climbed into the same space that the admiral had already occupied. Thus, the aircraft containing Ugaki took off with three men piloted by Nakatsuru, with Endo providing reconnaissance, and Ugaki himself, rather than the two crew members that filled the other ten aircraft. Before boarding his aircraft, Ugaki posed for pictures and removed his rank insignia from his dark green uniform, taking only a ceremonial short sword given to him by Admiral Yamamoto. Elements of this last flight most likely followed the Ryukyu flyway southwest to the many small islands north of Okinawa, where U.S. forces were still on alert at the potential end of hostilities. Endo served as radioman during the mission, sending Ugaki's final messages, the last of which at 19:24 reported that the plane had begun its dive onto an American vessel. However, U.S. Navy records do not indicate any successful kamikaze attack on that day, and it is likely that all aircraft on the mission with the exception of three that returned due to engine problems crashed into the ocean, struck down by American anti-aircraft fire. Although there are no precise accounts of an intercept made by Navy or Marine fighters or Pacific Fleet surface units against enemy aircraft in this vicinity at the time of surrender. it is likely the aircraft crashed into the ocean or was shot down by American anti-aircraft fire. In any event, the crew of LST-926 reported finding the still-smoldering remains of a cockpit with three bodies on the beach of Iheyajima Island, with Ugaki's remains allegedly among them. Meanwhile, we have already covered the Truman–Stalin agreement that Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel would surrender to the Soviets while those to the south would surrender to the Americans, along with the subsequent Soviet occupation of Manchuria, North Korea, South Sakhalin, and the Kurile Islands. Yet even before the first atomic bomb was dropped, and well before the Potsdam Conference, General MacArthur and his staff were planning a peaceful occupation of Japan and the Korean Peninsula. The first edition of this plan, designated “Blacklist,” appeared on July 16 and called for a progressive, orderly occupation in strength of an estimated fourteen major areas in Japan and three to six areas in Korea, so that the Allies could exercise unhampered control over the various phases of administration. These operations would employ 22 divisions and 3 regiments, together with air and naval elements, and would utilize all United States forces immediately available in the Pacific. The plan also provided for the maximum use of existing Japanese political and administrative organizations, since these agencies already exerted effective control over the population and could be employed to good advantage by the Allies. The final edition of “Blacklist,” issued on August 8, was divided into three main phases of occupation. The first phase included the Kanto Plain, the Kobe–Osaka–Kyoto areas, the Nagasaki–Sasebo area in Kyushu, the Keijo district in Korea, and the Aomori–Ominato area of northern Honshu. The second phase covered the Shimonoseki–Fukuoka and Nagoya areas, Sapporo in Hokkaido, and Fusan in Korea. The third phase comprised the Hiroshima–Kure area, Kochi in Shikoku, the Okayama, Tsuruga, and Niigata areas, Sendai in northern Honshu, Otomari in Karafuto, and the Gunzan–Zenshu area in Korea. Although the Joint Chiefs of Staff initially favored Admiral Nimitz's “Campus” Plan, which envisioned entry into Japan by Army forces only after an emergency occupation of Tokyo Bay by advanced naval units and the seizure of key positions ashore near each anchorage, MacArthur argued that naval forces were not designed to perform the preliminary occupation of a hostile country whose ground divisions remained intact, and he contended that occupying large land areas was fundamentally an Army mission. He ultimately convinced them that occupation by a weak Allied force might provoke resistance from dissident Japanese elements among the bomb-shattered population and could therefore lead to grave repercussions. The formal directive for the occupation of Japan, Korea, and the China coast was issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on August 11. The immediate objectives were to secure the early entry of occupying forces into major strategic areas, to control critical ports, port facilities, and airfields, and to demobilize and disarm enemy troops. First priority went to the prompt occupation of Japan, second to the consolidation of Keijo in Korea, and third to operations on the China coast and in Formosa. MacArthur was to assume responsibility for the forces entering Japan and Korea; General Wedemeyer was assigned operational control of the forces landing on the China coast and was instructed to coordinate his plans with the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek; and Japanese forces in Southeast Asia were earmarked for surrender to Admiral Mountbatten. With the agreement of the Soviet, Chinese, and British governments, President Truman designated MacArthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers on August 15, thereby granting him final authority for the execution of the terms of surrender and occupation. In this capacity, MacArthur promptly notified the Emperor and the Japanese Government that he was authorized to arrange for the cessation of hostilities at the earliest practicable date and directed that the Japanese forces terminate hostilities immediately and that he be notified at once of the effective date and hour of such termination. He further directed that Japan send to Manila on August 17 “a competent representative empowered to receive in the name of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Imperial Government, and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters certain requirements for carrying into effect the terms of surrender.” General MacArthur's stipulations to the Japanese Government included specific instructions regarding the journey of the Japanese representatives to Manila. The emissaries were to leave Sata Misaki, at the southern tip of Kyushu, on the morning of August 17. They were to travel in a Douglas DC-3-type transport plane, painted white and marked with green crosses on the wings and fuselage, and to fly under Allied escort to an airdrome on Lejima in the Ryukyus. From there, the Japanese would be transported to Manila in a United States plane. The code designation chosen for communication between the Japanese plane and US forces was the symbolic word “Bataan.” Implementation challenges arose almost immediately due to disagreements within Imperial General Headquarters and the Foreign Office over the exact nature of the mission. Some officials interpreted the instructions as requiring the delegates to carry full powers to receive and agree to the actual terms of surrender, effectively making them top representatives of the Government and High Command. Others understood the mission to be strictly preparatory, aimed only at working out technical surrender arrangements and procedures. Late in the afternoon of August 16, a message was sent to MacArthur's headquarters seeking clarification and more time to organize the mission. MacArthur replied that signing the surrender terms would not be among the tasks of the Japanese representatives dispatched to Manila, assured the Japanese that their proposed measures were satisfactory, and pledged that every precaution would be taken to ensure the safety of the Emperor's representatives on their mission. Although preparations were made with all possible speed, on August 16 the Japanese notified that this delegation would be somewhat delayed due to the scarcity of time allowed for its formation. At the same time, MacArthur was notified that Hirohito had issued an order commanding the entire armed forces of his nation to halt their fighting immediately. The wide dispersion and the disrupted communications of the Japanese forces, however, made the rapid and complete implementation of such an order exceedingly difficult, so it was expected that the Imperial order would take approximately two to twelve days to reach forces throughout the Pacific and Asiatic areas. On August 17, the Emperor personally backed up these orders with a special Rescript to the armed services, carefully worded to assuage military aversion to surrender. Suzuki was also replaced on this date, with the former commander of the General Defense Army, General Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, becoming the new Prime Minister with the initial tasks to hastily form a new cabinet capable of effecting the difficult transition to peace swiftly and without incident. The Government and Imperial General Headquarters moved quickly to hasten the preparations, but the appointment of the mission's head was held up pending the installation of the Higashikuni Cabinet. The premier-designate pressed for a rapid formation of the government, and on the afternoon of the 17th the official ceremony of installation took place in the Emperor's presence. Until General Shimomura could be summoned to Tokyo from the North China Area Army, Prince Higashikuni himself assumed the portfolio of War Minister concurrently with the premiership, Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai remaining in the critical post of Navy Minister, and Prince Ayamaro Konoe, by Marquis Kido's recommendation, entered the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio to act as Higashikuni's closest advisor. The Foreign Minister role went to Mamoru Shigemitsu, who had previously served in the Koiso Cabinet. With the new government installed, Prince Higashikuni broadcast to the nation on the evening of 17 August, declaring that his policies as Premier would conform to the Emperor's wishes as expressed in the Imperial mandate to form a Cabinet. These policies were to control the armed forces, maintain public order, and surmount the national crisis, with scrupulous respect for the Constitution and the Imperial Rescript terminating the war. The cabinet's installation removed one delay, and in the afternoon of the same day a message from General MacArthur's headquarters clarified the mission's nature and purpose. Based on this clarification, it was promptly decided that Lieutenant General Torashiro Kawabe, Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff, should head a delegation of sixteen members, mainly representing the Army and Navy General Staffs. Kawabe was formally appointed by the Emperor on 18 August. By late afternoon that same day, the data required by the Allied Supreme Commander had largely been assembled, and a message was dispatched to Manila informing General MacArthur's headquarters that the mission was prepared to depart the following morning. The itinerary received prompt approval from the Supreme Commander. Indeed, the decision to appoint a member of the Imperial Family who had a respectable career in the armed forces was aimed both at appeasing the population and at reassuring the military. MacArthur appointed General Eichelberger's 8th Army to initiate the occupation unassisted through September 22, at which point General Krueger's 6th Army would join the effort. General Hodge's 24th Corps was assigned to execute Operation Blacklist Forty, the occupation of the Korean Peninsula south of the 38th Parallel. MacArthur's tentative schedule for the occupation outlined an initial advance party of 150 communications experts and engineers under Colonel Charles Tench, which would land at Atsugi Airfield on August 23. Naval forces under Admiral Halsey's 3rd Fleet were to enter Tokyo Bay on August 24, followed by MacArthur's arrival at Atsugi the next day and the start of the main landings of airborne troops and naval and marine forces. The formal surrender instrument was to be signed aboard an American battleship in Tokyo Bay on August 28, with initial troop landings in southern Kyushu planned for August 29–30. By September 4, Hodge's 24th Corps was to land at Inchon and begin the occupation of South Korea. In the meantime, per MacArthur's directions, a sixteen-man Japanese delegation headed by Lieutenant-General Kawabe Torashiro, Vice-Chief of the Army General Staff, left Sata Misaki on the morning of August 19; after landing at Iejima, the delegation transferred to an American transport and arrived at Nichols Field at about 18:00. That night, the representatives held their first conference with MacArthur's staff, led by Lieutenant-General Richard Sutherland. During the two days of conference, American linguists scanned, translated, and photostated the various reports, maps, and charts the Japanese had brought with them. Negotiations also resulted in permission for the Japanese to supervise the disarmament and demobilization of their own armed forces under Allied supervision, and provided for three extra days of preparation before the first occupying unit landed on the Japanese home islands on August 26. At the close of the conference, Kawabe was handed the documents containing the “Requirements of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers,” which concerned the arrival of the first echelons of Allied forces, the formal surrender ceremony, and the reception of the occupation forces. Also given were a draft Imperial Proclamation by which the Emperor would accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and command his subjects to cease hostilities, a copy of General Order No. 1 by which Imperial General Headquarters would direct all military and naval commanders to lay down their arms and surrender their units to designated Allied commanders, and the Instrument of Surrender itself, which would later be signed on board an American battleship in Tokyo Bay. After the Manila Conference ended, the Japanese delegation began its return to Japan at 13:00 on August 20; but due to mechanical problems and a forced landing near Hamamatsu, they did not reach Tokyo until August 21. With the scheduled arrival of the advanced party of the Allied occupation forces only five days away, the Japanese immediately began disarming combat units in the initial-occupation areas and evacuating them from those areas. The basic orders stated that Allied forces would begin occupying the homeland on 26 August and reaffirmed the intention ofImperial General Headquarters "to insure absolute obedience to the Imperial Rescript of 14 August, to prevent the occurrence of trouble with the occupying forces, and thus to demonstrate Japan's sincerity to the world." The Japanese government announced that all phases of the occupation by Allied troops would be peaceful and urged the public not to panic or resort to violence against the occupying forces. While they sought to reassure the population, they faced die-hard anti-surrender elements within the IJN, with ominous signs of trouble both from Kyushu, where many sea and air special-attack units were poised to meet an invasion, and from Atsugi, the main entry point for Allied airborne troops into the Tokyo Bay area. At Kanoya, Ugaki's successor, Vice-Admiral Kusaka Ryonosuke, hastened the separation of units from their weapons and the evacuation of naval personnel. At Atsugi, an even more threatening situation developed in the Navy's 302nd Air Group. Immediately after the announcement of the surrender, extremist elements in the group led by Captain Kozono Yasuna flew over Atsugi and the surrounding area, scattering leaflets urging the continuation of the war on the ground and claiming that the surrender edict was not the Emperor's true will but the machination of "traitors around the Throne." The extremists, numbering 83 junior officers and noncommissioned officers, did not commit hostile acts but refused to obey orders from their superior commanders. On August 19, Prince Takamatsu, the Emperor's brother and a navy captain, telephoned Atsugi and personally appealed to Captain Kozono and his followers to obey the Imperial decision. This intervention did not end the incident; on August 21 the extremists seized a number of aircraft and flew them to Army airfields in Saitama Prefecture in hopes of gaining support from Army air units. They failed in this attempt, and it was not until August 25 that all members of the group had surrendered. As a result of the Atsugi incident, on August 22 the Emperor dispatched Captain Prince Takamatsu Nabuhito and Vice-Admiral Prince Kuni Asaakira to various naval commands on Honshu and Kyushu to reiterate the necessity of strict obedience to the surrender decision. Both princes immediately left Tokyo to carry out this mission, but the situation improved over the next two days, and they were recalled before completing their tours. By this point, a typhoon struck the Kanto region on the night of August 22, causing heavy damage and interrupting communications and transport vital for evacuating troops from the occupation zone. This led to further delays in Japanese preparations for the arrival of occupation forces, and the Americans ultimately agreed to a two-day postponement of the preliminary landings. On August 27 at 10:30, elements of the 3rd Fleet entered Sagami Bay as the first step in the delayed occupation schedule. At 09:00 on August 28, Tench's advanced party landed at Atsugi to complete technical arrangements for the arrival of the main forces. Two days later, the main body of the airborne occupation forces began streaming into Atsugi, while naval and marine forces simultaneously landed at Yokosuka on the south shore of Tokyo Bay. There were no signs of resistance, and the initial occupation proceeded successfully. Shortly after 1400, a famous C-54 the name “Bataan” in large letters on its nose circled the field and glided in for a landing. General MacArthur stepped from the aircraft, accompanied by General Sutherland and his staff officers. The operation proceeded smoothly. MacArthur paused momentarily to inspect the airfield, then climbed into a waiting automobile for the drive to Yokohama. Thousands of Japanese troops were posted along the fifteen miles of road from Atsugi to Yokohama to guard the route of the Allied motor cavalcade as it proceeded to the temporary SCAP Headquarters in Japan's great seaport city. The Supreme Commander established his headquarters provisionally in the Yokohama Customs House. The headquarters of the American Eighth Army and the Far East Air Force were also established in Yokohama, and representatives of the United States Pacific Fleet were attached to the Supreme Commander's headquarters. The intensive preparation and excitement surrounding the first landings on the Japanese mainland did not interfere with the mission of affording relief and rescue to Allied personnel who were internees or prisoners in Japan. Despite bad weather delaying the occupation operation, units of the Far East Air Forces and planes from the Third Fleet continued their surveillance missions. On 25 August they began dropping relief supplies, food, medicine, and clothing, to Allied soldiers and civilians in prisoner-of-war and internment camps across the main islands. While the advance echelon of the occupation forces was still on Okinawa, “mercy teams” were organized to accompany the first elements of the Eighth Army Headquarters. Immediately after the initial landings, these teams established contact with the Swiss and Swedish Legations, the International Red Cross, the United States Navy, and the Japanese Liaison Office, and rushed to expedite the release and evacuation, where necessary, of thousands of Allied internees. On September 1, the Reconnaissance Troop of the 11th Airborne Division conducted a subsidiary airlift operation, flying from Atsugi to occupy Kisarazu Airfield; and on the morning of September 2, the 1st Cavalry Division began landing at Yokohama to secure most of the strategic areas along the shores of Tokyo Bay, with Tokyo itself remaining unoccupied. Concurrently, the surrender ceremony took place aboard Halsey's flagship, the battleship Missouri, crowded with representatives of the United Nations that had participated in the Pacific War. General MacArthur presided over the epoch-making ceremony, and with the following words he inaugurated the proceedings which would ring down the curtain of war in the Pacific “We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues, involving divergent ideals and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone befits the sacred purposes we are about to serve, committing all our peoples unreservedly to faithful compliance with the understandings they are here formally to assume. It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past — a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice. The terms and conditions upon which surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces is here to be given and accepted are contained in the instrument of surrender now before you…”. The Supreme Commander then invited the two Japanese plenipotentiaries to sign the duplicate surrender documents : Foreign Minister Shigemitsu, on behalf of the Emperor and the Japanese Government, and General Umezu, for the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. He then called forward two famous former prisoners of the Japanese to stand behind him while he himself affixed his signature to the formal acceptance of the surrender : Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright, hero of Bataan and Corregidor and Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur E. Percival, who had been forced to yield the British stronghold at Singapore. General MacArthur was followed in turn by Admiral Nimitz, who signed on behalf of the United States. Alongside the recently liberated Generals Wainwright and Percival, who had been captured during the Japanese conquest of the Philippines and Singapore respectively, MacArthur then signed the surrender documents, followed by Admiral Nimitz and representatives of the other United Nations present. The Instrument of Surrender was completely signed within twenty minutes. Shortly afterwards, MacArthur broadcast the announcement of peace to the world, famously saying, “Today the guns are silent.” Immediately following the signing of the surrender articles, the Imperial Proclamation of capitulation was issued, commanding overseas forces to cease hostilities and lay down their arms; however, it would take many days, and in some cases weeks, for the official word of surrender to be carried along Japan's badly disrupted communications channels. Various devices were employed by American commanders to transmit news of final defeat to dispersed and isolated enemy troops, such as plane-strewn leaflets, loudspeaker broadcasts, strategically placed signboards, and prisoner-of-war volunteers. Already, the bypassed Japanese garrison at Mille Atoll had surrendered on August 22; yet the first large-scale surrender of Japanese forces came on August 27, when Lieutenant-General Ishii Yoshio surrendered Morotai and Halmahera to the 93rd Division. On August 30, a British Pacific Fleet force under Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt entered Victoria Harbour to begin the liberation of Hong Kong; and the following day, Rear-Admiral Matsubara Masata surrendered Minami-Torishima. In the Marianas, the Japanese commanders on Rota and Pagan Islands relinquished their commands almost simultaneously with the Tokyo Bay ceremony of September 2. Later that day, the same was done by Lieutenant-General Inoue Sadae in the Palaus and by Lieutenant-General Mugikura Shunzaburo and Vice-Admiral Hara Chuichi at Truk in the Carolines. Additionally, as part of Operation Jurist, a British detachment under Vice-Admiral Harold Walker received the surrender of the Japanese garrison on Penang Island. In the Philippines, local commanders in the central Bukidnon Province, Infanta, the Bataan Peninsula, and the Cagayan Valley had already surrendered by September 2. On September 3, General Yamashita and Vice-Admiral Okawachi Denshichi met with General Wainwright, General Percival, and Lieutenant-General Wilhelm Styer, Commanding General of Army Forces of the Western Pacific, to sign the formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the Philippines. With Yamashita's capitulation, subordinate commanders throughout the islands began surrendering in increasing numbers, though some stragglers remained unaware of the capitulation. Concurrently, while Yamashita was yielding his Philippine forces, Lieutenant-General Tachibana Yoshio's 109th Division surrendered in the Bonins on September 3. On September 4, Rear-Admiral Sakaibara Shigematsu and Colonel Chikamori Shigeharu surrendered their garrison on Wake Island, as did the garrison on Aguigan Island in the Marianas. Also on September 4, an advanced party of the 24th Corps landed at Kimpo Airfield near Keijo to prepare the groundwork for the occupation of South Korea; and under Operation Tiderace, Mountbatten's large British and French naval force arrived off Singapore and accepted the surrender of Japanese forces there. On September 5, Rear-Admiral Masuda Nisuke surrendered his garrison on Jaluit Atoll in the Marshalls, as did the garrison of Yap Island. The overall surrender of Japanese forces in the Solomons and Bismarcks and in the Wewak area of New Guinea was finally signed on September 6 by General Imamura Hitoshi and Vice-Admiral Kusaka Jinichi aboard the aircraft carrier Glory off Rabaul, the former center of Japanese power in the South Pacific. Furthermore, Lieutenant-General Nomi Toshio, representing remaining Japanese naval and army forces in the Ryukyus, officially capitulated on September 7 at the headquarters of General Stilwell's 10th Army on Okinawa. The following day, Tokyo was finally occupied by the Americans, and looking south, General Kanda and Vice-Admiral Baron Samejima Tomoshige agreed to travel to General Savige's headquarters at Torokina to sign the surrender of Bougainville. On September 8, Rear-Admiral Kamada Michiaki's 22nd Naval Special Base Force at Samarinda surrendered to General Milford's 7th Australian Division, as did the Japanese garrison on Kosrae Island in the Carolines. On September 9, a wave of surrenders continued: the official capitulation of all Japanese forces in the China Theater occurred at the Central Military Academy in Nanking, with General Okamura surrendering to General He Yingqin, the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China National Revolutionary Army; subsequently, on October 10, 47 divisions from the former Imperial Japanese Army officially surrendered to Chinese military officials and allied representatives at the Forbidden City in Beijing. The broader context of rehabilitation and reconstruction after the protracted war was daunting, with the Nationalists weakened and Chiang Kai-shek's policies contributing to Mao Zedong's strengthened position, shaping the early dynamics of the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. Meanwhile, on September 9, Hodge landed the 7th Division at Inchon to begin the occupation of South Korea. In the throne room of the Governor's Palace at Keijo, soon to be renamed Seoul, the surrender instrument was signed by General Abe Nobuyuki, the Governor-General of Korea; Lieutenant-General Kozuki Yoshio, commander of the 17th Area Army and of the Korean Army; and Vice-Admiral Yamaguchi Gisaburo, commander of the Japanese Naval Forces in Korea. The sequence continued with the 25th Indian Division landing in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan on Malaya to capture Port Dickson, while Lieutenant-General Teshima Fusataro's 2nd Army officially surrendered to General Blamey at Morotai, enabling Australian occupation of much of the eastern Dutch East Indies. On September 10, the Japanese garrisons on the Wotje and Maloelap Atolls in the Marshalls surrendered, and Lieutenant-General Baba Masao surrendered all Japanese forces in North Borneo to General Wootten's 9th Australian Division. After Imamura's surrender, Major-General Kenneth Eather's 11th Australian Division landed at Rabaul to begin occupation, and the garrison on Muschu and Kairiru Islands also capitulated. On September 11, General Adachi finally surrendered his 18th Army in the Wewak area, concluding the bloody New Guinea Campaign, while Major-General Yamamura Hyoe's 71st Independent Mixed Brigade surrendered at Kuching and Lieutenant-General Watanabe Masao's 52nd Independent Mixed Brigade surrendered on Ponape Island in the Carolines. Additionally, the 20th Indian Division, with French troops, arrived at Saigon as part of Operation Masterdom and accepted the surrender of Lieutenant-General Tsuchihashi Yuitsu, who had already met with Viet Minh envoys and agreed to turn power over to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies on 15 August 1945, the Viet Minh immediately launched the insurrection they had prepared for a long time. Across the countryside, “People's Revolutionary Committees” took over administrative positions, often acting on their own initiative, and in the cities the Japanese stood by as the Vietnamese took control. By the morning of August 19, the Viet Minh had seized Hanoi, rapidly expanding their control over northern Vietnam in the following days. The Nguyen dynasty, with its puppet government led by Tran Trong Kim, collapsed when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated on August 25. By late August, the Viet Minh controlled most of Vietnam. On 2 September, in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. As the Viet Minh began extending control across the country, the new government's attention turned to the arrival of Allied troops and the French attempt to reassert colonial authority, signaling the onset of a new and contentious phase in Vietnam's struggle. French Indochina had been left in chaos by the Japanese occupation. On 11 September British and Indian troops of the 20th Indian Division under Major General Douglas Gracey arrived at Saigon as part of Operation Masterdom. After the Japanese surrender, all French prisoners had been gathered on the outskirts of Saigon and Hanoi, and the sentries disappeared on 18 September; six months of captivity cost an additional 1,500 lives. By 22 September 1945, all prisoners were liberated by Gracey's men, armed, and dispatched in combat units toward Saigon to conquer it from the Viet Minh, later joined by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, established to fight the Japanese arriving a few weeks later. Around the same time, General Lu Han's 200,000 Chinese National Revolutionary Army troops of the 1st Front Army occupied Indochina north of the 16th parallel, with 90,000 arriving by October; the 62nd Army came on 26 September to Nam Dinh and Haiphong, Lang Son and Cao Bang were occupied by the Guangxi 62nd Army Corps, and the Red River region and Lai Cai were occupied by a column from Yunnan. Lu Han occupied the French governor-general's palace after ejecting the French staff under Sainteny. Consequently, while General Lu Han's Chinese troops occupied northern Indochina and allowed the Vietnamese Provisional Government to remain in control there, the British and French forces would have to contest control of Saigon. On September 12, a surrender instrument was signed at the Singapore Municipal Building for all Southern Army forces in Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies, and the eastern islands; General Terauchi, then in a hospital in Saigon after a stroke, learned of Burma's fall and had his deputy commander and leader of the 7th Area Army, Lieutenant-General Itagaki Seishiro, surrender on his behalf to Mountbatten, after which a British military administration was formed to govern the island until March 1946. The Japanese Burma Area Army surrendered the same day as Mountbatten's ceremony in Singapore, and Indian forces in Malaya reached Kuala Lumpur to liberate the Malay capital, though the British were slow to reestablish control over all of Malaya, with eastern Pahang remaining beyond reach for three more weeks. On September 13, the Japanese garrisons on Nauru and Ocean Islands surrendered to Brigadier John Stevenson, and three days later Major-General Okada Umekichi and Vice-Admiral Fujita Ruitaro formally signed the instrument of surrender at Hong Kong. In the meantime, following the Allied call for surrender, Japan had decided to grant Indonesian independence to complicate Dutch reoccupation: Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta signed Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence on August 17 and were appointed president and vice-president the next day, with Indonesian youths spreading news across Java via Japanese news and telegraph facilities and Bandung's news broadcast by radio. The Dutch, as the former colonial power, viewed the republicans as collaborators with the Japanese and sought to restore their colonial rule due to lingering political and economic interests in the former Dutch East Indies, a stance that helped trigger a four-year war for Indonesian independence. Fighting also erupted in Sumatra and the Celebes, though the 26th Indian Division managed to land at Padang on October 10. On October 21, Lieutenant-General Tanabe Moritake and Vice-Admiral Hirose Sueto surrendered all Japanese forces on Sumatra, yet British control over the country would dwindle in the ensuing civil conflict. Meanwhile, Formosa (Taiwan) was placed under the control of the Kuomintang-led Republic of China by General Order No. 1 and the Instrument of Surrender; Chiang Kai-shek appointed General Chen Yi as Chief Executive of Taiwan Province and commander of the Taiwan Garrison Command on September 1. After several days of preparation, an advance party moved into Taihoku on October 5, with additional personnel arriving from Shanghai and Chongqing between October 5 and 24, and on October 25 General Ando Rikichi signed the surrender document at Taipei City Hall. But that's the end for this week, and for the Pacific War. Boy oh boy, its been a long journey hasn't it? Now before letting you orphans go into the wild, I will remind you, while this podcast has come to an end, I still write and narrate Kings and Generals Eastern Front week by week and the Fall and Rise of China Podcasts. Atop all that I have my own video-podcast Echoes of War, that can be found on Youtube or all podcast platforms. I really hope to continue entertaining you guys, so if you venture over to the other podcasts, comment you came from here! I also have some parting gifts to you all, I have decided to release a few Pacific War related exclusive episodes from my Youtuber Membership / patreon at www.patreon.com/pacificwarchannel. At the time I am writing this, over there I have roughly 32 episodes, one is uploaded every month alongside countless other goodies. Thank you all for being part of this long lasting journey. Kings and Generals literally grabbed me out of the blue when I was but a small silly person doing youtube videos using an old camera, I have barely gotten any better at it. I loved making this series, and I look forward to continuing other series going forward! You know where to find me, if you have any requests going forward the best way to reach me is just comment on my Youtube channel or email me, the email address can be found on my youtube channel. This has been Craig of the Pacific War Channel and narrator of the Pacific war week by week podcast, over and out!
After Kyoto moved clear on top of J1 with ten rounds left, Jamie Meikle made a very welcome return to the pod to discuss Sanga's 5-0 romp over Okayama on Saturday, and what's gone so right in his side's remarkable campaign to this point (to 32:07). Then Jonny and Ben round up the rest of the top flight results, beginning with Kashiwa's controversy-tinged home win over Fukuoka, and Kobe edging past Yokohama F.Marinos, before we discuss a couple of game-of-the-season contender goal-fests.
En la 1404-a E_elsendo el la 30.06.2025 ĉe www.pola-retradio.org: • Nia antaŭmikrofona gasto estas hodiaŭ Maria Niemyjska el la Podlaĥia E-Libraro en Bjalistoko, kun kiu ni interparolas i.a. pri la nunjara 15-a literatura konkurso „Esperanto ligas homojn” por rakonto pri la temo Perditaj en la reto: https://espero.bialystok.pl/eo/15-a-literatura-konkurso-esperanto-ligas-homojn/?v=288404204e3d. • Dank' al la kontribuo de la prezidantino de JEI, Ikuko Kitagawa ni prezentas etan raporton el la semajnfina Kansaja E-Kongreso, en kiu antaŭmikrofone ŝi interparolas kun s-ino Fujii Yumiko, s-ro Nakashima Toshihiko kaj s-ino Teramoto Motoko. Venas invito por septembraj kongresoj en Okayama: https://www.jei.or.jp/eo/aok2025. • En la enkonduka parto de la elsendo ni lakone kaj retrorigarde informas pri kelkaj historiaj eventoj en Pollando kaj la mondo ligitaj kun la 30-a de junio. Ĉar estas la lasta tago de junio, kaj en ĝiaj elsendoj ni zorge kaj diversforme pensis pri E-infanoj, ankaŭ en la hodiaŭa ni ne forgesis pri ili. Ikuko Kitagawa el Japanio prezentas al ni resume la rakonton pri „Dankema gruo”. Al gruoj ligas interreta foto ĉe nia programinformo. • En aktualaĵoj ni informas pri Agnieszka Ratajczak el Nacia Centro por Esploroj kaj Evoluo en Iniciato Eureka; pri distingoj „Konsevista Laŭro” atribuitaj pro zorgema renovigo kaj restaŭro de historiaj objektoj en Lublin-regiono (en orienta Pollando); pri hidrogenaj veturiloj en Pollando. • La sciencan bultenon ni dediĉas al esploroj en la regiono Afar en la orienta Etiopio, en kiu realteme eblas observi disiĝadon de kontinentaj platoj. • Por la komuna aŭskulto ni elektis fragmente iun el la kantoj de sur la disko „Japanio kantas por paco”. • En unuopaj rubrikoj de nia paĝo eblas konsulti la paralele legeblajn kaj aŭdeblajn tekstojn el niaj elsendoj, kio estas tradicio de nia Redakcio ekde 2003. La elsendo estas aŭdebla en jutubo ĉe la adreso: https://www.youtube.com/results?q=pola+retradio&sp=CAI%253D I.a. pere de jutubo, konforme al individua bezono, eblas rapidigi aŭ malrapidigi la parolritmon de la sondokumentoj, transsalti al iu serĉata fragmento de la elsendo.
Following the death of Takara Hime, and the war on the Korean peninsula, Naka no Ōe was taking hold--or perhaps keeping hold--of the reins of government. He wasn't finished with his changes to the government. He also had a new threat--the Tang Empire. They had destroyed Yamato's ally, Baekje, and defeated the Yamato forces on the peninsula. While the Tang then turned their attention to Goguryeo, Yamato could easily be next. The Tang had a foothold on the Korean peninsula, so they had a place to gather and launch a fleet, should they wish to bring Yamato into their empire. For more, especially to follow along with some of the names in this episode, check out our blogpost at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-125 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 125: The Sovereign of Heavenly Wisdom The people of Baekje looked around at the strange and unfamiliar land. They had fled a wartorn country, and they were happy to be alive, but refugee status was hardly a walk in the park. Fortunately, they still knew how to farm the land, even if their homeland was hundreds of miles away, across the sea, and occupied by hostile forces. Here, at least, was a land where they could make a home for themselves. Some of them had to wonder whether this was really permanent. Was their situation just temporary until their kingdom was restored? Or were they truly the last people of Baekje, and what would that mean? Either way, it would mean nothing if they didn't work the land and provide for their families. And so, as with displaced people everywhere, they made the best of the situation. They had been given land to work, and that was more than they could have asked for. They might never return to Baekje, but perhaps they could keep a little of it alive for themselves and their descendants. Greetings, everyone, and welcome back. Last episode we talked about the downfall of Baekje and the defeat of the Yamato forces at the battle of Hakusukinoe, also known as the Battle of Baekgang, in 663. And yet, something else happened as well: the sovereign, Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, died as the Yamato forces were setting out. Immediately Prince Naka no Oe took the reins of government. He would be known to later generations as Tenji Tennou, with Tenji meaning something like “Heavenly Wisdom”. Now Prince Naka no Oe has been in the forefront of many of our episodes so far, so I'd like to start this episode out with a recap of what we've heard about him so far, as all of this is important to remind ourselves of the complex political situation. I'm going to be dropping – and recapping – a lot of names, but I'll have many of the key individuals listed on the podcast website for folks who want to follow along. I would note that this episode is going to be a summary, with some extrapolation by me regarding what was actually happening. Just remember that history, as we've seen time and again, is often more messy and chaotic than we like, and people are more complex than just being purely good or evil. People rarely make their way to the top of any social hierarchy purely through their good deeds. To start with, let's go back to before the year 645, when Naka no Oe instigated a coup against Soga no Iruka and Soga no Emishi. In the Isshi Incident, covered in Episode 106, Naka no Oe had Soga no Iruka murdered in court, in front of his mother, Takara Hime, when she sat on the throne the first time. And yet, though he could have taken the throne when she abdicated in apparent shock, he didn't. Instead, he took the role of “Crown Prince”, but this wasn't him just sitting back. In fact, evidence suggests that he used that position to keep a strong hand on the tiller of the ship of state. Prior to the Isshi Incident of 645, the rule of the Yamato sovereign had been eroded by noble court families. These families, originally set up to serve the court and its administration, had come to dominate the political structures of the court. The main branch of the Soga family, in particular, had found its way to power through a series of astute political marriages and the support of a new, foreign religion: Buddhism. Soga no Iname, Emishi's grandfather, had married his daughters to the sovereigns, and thus created closer ties between the Soga and the royal line. He also helped ensure that the offspring of those marriages would be the ones to take over as future sovereigns. Soga no Iname, himself took the position of Oho-omi, the Great Omi, or the Great Minister, the head of the other ministerial families. As Prime Minister, he held great sway over the day-to-day running of the court, and execution of much of the administration. Much of this was covered in previous episodes, but especially episodes 88, 90, 91, 92, 95, 98, 99, and 103. Soga no Umako, who succeeded his father as Oho-omi, was joined in his effort to administer the government by his grand-nephew, Prince Umayado, also known as Shotoku Taishi, son of Tachibana no Toyohi, aka Youmei Tennou, and thus grandson of Umako's sister, Kitashi-hime, and the sovereign known as Kimmei Tennou. Umayado's aunt, sister to Tachibana no Toyohi, was Kashikiya Hime, or Suiko Tennou. The three of them: Soga no Umako, Prince Umayado, and Kashikiya Hime, together oversaw the development of Yamato and the spread of Buddhism. Buddhism was also controversial at first, but they turned it into another source of ritual power for the state—ritual power that Soga no Umako, Prince Umayado, and even Kashikiya Hime were able to harvest for their own use. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince, Umayado, died before Kashikiya hime, suddenly leaving open the question of who would take the throne. Soga no Umako himself, passed away two years before Kashikiya Hime. When she in turn passed away, there was another struggle for the throne, this time between the descendants of Crown Prince Umayado and Soga no Umako. Eventually, Soga no Umako's son and heir, Soga no Emishi, made sure that a more pliant sovereign, Prince Tamura, would take the throne, and Prince Umayado's own son, Prince Yamashiro no Oe, was cut out of the succession. Soga no Emishi, serving as prime minister, effectively ran things much as his father had. When Tamura diedhis queen, Takara Hime, took the throne, rather than passing it back to Umayado's line—no doubt with Emishi's blessing. He was careful, however, not to provoke direct action against Yamashiro no Oe, possibly due to the reverence in which Yamashiro's father, Prince Umayado, aka the Buddhist Saint Shotoku Taishi, was held. Meanwhile, Emishi appears to have been cultivating his grandson by way of Prince Tamura, Furubito no Oe, to eventually succeed to the throne, trying to duplicate what his own father Umako and even grandfather had been able to accomplish. Soga no Emishi's son, Soga no Iruka, was not quite so temperate, however. Who would have thought that growing up at the top of the social hierarchy might make one feel a bit arrogant and entitled? When Soga no Emishi was ill, Soga no Iruka took over as Prime Minister, and he didn't just stand back. He decided that he needed to take out Furubito no Oe's competition, and so he went after Yamashiro no Oe and had him killed. Unfortunately for him, he apparently went too far. There were already those who were not happy with the Soga family's close hold on power—or perhaps more appropriately, this particular line of the Soga family. This kind of behavior allowed a group of discontented royals and nobility to gain support. According to the popular story recounted in the Nihon Shoki, the primary seed of resistance started with a game of kickball, or kemari. Nakatomi no Kamako, aka Nakatomi no Kamatari, was the scion of his house, which was dedicated to the worship of the traditional kami of Yamato. The Nakatomi were ritualists: in charge of chanting ritual prayers, or norito, during court ceremony. This meant that their powerbase was directly challenged by the increasing role of Buddhism, one of the Soga patriarchs' key influences on the political system. Kamatari was feeling out the politics of the court, and seemed to be seeking the support of royal family members who could help challenge the powerful Soga ministers. He found that support in two places. First, in Prince Karu, brother to Takara Hime, the current sovereign, who had been on the throne ever since her husband, Tamura, had passed away. And then there was the Prince Katsuraki, better known to us, today, as Prince Naka no Oe. A game of kemari, where a group of players tried to keep a ball in the air as long as they could, using only their feet, was a chance to get close to the Prince. When Naka no Oe's shoe flew off in the middle of the match, Kamatari ran over to retrieve it. As he offered the shoe back to its owner, they got to talking, and one of the most impactful bromances in Yamato history was born. The two ended up studying together. The unification of the Yellow River and Yangzi basin regions under the Sui and Tang, and the expansion of the Silk Road, had repercussions felt all the way across the straits in Yamato. Naka no Oe and Kamatari were both avid students and were absorbing all that the continent had to throw at them about philosophy and good governance. As is so often the case, it seems like idealistic students were the fertile ground for revolutionary new thoughts. There were problems implementing their vision, however. Although the Nihon Shoki claims that Naka no Oe was the Crown Prince, that honor was probably given to Prince Furubito no Oe, who would have no doubt perpetuated the existing power structures at court. This is something that the Chroniclers, or perhaps those before them, glossed over and may have even tried to retconned, to help bolster the case that Naka no Oe was actually working for the common good and not just involved in a naked power grab for himself. There is also the question as to where Yamashiro no Oe had stood in the succession, as he likely had a fair number of supporters. With the destruction of Yamashiro no Oe's family, however, the balance of power shifted. Although Soga no Emishi had long been an influential member of the court, and not solely because of his role as Prime Minister, Soga no Iruka was relatively new to power. Yamashiro no Oe's family, in turn, likely had a fair number of supporters, and even neutral parties may have been turned off by Iruka's violent methods to suppress an opponent who had already been defeated politically. Naka no Oe and Kamatari seem to have seized on this discontent againt the Soga, but they needed at least one other conspirator. They achieved this by offering a marriage alliance with Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro, a lesser member of the Soga household, whose own immediate family had been supporters of Yamashiro no Oe, and so likely had plenty of grievances with his cousins. Naka no Oe married Ishikawa no Maro's daughter, Wochi no Iratsume, also known as Chinu no Iratsume. Together, these three—Naka no Oe, Kamatari, and Ishikawa no Maro—brought others into their plot, and finally, in 645, they struck. Soga no Iruka was killed at court, in front of a shocked Takara Hime and Prince Furubito no Oe. By the way, this is another thing that suggests to me that Furubito no Oe was the Crown Prince, because why was he front and center at the ceremony, while Naka no Oe was able to skulk around at the edges, tending to things like the guards? After the assassination at the court – the Isshi Incident -- Naka no Oe gathered forces and went after Soga no Emishi, since they knew they couldn't leave him alive. With both Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka dead, and Takara Hime having abdicated the throne in shock at what had just occurred, Naka no Oe could have taken the throne for himself. However, in what was probably a rather astute move on his part, he chose not to. He recognized that Furubito no Oe's claim to the throne was possibly stronger, and those who had supported the Soga would not doubt push for him to take the throne. And so, instead, he pushed for his uncle, Prince Karu, to ascend as sovereign. Karu was Takara Hime's brother, and they could use Confucian logic regarding deference to one's elders to support him. Plus, Karu's hands weren't directly bloodied by the recent conflict. As for Prince Furubito, he saw the way that the winds were blowing. To avoid being another casualty, he retired from the world, taking the vows of a Buddhist monk. However, there were still supporters who were trying to put him on the throne and eventually he would be killed, to avoid being used as a rallying point. Prince Karu, known as Jomei Tennou, ruled for around a decade. During that time, Naka no Oe and his reformers helped to cultivate a new image of the state as a bureaucratic monarchy. Naka no Oe was designated the Crown Prince, and Nakatomi no Kamatari was made the “Inner Prime Minister”, or Naidaijin. Ishikawa no Maro was made the minister of the Right, while Abe no Uchimaro was made Minister of the Left, and they ran much of the bureaucracy, but the Naidaijin was a role more directly attached to the royal household, and likely meant that Kamatari was outside of their jurisdiction, falling into a position directly supporting Naka no Oe. They instituted Tang style rank systems, and set up divisions of the entire archipelago. They appointed governors of the various countries, now seen as provinces, and made them report up to various ministers, and eventually the sovereign. After all, if you were going to manage everything, you needed to first and foremost collect the data. This period is known as the Taika, or Great Change, period, and the reforms are known as the Taika reforms, discussed in episode 108. They even built a large government complex in the form of the Toyosaki Palace, in Naniwa, though this may have been a bit much—for more, check out episodes 112 and 113. Years into the project, though, things seem to have soured, a bit. Rumors and slander turned Kamatari against his ally, Ishikawa no Maro, resulting in the death of Ishikawa no Maro and much of his family. Naka no Oe and other members of the royal family eventually abandoned the Naniwa palace complex, leaving now-Emperor Karu and the government officials there to run the day-to-day administration, while much of the court made its way back to the Asuka area. Karu would later pass away, but the throne still did not pass to Crown Prince Naka no Oe, despite his title. Instead, the throne went back to Takara Hime. This was her second reign, and one of only two split reigns like this that we know of. The Chroniclers, who were creating posthumous titles for the sovereigns, gave her two names—Kogyoku Tennou for her reign up to 645, and then Saimei Tennou for her second reign starting in 655. During her latter reign, Naka no Oe continued to wield power as the Crown Prince, and the Chroniclers don't really get into why she came back into power. It may be that Naka no Oe, in his role as Crown Prince, had more freedom: although the sovereign is purportedly the person in power, that position can also be limiting. There are specific things which the sovereign is supposed to do, rituals in which they are expected to partake. In addition, there were restrictions on who was allowed into the inner sanctum of the palace, and thus limits on who could interact with the sovereign, and how. That meant that any sovereign was reliant on intermediaries to know what was going on in their state and to carry out their orders. As Crown Prince, Naka no Oe may have had more flexibility to do the things he wanted to do, and he could always leverage the sovereign's authority. When Baekje was destroyed, and Yamato decided to go to their aid, Naka no Oe appears to have had a strong hand in raising forces and directing movements, at least within the archipelago. When Takara Hime passed away rather suddenly, he accompanied her funerary procession much of the way back, and then returned to Tsukushi—Kyushu—to direct the war. This is the same thing that Toyotomi Hideyoshi would do when he sent troops to Korea in the late 16th century. Moving headquarters closer to the continent would reduce the time between messages. Theoretically he could have moved out to the islands of Iki or Tsushima, but I suspect that there were more amenities at Tsukushi, where they even built a palace for Takara Hime—and later Naka no Oe—to reside in. It was likely not quite as spectacular as the full-blown city that Hideyoshi developed in a matter of months, but the court could also leverage the facilities previously created for the Dazaifu. The war took time. This wasn't like some “wars” that were more like specific military actions. This was a war that dragged on for several years, with different waves of ships going over to transport people and supplies. Things came to a head in the 9th month of 663, roughly October or November on the Western calendar. The Baekje resistance was under siege, and their only hope was a fleet of Yamato soldiers coming to their aid. The Yamato fleet met with a much smaller Tang fleet at the mouth of the Baek River—the Hakusukinoe. They attempted to break through the Tang blockade, but the Tang had positional advantage and were eventually able to counterattack, destroying the Yamato fleet. Without their relief, the Baekje resistance fell. The remnants of the Yamato army, along with those Baekje nobles that were with them, headed out, fleeing back to the archipelago. One presumes that there may have been other Baekje nobles, and their families, who had already made the trip. After the entry describing this rout, on the 24th day of the 9th month of 663, we have a gap in the Chronicles of just a little more than 4 months. We then pick up with Naka no Oe's government starting to look at internal affairs. For one thing, we are told that he selected his younger brother, the Royal Prince Ohoama, as Crown Prince, and he made updates to the cap-rank system, changing it from 19 ranks to 26 ranks. The first six ranks remained the same, but the name “kwa”, or “flower”, for the 7th through 10th ranks was changed to “Kin”, meaning “brocade”. Furthermore, a “middle” rank was added between the Upper and Lower ranks, further distinguishing each group, and adding 6 extra ranks. Finally, the initial rank, Risshin, was divided into two: Daiken and Shouken. We aren't told why, but it likely meant that they could have more granular distinctions in rank. At the same time that was going on, the court also awarded long swords to the senior members of the great families, and short swords to the senior members of lesser families. Below that, senior members of the Tomo no Miyatsuko and others were given shields and bows and arrows. Furthermore, the vassals, or kakibe, and the domestic retainers, or yakabe, were settled, to use Aston's translation. The kanji used in the text appears to refer to settling a decision or standardizing something, rather than settling as in giving a place to live. It seems to me to mean that the court was settling servants on families: determining what kind and how many servants that various houses could have based on their position in the hierarchy. I can't help but notice that all of these gifts were very martial in nature. That does not mean, of course, that they were necessarily because of the war over Baekje, nor that they were in response to the concern about a possible Tang invasion -- we've seen in the past where swords were gifted to people who had served the court --but it is hard not to connect these gifts with recent worries. We also know that this year, Naka no Oe turned his focus on building defenses, setting up guards and beacon fires on the islands of Tsushima and Iki. Should any unknown fleet be seen coming to the archipelago, the fires would alert the forces at Kyushu, so they could send word and prepare a defense. In addition, the court built an impressive defense for Tsukushi—for the Dazai itself, the seat of the Yamato government in Kyushu. It is called the Mizuki, or Water Castle, though at the time “castle” was more about walls and fortifications than the standalone fortress we tend to think of, today. Along those lines, the Mizuki was an earthen embankment, roughly 1.2 kilometers long, extending from a natural ridgeline to the west across the Mikasa river. Archeological evidence shows it had a moat, and this line of fortifications would have been a line of defense for the Dazai, should anyone try to invade. This construction was so large and impressive that you can still see it, even today. It stands out on the terrain, and it is even visible from overhead photographs. In the third month of 664, we are told that Prince Syeongwang of Baekje and his people, were given a residence at Naniwa. In fact, even though Baekje was no longer an independent kingdom, there appear to have been thousands of Baekje people now living in Yamato, unable to return home. Many of these were former nobles of the Baekje court, which Yamato treated as a foreign extension of its own. Resettling these people would be a major theme for the Chronicles, but we will also see, as we read further on, how their talents were leveraged for the state. Also in the third month, a star fell in the north—it says “in the north of the capital”, but I suspect that anywhere north, south, east, or west of the capital would have seen the same thing “in the north”. There was also an earthquake, which isn't given any particular significance, beyond its mention as a natural phenomenon. On the 17th day of the 5th month of 664, so roughly 2 months later, we are told that Liu Jen'yuan, the Tang dynasty's general in Baekje, sent Guo Wucong to Yamato with a letter and gifts. We aren't told the contents of the letter, but one imagines that this may have been a rather tense exchange. Yamato had just been involved in open warfare against Tang forces on the peninsula, and they still weren't sure if the Tang empire would come after them next. Their only real hope on that front was Goguryeo, since the Tang and Silla were still trying to destroy the Goguryeo kingdom, and that may have kept the Tang forces tied up for a while. No doubt Guo Wucong would have seen some of the defenses that Yamato was constructing during his visit. Guo Wucong would hang around for about seven and a half months. He was given permission to take his leave on the 4th day of the 10th month. Naka no Oe had his friend and Inner Prime Minister, Nakatomi no Kamatari send the Buddhist Priest, Chisho, with presents for Guo Wucong, and he and his officers were granted entertainments before they left as well. Finally, Guo Wucong and his people returned to the Tang on the 12th day of the 12th month. While the delegation from the Tang was in Yamato, we are told of several tragedies. First was that Soga no Murajiko no Oho-omi had passed away. Soga no Murajiko appears to have been another son of Soga no Kuramaro, and thus brother to Soga no Ishikawa no Maro. Unfortunately, we don't have much more on him in the record. Just a month later, we are told that the “Dowager Queen” Shima passed away. Aston translates this as the Queen Grandmother, suggesting that she was Naka no Oe's grandmother. We are also told, that in the 10th month of 664, around the time that Guo Wucong was given leave to depart, that Yeon Gaesomun, the Prime Minister—though perhaps more correctly the despotic ruler—of Goguryeo, died. It is said that he asked his children to remain united, but, well, even if we didn't know how it all turned out, I think we would look somewhat skeptically on any idea that they all did exactly as they were told. Sure enough, in 667 we are told that Gaesomun's eldest son, Namseng, left the capital city of Pyongyang to tour the provinces, and while he was gone his younger brothers conspired with the nobility, and when he came back they refused to let him back in. So Namseng ran off to the Tang court and apparently helped them destroy his own country. This is largely corroborated by other stories about Goguryeo, though the dates do seem to be off. Tang records put Gaesomun's death around 666 CE, which the Samguk Sagi appears to follow, but on his tomb the date would appear to be 665. Confusion like this was easy enough given the different dates and trying to cross-check across different regnal eras. Sure, there were some commonalities, but it was very easy to miscount something. One last note from the twelfth month of 664—it seems that there were omens of apparent prosperity that came to the court from the island of Awaji. First, there was rice that grew up in a farmer's pig trough. The farmer's name is given as Shinuta no Fumibito no Mu, and Mu gathered this rice and stored it up, and thus, every day his wealth increased. Then there was the bridal bed of Iwaki no Sukuri no Oho, of Kurimoto district. They claimed that rice grew up at the head of his brides' mattress during her first night's stay with him. And this wasn't just some brand new shoot, but overnight it formed an ear, and by the morning it bent down and ripened. Then, the following night, another ear was formed. When the bride went out into the courtyard, two keys fell down from heaven, and after she gave them to her husband, Oho, he went on to become a wealthy man. The exact purpose of these stories is unclear, but it seems to be that the Chroniclers are choosing to focus on stories of wealth and growth, which speak to how they wanted this reign as a whole, including the sovereign, to be remembered. However, more tragedy struck the following year, in 665, when Hashibito, another Dowager Queen – this time the wife of Karu, aka Koutoku Tennou - passed away on the 25th day of the 2nd month. On the first day of the 3rd month, 330 people took Buddhist vows for her sake. We are also told that in the second month the ranks of Baekje were cross-referenced with the ranks of Yamato, and then ranks were given out to some of the Baekje nobles that had come over to Yamato. Kwisil Chipsa, who was originally ranked “Dalsol” in Baekje, was accorded “Lower Shoukin”. That was rank 12 of the 26. In comparison, “Dalsol” seems to have been the 2nd rank of 16 in Baekje. Along with handing out rank, over 400 Baekje commoners, both men and women, were given residence in the Kanzaki district in Afumi. This appears to be an area along the Aichi river, running from the Suzuka Mountains, west towards Lake Biwa. The court granted them rice-lands in the following month. At the same time, several high ranking Baekje nobles were put in charge of building castles at strategic points around the archipelago. These included one castle in Nagato, as well as the castles of Ohono and Woyogi, in Tsukushi. Two years later, in 667, we also see the building of Takayasu castle, in Yamato and Yashima castle in Yamada, in Sanuki—modern Kagawa, on Shikoku, facing the Seto Inland Sea passageway. Kaneda castle in Tsushima was also a Baekje-built one. We mentioned something about these castles last episode. They were in the Baekje style, and as I said, the term “castle” here is more about the walls, which were largely made of rammed earth ramparts. This means that you pile up earth and dirt in a layer and then the laborers use tools specifically to tamp it down until it is thick and hard. Then another layer is piled on top and the process is repeated. These walls were often placed on mountain tops, and they would follow the terrain, making them places that were easy to defend. Beyond that, they didn't necessarily have a donjon keep or anything like that—maybe a tower so that one could see a little further, but being at the top of a mountain usually provided all the visual cues that one needed. We know there were other castles made as well. For example, I mentioned last week about Kinojo, in Okayama, the ancient Kibi area. Kinojo is not mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, but it clearly existed back then, and matches the general description of a 7th century mountain castle as built in Baekje. The name means Demon Castle, and there is a story about it that is connected to the local Kibitsu Jinja—the Shrine to Prince Kibi. According to legend, Kibitsu Hiko, aka Prince Kibitsu or, perhaps more appropriately, the Prince of Kibi, came to the area around the time of the Mimaki Iribiko, so probably about the 3rd century, at the head of a large force. Kibitsu Hiko had come to defeat the demon, Ura, who lived in the nearby castle, hence Kinojo, and legend says that he freed the people from the demon's rule. As I also mentioned, last week, this particular castle may have ended up in the Momotaro story. There are those who believe that the story of Momotarou is based on the story of Prince Kibitsu Hiko, and his defeat of the so-called demon, “Ura”. Certainly the story has grown more fantastical, and less connected to the ancient history of the Kibi region, but it still may have its origin in a much more standard legend of a founding prince of the ancient Kibi kingdom that was later changed into a fairy tale. More likely, the castle was built by a Baekje nobleman, often thought to be a prince, who settled in the area. There is the possibility that the demon's name “Ura” came from a mistranslation of his name, or it is also possible that he was unrelated to the story at all. The Kibitsu Hiko legend may have incorporated the castle, Kinojo, at a later date, once people had forgotten when and why the castle was actually built. It would make sense if Kinojo had been built as part of the defenses for Yamato, as that area overlooks a large part of the fertile plains of Okayama and out beyond Kojima to the Seto Inland Sea -- it is perched over a key overland route from the western edge of Honshu to Yamato, and there would have been several ways to signal boats to put to sea to intercept forces on the water. . This all suggests to me that Kinojo was probably part of Naka no Oe's castle-building effort, even if it isn't specifically remembered in the Chronicle. But building castles wasn't enough to bring peace of mind that Yamato would survive a Tang invasion, and it is possibly as a defensive measure that Naka no Oe would go on to do something truly incredible—he would eventually move the capital from Asuka and Naniwa all the way to the shores of Lake Biwa itself, establishing the Ohotsu palace. This was a truly extreme step that didn't endear Naka no Oe to the court, but it had several advantages. For one thing, this move pulled the capital further away from the sea routes, meaning that if they were attacked, they had a more defensible position. Even more so than Yamato, the Afumi region around Lake Biwa is surrounded by mountains, with a few narrow passes that restricted movement in and out. One of these is the famous Sekigahara, which remained a choke point even up to modern times. The name even means the Field of the Barrier, indicating the barrier and checkpoint that had been set up there in ancient times. Moving the capital also pulled the court away from some of the previous political centers, which may have been another feature that made it attractive to Naka no Oe. Many capital moves have been made, at least in part, to get farther away from strong Buddhist temples, and this certainly would have moved things out of the Asuka region, which by now was a hotbed of Buddhist temple activity. But we'll talk about that all more, next episode. Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan
With Golden Week upon us, the stars aligned and former co-host Sam Robson was able to join Jonny and Ben for a full review of all eight games played from J1 Matchday 12 over the weekend (the large majority of them on Friday night). Sam also shares his thoughts on the state of the league - with goals down across the division - while we were keen to discuss teams like surprise leaders Kyoto and promoted high-fliers Okayama with him.
Chugoku (Chuugoku / Chūgoku), or 'middle country,' has long been thought of as a bridge between Japan and the rest of the world. While the region is best known for Hiroshima Prefecture, it's also fascinating to investigate the surrounding areas of Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In this guide, we'll discuss the best attractions, hidden gems, and reasons why you should make time to visit this amazing part of Japan. Check out our social media below
Sean Carroll made a very welcome return to the podcast this week, as we round up J1 Matchday 10, and the surprises and disappointments of the season so far. We begin with the history makers in the top two, Fukuoka and Kyoto both flying higher than they ever have in the top flight, then move on to the incredible story that is Okayama, after their away win at Hiroshima. We also discuss Kashiwa's strong start, and Tokyo Verdy's early struggles (to 52:30). Then in Part 2 Jonny and Ben chat about the other five games, and look ahead to upcoming midweek and weekend action.
Abraham Cruzvillegas (1968), es artista, educador, curador y escritor. Sus obras se han presentado en la cumbre de Okayama (2022), la trienal de Honolulu (2019) y en las bienales de Sidney, Australia (2018), Managua, Nicaragua (2016), Sharjah, Emiratos Unidos, Gwangju, Corea (2012), Estambul, Turquía (2011), la dOCUMENTA13 de Kassel, Alemania (2012), Venecia (2003), de La Habana, Cuba (2015, 2009, 1994). En 2015 la editorial Sexto Piso publicó, en español, una colección de textos de su autoría, titulada ‘La voluntad de los objetos'. Ese mismo año Harvard University Press publicó una selección similar de textos, traducidos al inglés, bajo el título ‘The Logic of Disorder'. Actualmente vive y trabaja en la Ciudad de México.Síguenos en redes:http://instagram.com/cableatierrapodhttp://facebook.com/cableatierrapodcasthttp://instagram.com/tanialicious Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A final couple of belters in Okayama and one of the weirder interactions we've ever had in a joint. And James defeats a fence.
Jonny and Ben are back to round up all eight games from J1 Matchday 5 played on the weekend, while they were also pleased to welcome Ralf Seidl back to the pod to discuss Urawa's first win of the season. After an ACL review dominated by Hiroshima's disastrous oversight in fielding an ineligible player in the first leg against Lion City of Singapore (to 12:00), Ralf returns to chat about Urawa 1-0 Okayama, and his thoughts on Reds' season so far (to 33:28), before your co-hosts review the rest of the games and look ahead to this weekend's Matchday 6.
We round up two full rounds of top flight fixtures (with a focus on the weekend's Matchday 4) in this week's episode, towards the end of which we're joined by Neil Debnam to chat about the early days of Shigetoshi Hasebe's reign at Kawasaki. We begin with the games involving the top three - new leaders Kashiwa, who climbed to the summit with a win away at Urawa, then Shonan's draw at Yokohama F.Marinos and Hiroshima's narrow win at home over Yokohama FC - before moving on to Kashima's win over FC Tokyo, and the battle between promoted sides Okayama and Shimizu, then away wins for Machida, Gamba Osaka and Fukuoka (their first of the season), before wrapping up Part 1 with the draw between Niigata and Cerezo Osaka (to 1:03:35). Then Neil joins us to discuss Kawasaki's 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Kyoto - Sanga's first win of the year - and Frontale's prospects in the ACL Elite Round of 16 against Shanghai Shenhua, before we wrap up the episode with a look at the fixtures in J1 Matchday 5. Please check out Neil's Frontale Rabbit blog.
Last time we spoke about the Jiangqiao Campaign and resistance of Ma Zhanshan. Ma Zhanshan, born in poverty in 1885, rose to prominence through his exceptional skills and military service. Appointed acting governor of Heilongjiang during the 1931 Mukden Incident, he defied orders to surrender to Japanese forces. Leading a spirited defense of the Nenjiang Bridge, Ma's troops repelled repeated Japanese assaults despite heavy casualties. His resistance inspired national pride and drew global attention. Ultimately outnumbered, Ma's forces retreated, but his bravery became a symbol of Chinese resistance to invasion. On December 7, Japanese and puppet troops attacked Sanjianfang, but Chinese forces, led by Ma Zhanshan, mounted a fierce counterattack, inflicting heavy casualties. Despite being outnumbered and lacking resources, the defenders showcased remarkable bravery, even shooting down an enemy aircraft. After intense fighting, Ma's troops withdrew to avoid further losses, facing starvation and exhaustion. Though Qiqihar fell to the Japanese, Ma's resistance inspired national pride and calls for unity against the invaders, drawing support from across China. #141 The First Tientsin Incident Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. This episode is going to be dealing with an old friend of ours, Mr Colonel Kenji Doihara. Now I don't think I dabbled much in the early history of Doihara, so where better to start. Doihara was born in Okayama City of Okayama prefecture in 1883. He attended military preparatory schools in his youth and would graduate 16th of his class at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1904. His first assignment was to an infantry regiment as a junior officer, before he returned to school where he graduated 24th in his class at the Army Staff College in 1912. During his military and academic years he learnt how to speak Mandarin fluently, alongside picking up some other Chinese language dialects. Because of his language skills he was chosen for military intelligence, specifically targeting China. During the early 1920's he took up various postings in Northern China. During 1921-1922 he took part in the Siberian Intervention. In 1926 he was attached to the 2nd IJA regiment, the next year the 3rd IJA regiment. In 1928 he took an official tour of China attached to the 1st IJA Division. It was that same year he was made a military adviser to Zhang Zuolin, whose death he most certainly had a heavy hand in. In 1929 he received a promotion to Colonel and was given command of the IJA 30th regiment. In 1931 he was made head of the special service section of the Kwantung Army stationed in Mukden. As we are quite now familiar with, Doihara was part of the team that engineered the Mukden incident. It was he who ordered Lt Suemori Komoto to place and detonate the bomb on the tracks. Doihara would become a key agent during the conquest of Manchuria, being one of those specialists who helped facilitate cooperation between the Manchurian officials such as Zhang Haipeng, Zhang Jinghui and Xi Qia. However Doihara also performed covert operations during this time period, quite bold in scale. Believe it or not one of these rather insane operations would be to try and restore the Qing Dynasty. Shocking I know, who would want that old corrupt thing restored? You would be surprised how many old Manchu loyalists were still kicking around and how many youth saw China to be such a pit of despair, they would rather turn the clock back to a time they assumed was better for China. The Japanese had sunk their teeth into two provinces of Manchuria and only needed to seize the last one for total conquest of China's northeast. On September 22nd a secret meeting was held in the Kwantung Army chief of staff office. There Doihara presented a new plan to ensure the establishment of a new puppet state in Manchuria and possibly inner Mongolia. The plan was to kidnap the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi. After the Xinhai revolution, Puyi continued to live in the forbidden city, however in 1924 he was expelled by Feng Yuxiang and took refuge in the Japanese concession in Tientsin. Puyi had met with many Japanese military and civilian leaders during his stay in Tientsin. He had a distant relative and occasional house guest named Yoshiko Kawashima who just happened to be a close confidant of Doihara. Doihara and his like minded colleagues presented Puyi with a scheme, they would seize Manchuria and restore the Qing throne over it, forming a new state with Puyi as its emperor. For Puyi it seemed like a stepping stone to restoring Qing rule over all of China, but he certainly feared becoming a puppet to the Japanese. Doihara planned to kidnap Puyi, but he had a tight timetable as it was going to be necessary to depart from the port of Yingkou, which was soon to freeze over. Therefore his operation needed to be concluded prior to November 16th. Doihara was a meticulous man in his work, but his plan was leaked. The Japanese foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara had learnt of his scheme to kidnap Puyi and instructed the Japanese consul general at Tientsin to oppose Doihara. On November the 1st, the Consul-General contacted Doihara, but Doihara responded that if the Emperor was willing to risk his life by returning to Manchuria, it would be easy to make the entire affair seem as if it was instigated by Qing restorationists. He further added that he would talk to Puyi and if he was unwilling, he would dispatch a telegram to the military authorities at Mukden to call the entire operation off. The next day, Doihara visited Puyi and told him the time was ripe and there would never be an opportunity like such again. He stated Japan would recognize him as the Emperor of an independent Manchu state and form a military alliance with said state against China proper if they attacked. Puyi dragged his foot on the issue without giving a concrete answer. Meanwhile the consul-general continued to dissuade Doihara, and a Chinese newspaper in Tientsin called Yishie reported on November 3rd, that Doihara had secretly come to the city and was taking a residence in Tokiwa Hotel. The next day the same newspaper confirmed that Doihara had come to the city for a few days. Under stress, Doihara resorted to a very Doihara scheme. He sent Puyi a bomb in a basket of fruit with a threatening letter allegedly from the Iron Blood Group. He also planned a riot. Doihara hunted down 2000 Chinese, bandits, triads, soldiers, hooligans, drug addicts and such. He used the foreign concession as a HQ and began issuing the men weapons procured from Itagaki. They were going to be unleashed on November 8th and they would attack targets such as the Hebei Provincial Government building, the Public Security Bureau and a police station near the Jingang Bridge. Allegedly each man was paid 40 Mexican dollars by their Japanese agents. The rioters would be colloquially known as the plainclothes members, as they were dressed in civilian attire. One of their members, a man named Ma Longting who was later captured by Chinese authorities, under interrogation stated they had received arms from the “International Apartments” ie: Japanese officials at the concession and likewise received training from the Japanese. "My detachment was located at No. 5 Yuqingli in the Japanese Concession. The detachments were stationed in the International Apartments and Huazhong Apartments. We received guns from the International Apartments. The first detachment received 20 pistols; the second detachment received 25 pistols; the third and fourth detachments each received 20 pistols. Each gun had 100 bullets. The meal allowance for each person was 1 yuan, 60 cents, or 40 cents a day. I received a total of 5,000 yuan (the currency at the time). After receiving the guns, the detachments were divided into Zhongyuan Company, Weishengchi, Laojiuzhang, and Luzhuangzi to deploy defenses in order to attack the Chinese area. The Japanese followed with guns to supervise us. When we reached the Sino-Japanese border, the Japanese retreated and put up an electric fence. We were caught in a dilemma and were captured." Another captured plainclothes member, named Zhang Jinhai gave his life story and involvement during interrogations. He had lived in a small house at Taikoo Wharf in Tanggu. He made a living unloading cargo from ships, earning roughly 20 cents a day. A man had approached him to asking if he would take up a job as a plainclothes. He agreed and went through intense training under Japanese officers every day and was paid 20 cents per day. At 1pm one day, he alongside 7 other members each carrying a pistol, boarded a train for Tientsin. There they were to assemble at QianDezhuang for further information. However before he could do so he was captured at East Station near the East floating bridge. The riots were done by two separate plainclothes teams who were manipulated and supported by Japan. The first rioted from the evening of November 8th to noon of the 20th, the second from the 26th to the 30th. On the night of the 8th, the Japanese garrison HQ ordered a large number of plainclothes to depart the Japanese concession to suddenly and violently attack the Chinese government offices. This was intentionally done during a time period in which there was meeting with the League of Nations on the 12th. Therefore obviously the Japanese were eager to make it seem Chinese hooligans, such as the notorious Green or Red Gangs were creating havoc in Tientsin prior to said meeting. The Japanese hoped this would provide an excuse for not having to withdraw their troops in Manchuria as the Kwantung army at this time was attacking the Jinxi area. Many Japanese officers believed the Manchurian army would not resist and simply retreat once the riots broke out. It would mean Tientsin was within their reach and would dramatically alter the North China situation. Wang Shuchang, the chairman of Hebei's provincial government and Zhang Xueming the Mayor of Tientsin and director of its security bureau were informed 3 days prior to the riots from the a Special Agent team of the Public security Bureau that "the Japanese military and consulate stationed in Tianjin have instigated our frustrated military personnel Zhang Bi, Li Jichun , some leaders of the Tianjin Green and Red Gang, and famous bandit leaders Cao Huayang, Xiao Yunfeng, Gao Pengjiu, etc. to organize plainclothes teams to carry out riots." After receiving said report, Wang Shuchang convened a joint meeting of provincial and municipal military, political and security officials to come up with countermeasures. He divided the security police teams into groups and placed them all on high alert, issuing out guns and ammunition. He proclaimed during the meeting "I am a soldier and have the responsibility to defend my territory. If there are riots and disturbances in Tianjin, we must adapt to the circumstances, use a combination of firmness and flexibility, think carefully, and make appropriate plans to resolve them. But I will never be like Zang Shiyi (Zang was the chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Government when Japan attacked Shenyang), a national sinner, and let the elders and brothers of Tianjin scold me for being incompetent." He then slammed the table and adjourned the meeting. Some gangsters and bandits gathered by the Japanese were familiar with the special forces of the Public Security Bureau. They reported that the uprising was initially planned for the evening of the 7th. However, due to the heightened alert and concerns for the young emperor Puyi, the Japanese military camp temporarily informed them to postpone the attack to the evening of November 8th. At that time, the alarm bell at the Japanese military camp in Haiguang Temple rang, signaling the plainclothes team to mobilize. Using Datong Apartment to the west of Zhongyuan Company in the Japanese Concession and Wanguo Apartment on Furong Street as their bases, they advanced toward Machang Road, Caochang Temple, and the fish market area, opening fire on us. Simultaneously, the Japanese Concession had arranged for security at various key intersections, with the Japanese garrison and military police also deploying together. That night, over a thousand volunteers organized by Japanese expatriates in the concession were armed and stationed at important roads. The Japanese military police, believing that the plainclothes team they had organized was merely a mob incapable of fighting, actually fired weapons in the Japanese Concession to rally them. The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the night. Two hours prior to the plainclothes team's assault, the security team and the Public Security Bureau implemented the strategy devised by Chairman Wang. To manage the ensuing chaos, a temporary curfew was imposed, and all traffic at intersections near the Japanese concession was completely halted. The security teams set up their defenses in accordance with Chairman Wang's directives. He also instructed all officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army to prepare for the defense of Tianjin at a standard readiness level and to brace for a large-scale invasion by Japanese forces landing in Tanggu. Around 10:30, a plainclothes team of approximately 2,000 individuals emerged from the vicinity of Haiguang Temple in the Japanese Concession, following their prearranged plan. The Japanese provided cover and oversight from behind, firing into the Chinese territory. They successfully seized control of six stations in the first district of the Public Security Bureau in Nanshi, close to the Japanese Concession, as well as six stations in the second district at Haiguang Temple, while separately harassing the south gate of Dongmalu. The first captain of the security battalion, Bai Lunbi, and the third captain, Li Yinpo, led the security team and police in a courageous effort to block and repel the attackers step by step. By around noon, the six stations in the first district were reclaimed. However, the plainclothes team continued their assaults on various locations. That night, over ten rioters from the plainclothes team and numerous firearms were captured. Upon inspection, most of the weapons were Japanese-made Type 38 rifles and new guns produced by the Shenyang Arsenal in Northeast China, which had not yet been delivered to us. The riot orchestrated by the plainclothes team, under the guidance and manipulation of the Japanese garrison, transformed the once-thriving Tianjin into a ghost town overnight. Even Asahi Street, typically bustling with activity, was left deserted. Around 1:00 a.m. on November 9, plainclothes teams launched coordinated attacks from various intersections. One group targeted the Public Security Bureau from the northern gate but was unsuccessful due to heightened security. Meanwhile, another plainclothes unit disrupted the South City and assaulted the Second District Six Office, leading to a retreat of the police forces. The Japanese soldiers then took control of the office and raised their flag. In the southeast corner of the city, at Caochang Temple, a fierce battle ensued, ultimately resulting in the defeat of the plainclothes attackers. the Public Security Bureau cavalry and security team sustained some casualties. By 5:00 a.m., despite a night of disturbances and looting, the plainclothes team ultimately failed in their efforts. The Japanese military at Haiguang Temple then resorted to diplomatic tactics, issuing a verbal warning to Wang Shuchang. They claimed that the Chinese security team had attacked the plainclothes group, resulting in injuries and fatalities among Japanese soldiers due to stray bullets, which they argued endangered the lives of overseas Chinese in the Japanese concession. They demanded that the Chinese security team and police withdraw 300 meters by 6 am, threatening to take action otherwise. This unreasonable demand clearly had ulterior motives. Observing that the plainclothes team, supported and directed by the Japanese army at Haiguang Temple, lacked combat capability and that the Japanese army was not directly involved, Wang decided to avoid escalating the situation. He ordered a withdrawal of 300 meters from the blocked entrance to the Japanese concession while maintaining close surveillance. This order was issued and executed at 5:30 am on the 9th. However, the Japanese army violated their promise and fired over 30 cannon rounds at 6:40 am One shell struck an earthen shed of a store about 100 meters east of the Public Security Bureau, while another exploded at the intersection of Sanma Road in Special District 2. Fortunately, due to the cold weather in late autumn, most people were indoors, and the streets were empty, resulting in no casualties. At that moment, the plainclothes team, supported by Japanese artillery, regrouped near the gate area and launched a significant attack against us. However, due to the security team being on high alert and defending valiantly, the plainclothes team ultimately failed. By noon, the gunfire had diminished, but the Chinese area remained deserted, with no pedestrians in the Japanese concession, except for a few Japanese soldiers and residents. At 5 pm, the plainclothes team initiated another harassment operation in the Wandezhuang area outside the South Gate, leading to continued gunfire. After a fierce battle, the attackers retreated. As the evening progressed, the gunfire became less frequent. According to intelligence reports, "The plainclothes team is preparing for a general assault in Tianjin. Wang Shuchang and Mayor Zhang have visited various locations to enforce strict precautions and have also telegraphed General Zhang Xueliang in Beiping." However, it remained calm until late at night on the 9th. On the 9th, 61 plainclothes rioters were apprehended. Ten were shot at the scene, all of whom were leaders involved in looting, arson, and pillaging; 37 were sent to Beiping, and three were killed by the security team. The remaining individuals were taken to the Second Army Headquarters for strict interrogation and subsequently handed over to the military court for prosecution. It was discovered that the headquarters of the plainclothes riot were located in Datong Apartment, Wanguo Apartment, Taipingli, and other sites within the Japanese Concession. Before dawn on the 10th, the plainclothes team hurried from the Japanese concession and Haiguang Temple into the Chinese territory. The most intense fighting erupted around the first district, the six schools, and Nankai Middle School. The sounds of cannon fire and heavy gunfire echoed back and forth. Nankai and the Nanshi area were suddenly shrouded in darkness. Two fully armed Japanese tanks patrolled along the riverbank, instilling fear among the citizens of Tianjin. Early on the 10th, the security team bravely searched for gangsters in the conflict zone. By around 7 am, they had recovered five rifles and 50 rounds of ammunition near Nankai. At 7:45, 26 members of the plainclothes team, along with seven rifles, numerous gray military uniforms, and three flags, were captured in Shengcai Village. Concurrently, five rifles and over 30 bullets were found in a public restroom at the South Gate. Subsequently, the plainclothes team attempted several attacks throughout Tianjin but was thwarted by the security team each time until the 20th. After the Chinese and Japanese sides reached an agreement on restoring Tianjin's status before November 8, the defensive structures in the Chinese area were gradually dismantled, leading to a steady improvement in the situation. Around 3 pm on November 22, Mayor Zhang dispatched representatives Ning Xiangnan, Shen Dijia, Jie Ruchuan, Jia Guofu, along with Japanese leader Goto, staff officer Miura, and translator Yoshida, to conduct a follow-up inspection at Dongmalu after the defenses were removed. The order in the area was commendable, and the defensive installations in the Japanese concession had also been taken down. Both parties expressed satisfaction with the outcome, and all shops in the Japanese concession were open for business. However, at 8:00 pm on November 26, gunfire erupted once more, accompanied by the sounds of machine guns and artillery. Sudden gunshots rang out from Xiguangkai and the White Bone Tower, which appeared to be a covert signal. Machine gun fire was reported in the southeast corner of the city, near the Kawasaki Foreign Company in the Japanese concession, as well as at the gate, Nanguan Xiatou, Haiguang Temple, and other locations. Simultaneously, the booming of mortars echoed throughout the city, plunging it into a state of panic. Japanese officers took direct command of the operations, targeting the Dongfuqiao Public Security Bureau and the Jingangqiao Provincial Government. The artillery was aimed toward Haiguang Temple at the gate. Fortunately, both locations were unoccupied, and the shells fired did not cause any damage. By around 7:00 pm the Japanese had repositioned the electric fences in the Japanese concession, stacked sandbags, and heightened their alertness. Additional infantry police were deployed at key intersections, and the Japanese-organized volunteer army was also mobilized. The gate was in close proximity to the Public Security Bureau at Dongfu Bridge, making the situation particularly tense. The plainclothes team gathered on the main street near the gate, while the Japanese army strictly prohibited pedestrians from passing through. The Mitsui & Co. building, which was tall and faced the Haihe River, allowed access to the Public Security Bureau along the river. The Japanese had also prepared command flags in advance to direct the plainclothes team in an assault on the gate. The situation was quite critical at the southern end of Nanguan Street, particularly at the intersection of Nanshi and China, as well as at the southeast corner of the city. Key locations within the Japanese concession, including Jinshan Pharmacy, Xinming Grand Theater, Zhongyuan Company, the Japanese Public Hospital, Laojiuzhang Silk Shop, Taichang Pawnshop, and Shengdeli Building, were also under tight security. Consequently, this second plainclothes riot was a coordinated effort by the Japanese to undermine public security in Tianjin, aligning with developments in the Northeast, with the ultimate goal of further occupying and seizing Tianjin. On the 27th, a plainclothes unit operating under Japanese command launched a fierce assault on the gate around 1 a.m., retreating only after facing a counterattack from the forces. Beginning on the 28th, the Japanese military significantly increased its troop presence, creating a tense atmosphere that compelled the Tianjin authorities to withdraw their security team back to Hebei and dismantle all fortifications. This allowed the Japanese army to bolster its military presence in Tianjin, although they were unable to gain control of the city. While the plainclothes riots were being planned, Doihara was talking with Puyi. On November 3rd, Doihara met with him at the Jingyuan Garden in Tientsin. In his memoirs Puyi stated Doihara was a Japanese soldier who had made his entire career by invading China. He was 48 years old when they were speaking and the muscles around his eyes showed signs of relaxation. He had a small mustache and his face was always gentle and he acted very respectfully. His smile always gave the impression that everything he said was unreliable however. "He asked about my health and then got down to business. He first explained that the Japanese army's actions were only aimed at Zhang Xueliang, saying that Zhang Xueliang "made Manchuria miserable, and the rights, lives and property of the Japanese could not be guaranteed, so Japan had no choice but to send troops. He said that the Kwantung Army had no territorial ambitions for Manchuria, but only "sincerely wanted to help the Manchurian people and build their own new country. He hoped that I would not miss this opportunity and return to the birthplace of my ancestors soon to lead this country in person; Japan would sign an offensive and defensive alliance with this country, and its sovereign territory would be fully protected by Japan; as the head of this country, I could do everything on my own.” Puyi was extremely weary of the entire thing. Here is a transcript of some of their conversation as told to us through the memories of Puyi: I still had a very important question in my mind, so I asked: “What kind of country is this new country?” "I have already said that it is independent and autonomous, and the Emperor Xuantong has the final say." "That's not what I'm asking. I want to know whether this country is a republic or a monarchy? Is it an empire?" "These problems can be solved in Shenyang." "No," I insisted, "if it is a restoration, I will go, otherwise I will not go." He smiled and said in the same tone: "Of course it is the Empire, there is no problem with that." "If it's the Empire, I can go!" I expressed my satisfaction. "Then please ask the Emperor Xuantong to leave as soon as possible, and arrive in Manchuria before the 16th. We will discuss the details when we arrive in Shenyang. Yoshida will arrange the departure." Afterwards Doihara congratulated Puyi on his safe journey, bowing respectfully to him. After Doihara left, Puyi met with Jin Liang who had come with Doihara. He brought further news from Manchurian veterans led by Yuan Jinkai, stating they could call upon the old Northeast Army to surrender. After enduring various forms of coercion, inducement, threats, and intimidation, Puyi was concealed in the trunk of a two-seater saloon car on the evening of November 10, just three days following the Tientsin Incident. As planned, he was driven out of Jingyuan. With the covert protection of the Japanese secret service, he changed into Japanese military attire and then took a vehicle from the Japanese military headquarters. He reached the British Concession Pier without any obstacles and boarded a small, unlit motorboat. Subsequently, he quickly fled to Dagukou under the escort of more than ten Japanese soldiers. He was then promptly transferred to the Japanese merchant ship "Awaji Maru," arriving at the Manchurian Railway Pier in Yingkou City on the 13th. On November 18, the Kwantung Army moved Puyi to the Dahe Hotel in Lushun, where he was closely "protected." Later on March 1, 1932, under the direction of the Kwantung Army, the puppet state of Manchukuo was officially declared "established." Puyi assumed the role of "ruler" of this puppet regime on March 9th. Two years later, his title was changed to "emperor." At this point, the Japanese invaders had successfully achieved their objective of holding Puyi hostage and establishing the puppet Manchukuo regime. Despite the Chinese army's efforts to quell the plainclothes riot, Japan seized upon the pretext of "endangering the lives of Japanese expatriates in the Japanese concession" to insist that the Chinese security forces withdraw 300 meters from the border of the concession. They threatened to take unilateral action if their demands were not met. On the 15th, during negotiations, the Northeast Army authorities conceded to Japan's unreasonable requests. Nevertheless, Japan proceeded to bombard the Hebei Provincial and Municipal Government buildings and the police station with artillery. Following the suppression of the second plainclothes riot, the Japanese, feeling humiliated by their foiled plans, sought new excuses and made further unreasonable demands. They insisted that the Chinese army withdraw from Tientsin and that the local populace refrain from anti-Japanese activities. Concurrently, they deployed additional troops to Tientsin, using intimidation tactics against the Chinese. The Nationalist government ultimately acquiesced to Japan's demands, ordering the security team, primarily made up of the Northeast Army, to retreat to what is now the Hebei District on November 29th. As the soldiers withdrew from their positions, tears were shed, and onlookers mourned their departure. Beginning December 1st, streets in the Japanese concession were illuminated, and Japanese merchants displayed flags to celebrate their perceived victory. They even coerced Chinese residents into hanging Japanese flags under threat of imprisonment. The contrast was stark between the Tientsin Security Team's defeat, which felt like a loss without actual defeat, and the Japanese invaders' hollow victory. Several Chinese soldiers who distinguished themselves in the fight against the invasion were reassigned from Tientsin. Despite failing in the riot, the Japanese successfully executed their plan to secretly extract Puyi from Tianjin and compelled the Chinese army to withdraw. This paved the way for a series of conspiratorial events, including the "Chadong Incident," "Hebei Incident," and "Zhangbei Incident." Ultimately, these actions led to their proposals for "North China Autonomy" and the "July 7 Marco Polo Bridge Incident," marking a gradual realization of their ambitions to invade China. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. And thus our dear old friend Doihara performed yet another scheme to push forward with the Japanese invasion of China. Its sad to say it won't be his last. The invasion of Manchuria was coming to a swift end and soon a new puppet state would take hold, but would Japan stop with the northeast?
How far would you go for good luck? In Japan's Hadaka Matsuri, thousands of nearly naked men rush through the cold, get drenched in freezing water, and battle for sacred objects—all in the name of fortune and tradition. In this episode, we explore the 3 biggest Hadaka Matsuri, from the rowdy Saidaiji Eyo in Okayama to the eerie Shin Otoko ritual in Aichi. What's the meaning behind these wild celebrations, and why do people still participate today? Strip away the misconceptions and join us for a deep dive into Japan's most extreme festivals! 幸運を手に入れるために、どこまでやりますか？ 日本の「裸祭り」では、何千人ものほぼ裸の男性が極寒の中を駆け抜け、冷水を浴び、神聖な物を奪い合います――すべては運と伝統のために。今回のエピソードでは、岡山の激しい「西大寺会陽」から、愛知の神秘的な「神男」儀式まで、日本各地で行われる3つの代表的な裸祭りを掘り下げていきます。これらの祭りの本当の意味とは？ なぜ今もなお多くの人々が参加し続けるのでしょうか？ "裸の祭り"とゆう概念を取り去って日本で最も過激な祭りの世界に飛び込んでみましょう！ Support the showhttps://linktr.ee/Sojapanese
J1 is back, and on this episode (after a brief ACL review at the start of the pod) Jonny and Ben review all of the top flight action, beginning with stirring wins for Okayama, Cerezo Osaka and Kawasaki, then moving on to clashes involving presumptive title challengers, before rounding up the final group of games.
We have another bumper round of J1 previews for you this week, as we edge closer to the start of the new season. In Part 1 Jonny and Ben preview Hiroshima (to 21:20) and Kashiwa (to 48:25), before they're joined by three terrific guests. In Part 2 Daniel Hawkins chats about Fukuoka (to 1:13:17), then in Part 3 Ralf Seidl discusses Urawa (to 1:45:25), before James Taylor from J-Talk: Extra Time rounds out the pod in Part 4 looking ahead to Okayama's first-ever J1 campaign.
Japanese sake is made from water, rice, and koji. There are many specific rice varieties cultivated for brewing sake, all of which are lumped together as sakamai (酒米). Some are more prominent than others and one in particular has gotten itself a bit of a cult following. You may refer to it as the OG or grandfather of sakamai and of course, we are referring to Omachi (雄町)! One of the oldest rice varieties dating back to 1859, Omachi was first grown in the town of Omachi in Okayama Prefecture. It is praised for adding rich and complex flavors to sake but is notoriously difficult to grow. Cultivation dwindled as farmers turned to easier to grow varieties until it was almost lost. However, it was brought back from the brink of extinction by dedicated and passionate brewers and the rest is history. It is impossible to think about Japan’s sake landscape without sake made from Omachi rice and “Omachists” (as fans endearingly call themselves) celebrate their favorite sake online with dedicated hashtags, while farmers and brewers from Okayama organize an amazing event – the Omachi Summit every year to help people fall in love with it. So join Cindy Bissig and Arline Lyons as they welcome Giulia Maglio, a sake educator and kurabito to dive into the world of Omachi and share their knowledge and experience. Learn more about the basic facts and history of Omachi rice, reasons why it might be so popular, and how to promote it, as well as get a unique perspective as Giulia shares a bit of what it is like working with Omachi in the Koji room… As always, if you have questions or comments please do share them with us at questions@sakeonair.com or head over to our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook we would love to hear from you! We'll be back very soon with plenty more Sake On Air.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. Sake on Air was created by Potts K Productions and is produced by Export Japan. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.
Japanese sake is made from water, rice, and koji. There are many specific rice varieties cultivated for brewing sake, all of which are lumped together as sakamai (酒米). Some are more prominent than others and one in particular has gotten itself a bit of a cult following. You may refer to it as the OG or grandfather of sakamai and of course, we are referring to Omachi (雄町)!One of the oldest rice varieties dating back to 1859, Omachi was first grown in the town of Omachi in Okayama Prefecture. It is praised for adding rich and complex flavors to sake but is notoriously difficult to grow. Cultivation dwindled as farmers turned to easier to grow varieties until it was almost lost. However, it was brought back from the brink of extinction by dedicated and passionate brewers and the rest is history. It is impossible to think about Japan's sake landscape without sake made from Omachi rice and “Omachists” (as fans endearingly call themselves) celebrate their favorite sake online with dedicated hashtags, while farmers and brewers from Okayama organize an amazing event - the Omachi Summit every year to help people fall in love with it. So join Cindy Bissig and Arline Lyons as they welcome Giulia Maglio, a sake educator and kurabito to dive into the world of Omachi and share their knowledge and experience. Learn more about the basic facts and history of Omachi rice, reasons why it might be so popular, and how to promote it, as well as get a unique perspective as Giulia shares a bit of what it is like working with Omachi in the Koji room… As always, if you have questions or comments please do share them with us at questions@sakeonair.com or head over to our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook we would love to hear from you! We'll be back very soon with plenty more Sake On Air.Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. Sake on Air was created by Potts K Productions and is produced by Export Japan. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.
We're joined by "Feral" Daryl Nuhn of Prima cafe to continue our deep dive on volcanos. A thrilling episode of queening out and explaining brat summer to our elders. Please don't get mad at us for talking about politics the world is on fire
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