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In this week's episode, joined by 2024 New Orleans-Matsue Sister City Exchange Program participants Katherine Heller & Wade Trosclair, the Krewe looks back & celebrates 30 years of friendship between Matsue, Japan & New Orleans, Louisiana... a sister city relationship built on cultural exchange, mutual curiosity, &shared spirit. Together, they reflect on their time in Matsue during the exchange program, their experiences with host families, and the deep connections that form when two communities separated by an ocean come together.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode (timestamps [hh:mm:ss] where you can find the code)!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  (00:53:00)------ Past Matsue/Sister City Episodes ------Lafcadio Hearn: 2024 King of Carnival (S5Bonus)Explore Matsue ft. Nicholas McCullough (S4E19)Jokichi Takamine: The Earliest Bridge Between New Orleans & Japan ft. Stephen Lyman (S4E13)The Life & Legacy of Lafcadio Hearn ft. Bon & Shoko Koizumi (S1E9)Matsue & New Orleans: Sister Cities ft. Dr. Samantha Perez (S1E2)------ Links about the Exchange ------2024 Exchange Program Info/PicturesShogun Martial Arts Dojo (Katie's family's dojo)------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

I would like to thank Patreon member Xizer for suggesting this one, as Xizer put it    “An in depth look at General Kanji Ishiwara would be interesting. The man was the architect for the Mukden Incident that led to the Second Sino Japanese War, but he was vehemently opposed to the abuse and exploitation Japan's colonialism indulged in. His vocal condemnation of the brutality and excesses of the Imperial Japanese military foreign policy and Tojo in particular led to his removal, but he couldn't be executed for popularity in the rank and file. Even at the trials after the war he remained defiant, declaring that President Truman should be tried alongside the Axis War criminals for firebombing Japanese cities. He was truly a fascinating figure.   Indeed Kanji Ishiwara is a fascinating character and his story has a startling impact on the Pacific War and global history as a whole. Now by the time I am reading this the script got out of hand, its a long one haha, so it might have to be a multi parter, but I want to limit the first part to Ishiwara and how the Mukden Incident occurred first. It might come further down the road but I will finish the story of this fascinating man later on after hitting up more Patrons desired subjects, without further adieu enjoy part one of Kanji Ishiwara.    Kanji Ishiwara was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata prefecture on January 18th of 1889. He was the second son of a policeman who was a descendent of a samurai family serving the Shonai Domain. His clan supported the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Boshin War and as a result of their defeat, alongside other Shogunal allied clans would see themselves shut off from larger governmental positions in Meiji Era Japan. Not to go too deep down that rabbit hole, but domains like Choshu and Satsuma would see the lionshare of higher positions, while domains who served on the opposite side would be cast out more.   Ishiware began his army career at the military preparatory school in Sendai at the age of 13, followed up by 2 years at the Central military preparatory school in tokyo. In 1907 he entered the military academy as a member of its 21st class. He left the academy in july of 1909 with the commission of Lieutenant and an assignment as platoon commander of an infantry regiment in Tohoku. After the annexation of Korea in 1910 his regiment was shipped over to the peninsula and he served at Ch'unch'on in a small garrison. After two years of occupation duty, Ishiwara returned to Tohoku and in 1915 passed the examinations necessary to enter the Army Staff college. He held an outstanding record, graduating top of his class in november of 1918 and would be amongst the elite ranks of the Gunto Gumi, receiving the imperial sword.   Now in 1920 he had a frustrating assignment with the department of military training he applied for service in China and received an assignment to the Central china garrison in Hankow. He spent a year traveling through central china before returning back to Tokyo in 1921 where he worked as a lecturer at the army staff college. He sought another China assignment, but his superiors sent him instead to Europe, as they did with all their promising young officers. He went to Germany for 3 years, studying languages and military history. In 1925, he was now a Major, 36 years of age and he received an assignment to the faculty of the army staff college to lecture about the history of war. Now from the very beginning of his character, Ishiwara proved himself a very unconventional officer. He was on the eccentric side, quite argumentative and burdened with a lot of health problems. He had multiple kidney infections, gastro-intestinal problems, tympanitis and other ailments that clawed at him. You also cant forget his ancestry which was important to the Japanese military even in the 1930s. Many of those that came from a disgraced clan had the habit of going above and beyond in terms of imperial loyalty, sort of like a way to rid themselves of the stigma of distrust that was seen in the early Meiji years.   Ishiwara was a bit bizarre, he was nonconforming, quite an independent spirit you would say. Many biographers of his point out, while he held an outstanding record in his education, this went alongside things like his disregard for military punctilio, such as his dress and appearance. In his early career he spoke out against inequalities he saw within the military such as what he saw as favoritism for staff college graduates. Such talk was quite reckless. He read a lot about politics, religion, history and philosophy, he seemed to have quite the restless mind. His behavior drew attention from his colleagues, many deeming him brilliant.   Now everyone in any military has to learn about military history, but not all seek to learn it outside the required readings and such. Ishiwara is one of those rare individuals who was obsessed with learning more about military history. He read about the Russo Japanese war and took quite a critical look at it. He believed the Japanese victory was due to a large part because of luck. He thought Japan had taken the von Moltke strategy of annihilation, but Russia was simply to large to be dislodged from Asia with a swift stroke. If Russia had preserved herself better, he believed Japan would have lost and it was only by a peculiar set of circumstances that Japan had avoided a war of endurance. Ishiwara believed if such a set of circumstance occurred again, Japan defense planning would need to change dramatically to base itself on the realities of modern warfare. This led him to read thoroughly about WW1 in europe and he looked critically at the differences between a short duration vs long duration war. How prolonged conflicts eventually became total wars where politics, economics and social order played larger roles, than just that of the military. This led him to think of categories for different types of war such as “kessenteki senso / decisive war” and “jizokuteki senso / continuous war”. He viewed these two types as flowing back and forth throughout history, in a cyclical rhythm.    While in Germany he studied Clausewitz, von Moltke and the works of Hans Delbruck. He was particularly taken by Delbrucks niederwerfungstragie “strategy of annihilation, the decisive battle” and ermattungsstrategie “the strategy of exhaustion”. He could see his own theorizes more fleshed out in such works and took quite a liking to them. This brought him to analyze the Napoleonic war as the archetype of the war of annihilation and the wars of Frederick the Great as that of a war of exhaustion.    Now further on in his studies, Ishiwara became convinced like many of his colleagues, that Japan and the United States for reasons of power and ideology were on a set course for war. He also concluded such a war would be a protracted one, that of a strategy of exhaustion. But how could Japan prepare for such a protracted war when her natural resources were so clearly inadequate. This led him to think more so about Asia. Ishiwara believed Asia was an entity distinctly different from the west. He held beliefs that Asia should be liberated and unite. During the Xinhai revolution of 1911, as a young cadet in Korea, Ishiwara was quite excited by the idea China might revitalize itself, but he became disillusioned during his time in China later. In the 1920's he dealt with bandits, warlord era conflicts, chaos and disorder, seeing poverty everywhere, all of this shattered his image of China progressing and reforming herself. He wrote this during that time “Looking at the situation in China, I came to harbor grave doubts as to the political capacities of the chinese race and came to feel that, though they were a people of high cultural attainment, it was impossible for them to construct a modern state”. Despite how disappointed he was with the political problems of China, he was likewise disgusted with how his Japanese colleagues treated the Chinese. He recalled feelings of shame when he saw fellow colleagues in Hankow descending from rickshaws and tossing coins to the ground at the rickshaw mens feet. He would constantly write of how the Japanese needed to shed their racial superiority feelings, but funny enough he would write this alongside his beliefs it was necessary for Japan to help guide nations like China to their destiny. While he may have held beliefs in racial equality between Japan and China, he certainly did not think the same of China's politics. Like the majority of his colleagues he believed China required reform and modernization that Japan should usher in. To Ishiwara the issue at hand was if Japan did not help China, the west would aggressively do so and thus subjugate her further. To Ishiwara China needed liberation. Ishiwara also linked the incoming war between Japan and the United States to play a large role for what would occur between China and Japan.   Ishiwara like many Japanese officers held beliefs concerning the Kokutai. I will try to summarize exactly what the Kokutai is, but honestly its a unbelievably complex cultural phenomenon. The Kokutai was a spiritual motive force that influenced the Japanese military. It can be viewed as the national character of Japan. Japan was a constitutional monarchy that held the Kokutai (national body or character)  and Seitai (government body/structure). Thus there was in reality two ideologies, one held the traditional belief focusing on that of the emperor and that of the official government. If I were to give you a overly confusing summary, I would tell you “Japan is run by the emperor and the government simultaneously” this of course if confusing as hell, and it should be. Article 4 of the former Japanese constitution held “the emperor is the head of the empire, combining in himself the right of sovereignty, uniting the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, although subject to the consent of the imperial diet”. Its like saying you have an absolute monarch, but he will be listening and following the democratically elected people. This contradiction would lead to the Pacific War. A large issue that would emerge is that the constitution literally said the navy and army were controlled by the Emperor and not the political diet. Thus many in the military viewed themselves subject to the Kokutai, which as an ideology would evolve dramatically from the Meiji era to the Showa Era. For example, what if you are a military high ranking officer who views the political elites as nothing more than criminals, taking the emperor hostage against his will and thus against the will of the Japanese people. Well this might lead you to try and overthrow the government to make sure the Emperor was really in charge as you think he should be. A real rabbit hole I could go down.   Ishiwara had a unique view of the Kokutai. In his early education he wrote this about his doubt on understanding it as a principal. “Even though I, myself, because of my training…had come to have an unshakeable faith in the kokutai I began to lack confidence that I could imparts this belief to others –to the common soldier, to the civilian, to non-Japanese”. His issue was how did the Kokutai apply outside Japan? How could its value transcend the national boundaries and interests of Japan? If a Japanese soldier was to sacrifice his life for the Kokutai, how did this take on any meaning for men of all races? How could the kokutai's supra-national value by linked to other outside ideologies?   Ishiwara found some answers to these questions in Nichiren Buddhism. It seems here he was able to combine his conceptions about war, history and national purpose. Now Ishiwara did not come from a religious family. He dabbled in christianity for a bit, but did not pursue it. Shinto likewise did not sufficiently fulfill Shiwara' beliefs. Nichiren Buddhism is strongly patriotic, has a apocalyptic character to it and represents a holy mission to be the religion for all mankind with the center of propagation as Japan. There was this kind of quasi idea of world regeneration behind it with Japan as the moral righteous leader. Thus as you can imagine the Kokutai and Nichiren buddhism sort of fit like a glove in many ways.    Utilizing Nichiren Buddhism, the kokutai could be raised from its purely national dogma and be amplified to the entire world. Ishiwara was introduced to all of this by Tanaka Chigaku who was part of the Kokuchukai “national pillar society” a nichiren nationalist organization with an HQ in tokyo. After attending a public meeting held by Tanaka, he quickly converted to Kokuchukai and he would write down in his journal “I was attracted to the Nichiren faith's view of the kokutai”. Nichiren buddhism.    One aspect of Kokuchukai's nichirenism that greatly appealed to Ishiwara was its combative passages. Ishiwara would justify and attribute much of the military force Japan used on the asian continent drawing parallels to Nicherns idea of drawing the sword to defend righteousness. He often quoted nichirens statement “that the significance of the art of war appears in the wonderful law”. Ishiwara become engulfed by the nichiren doctrine and came to believe in its prediction that there would be a “Zendai mimon no dai toso / titanic world conflict, unprecedented in human history”, something like a global armageddon. After this would come a reign of universal and eternal peace under the harmony of “the wonderful law”.   While in Germany Ishiwara became convinced that if Japan and the United States were destined for war and the US won that war, the kokutai would be destroyed. He took the trans-siberian railway enroute back to Japan and stopped in Harbin. There he met with Nichiren believers and he spoke to them about his idea of “a final war”. He stated he believed it would come through religious prediction and his military analysis. He warned everyone Japan must hasten herself for it and that “the final war is fast approaching”. Ishiwara came back to Japan in 1925 fired up with conviction to lecture at the army staff college about his final war. His audience was the army's bright and youthful officers. He taught them Frederican and Napoleonic campaigns, Moltke and WW1 and of course his thoughts on the future conflict before them all. The Army staff college continuously called for him to expand his lectures because they were so popular. Then in 1927 he drafted an essay titled “Genzai oyobi shorai Nihon no kokubo / Japan's present and future national defense”. Here he spoke about the inevitable war between the US and Japan. These were quite provocative and took a hell of a lot of attention from colleagues. Later on in april of 1931, he would brief his fellow Kwantung officers using the essay, arguing the need for decisive action on the asian mainland.   In 1928 he would have given another course on European war, but he came down with influenza and was forced to take leave. As he was getting better he was hit with a case of tympanitis in his ear and had to be hospitalized for 6 months. It was to be one of many ailments that would grind at his health. He eventually was drawn into an elite study circle to talk about war theories led by Major Suzuki. The group consisted of young reformist type officers who talked about political and military issues. He carried on his work on the final war and eventually wrote “Sensoshi taikan / general outline of the history of war” which was delivered as a lecture before Kwantung officers at Changch'un in Manchuria on July 4th of 1929. It would receive revisions in 1931, 1938 and became a book of the same title after 1941. As he began lecturing using Sensoshi taiken he also circulated amongst an inner circle within the Kwantung army “kokuun tenkai no konpon kokusakutaru man-mo mondai kaiketsuan / Plan for the solution of the Manchuria and Mongolia problem as a basic national policy to revolutionize our country's destiny”, what a title. As you might guess the plan called for occupying Manchuria in preparation for the upcoming war with America. By the way, all of his lectures and works would gain so much fame, he was asked in 1936 to adapt the materials for a text on military history for Emperor Hirohito.    Now the 1930's were quite a tense time for Japan. The Japanese leadership saw Marxism everywhere, and believed it was withering away their nation. Japanese liberal types were arguing the military budget was out of hand, many were calling for reduction. To Ishiwara it was insanity, how could Japan not arm itself? Marxists preached communism would save Japan; Liberals preached true democracy would save Japan; Ishiwara and many in the army preached the Kokutai would save Japan. Ishiwara preached his final war theories and that the coming apocalypse would not see an American synthesis, but a supreme victory for the Japanese kokutai that would unify the world. “Japan must be victorious not for the sake of her own national interest, but for the salvation of the world. The last war in human history is approaching, Nichiren's titanic world conflict, unprecedented in human history”.   From the offset of his initial theories, Ishiwara believed the final war would be a strategy of exhaustion. But WW1 and the 1920's brought technological advances such as tanks, poison gas and the airplane. The airplane in particular made Ishiwara believe the defensive stalemate seen in WW1 was coming to an end. Airpower could deliver bomb loads past all known defenses such as naval surface units, fortresses, armies with automatic weapons. He believed the final war would see absolute horrors brought upon the greatest cities of the world. London, Shanghai, Paris even Tokyo would be wiped out within a day of the commencement of hostilities. Air bombardment would deliver victory and he would be quite right about that in regards to what would happen to Japan. He believed such a war would be waged only once and “we will enter an age where war will become impossible because of the ultimate development of war technology”.   Ishiwara argued Japan must directly or indirectly control Manchuria and to a lesser degree over parts of China. He asserted Japan had a moral obligation to the asian continent and a special relationship to Manchuria and China. China must be stabilized, for her people were threatened by turmoil, corruption and conflict. He argued Japan would be eventually obliged for the sake of peace and the welfare of the Chinese people to take a more active effort to stabilize her, particularly in Manchuria. He wrote in 1930 “To save China, which has known no peace, is the mission of Japan, a mission, which, at the same time, is the only means for the salvation of Japan itself. To accomplish this task it is an urgent matter that the interference of the United States be eliminated”. Ironically, he was advocating that in order to prepare for a conflict with the US, Japan must take a stronger hand in Manchuria and China…which would probably force the United States to confront her. He advocated against the strategy of a decisive battle at sea, instead emphasizing a continental strategy. “If the worst comes about and the war at sea turns against us, if proper measures have been taken, Japanese forces on the Asian mainland can be made self-sufficient and the war continued.” Above all else, Manchuria was the key, alongside parts of Mongolia and China.    In 1931 he began writing about how China needed to reform and it would be in her best interest to accept Japanese guidance. He saw China as the most valuable ally to be beside Japan in the event of war with the United States. If anything he argued Japan must try to not become involved in a war with China, every effort should be made to avoid provoking such an event. Yet as he continued his writing he began to see the diplomatic issues play out between China and Japan and came to the conclusion, “every attempt should be made to avoid provoking China, but in the event that it is impossible to bring about China's understanding, then Nanking should be swiftly attacked and north and central China occupied” way to go 0-60. His attitudes to Britain and Russia were quite similar, every effort should be made to remain friendly, but in the case of war Hong Kong and Malaya should be quickly occupied or in the case of the USSR, predetermined objectives inside Siberia should be seized quickly.    Now lets talk about Manchuria, specifically Manchuria in the late 1920's. Manchuria was in a huge tug of war between Russia, China and Japan. Her ties to China proper were severed by years of warlordism allowing Japan to grow her position. For Japan, the quote “manchurian problem” as it would be known centered on a single question “how to consolidate and expand it under Japanese influence in the face of an expanding China”. Japan saw 3 viable methods, taking control over the south manchuria railway, using the kwantung army and Japanese colonists, the good old filibuster approach. Each of these 3 methods offered different approaches to the same problem which of course would have very different outcomes.    Controlling the railway allowed quite a lot of control over southern Manchuria. The issue with this of course being Japan having to constantly fight off Chinese political efforts against such control. Zhang Zuolin, the Tiger of Manchuria and arguably greatest of the warlords of China held control over Manchuria and was firmly acting in Japanese interests, but for how long would he play ball? To the Kwantung Army members operating in and around Manchuria, the northern expedition of Chiang Kai-shek was getting out of hand and threatening Zhang Zuolin and thus their interests as well. Anti-Japanese sentiment was only getting worse as the northern expedition climbed north. The Kwangtung army sought more than anything to assert and retain their control over Manchuria, because it offered a buffer against the USSR. Anything that threatened that control had to be dealt with. Ultimately it was believed by many in the Kwantung Army that Manchuria would have to be separated officially from China and in order for this to occur, Japan would most likely need to use force.    Senior officers of the Kwantung army were invited in June of 1927 for a meeting called upon by Premier Tanaka Giichi. The purpose of the meeting was to formulate Japan's policy toward China and Manchuria. A more radical Kwantung army group headed by Colonel Komoto Daisaku sought to eliminate Zhang Zuolin, as he was increasingly being seen as a major obstacle to Japanese ambitions in Manchuria. Well they would do just that in 1928 when Zhang Zuolin was assassinated via a bomb placed on train tracks known as the Huanggutun incident. The assassination did not work out as the Kwantung Army officers thought it would. Instead of their groomed puppet General Yang Yuting taking up the role as leader of Manchuria, it went instead to Zhang Zuolin's son, Zhang Xueliang, who lets just say was not too happy the Japanese had obviously killed his father. Thus the Kwantung Army did not assert the forceful policy they wanted in Manchuria, they had actually made it worse for them.   The half-hearted investigation into those responsible for killing Zhang Zuolin, led to the removal of Colonel Komoto from his post. Tanaka's cabinet was toppled. The Kwantung army were now embarrassed and angry that their stance in Manchuria was weakened. The Japanese colonists within Manchuria felt more threatened and called more so upon the Kwantung army for protection against Chinese nationalists wishing to kick them out. The Kwantung army was grasping at straws trying to think of a way to sever Manchuria from China. In 1928, Ishiwara was a lt colonel and he was consulted in length by Kwantung officers about his views on the Manchurian problem. While he had not fully hashed out his Final War theory by this point, he nonetheless spoke about the fundamentals of it, arguing the necessity of taking action to control Manchuria. For the next few years, all efforts were made by Kwantung officers to influence policy towards Manchuria. Ishiwara's ideas were being stimulated and influencing the debate over Manchuria amongst his high ranking colleagues. In October of 1928, Ishiwara sought and received an appointment to the Kwantung army staff. The assignment was to be as an operations officer and his number one backer was Colonel Komoto Daisaku. It seemed Komoto saw Ishiwara as the firebrand necessary to push the Manchurian policies they wanted.   When Ishiwara arrived at Port Arthur, he found the Kwantung Army HQ in a state of confusion and demoralization. This of course was a large part due to the cluster fuck of a failure from the bombing of Zhang Zuolin. The investigation into the assassination led to many shifts within the Kwantung army staff, many quite restrictive. Even though Komoto's career was shattered by the Zhang Zuolin failure, he kept arguing to his colleagues that the Manchurian crisis hamukdend to be resolved by force. Ishiwara it seems agreed with this and during the early months of 1929 worked alongside Komoto, planning operations against Chinese forces in the Mukden area. By spring of 1929, Komoto was officially being kicked out. By May he was relegated to a divisional backwater in Japan and by June he was out of the army. This did not mean however that he lost influence on Manchurian affairs. Komoto's replacement was Lt Colonel Itagaki Seishiro and old comrade of Ishiwara since Sendai military preparatory school.    For the next two and a half years, Ishiwara and Itagaki worked alongside other Kwantung Army staff to solve the Manchurian problem as they saw it. By the mid 1931's the idea Manchuria needed to be seized via force was now the mainstream viewpoint for the Kwantung army in general. Ishiwara believed firmly that Japan could no longer stand idle in Manchuria, because every day that went by saw little by little, Japan relinquishing rights and interests in Manchuria to China, and at some point they would simply be kicked out. To “quit manchuria” would be a national disaster, they would lose their buffer state, the resources and the land for their booming population to emigrate to. Simply put Manchuria was the steroid keeping Japan alive, she needed it to continue to grow. Ishiwara would often say “manchuria provides Japan with breathing space” where have we heard that type of talk before?. To the military heads in Tokyo Ishikawa would often assert Manchuria had to be seized via force, because of the soviethreat of the USSR and communism as a whole “In view of the traditional russian policy in that area, once the soviets advanced into manchuria, it would become a base for the communization of asia. Not only would the internal stability of manchuria become impossible to maintain, but Japan would be unable to maintain its own national defense, and China's defenses, too, would become imperialized". The Army HQ in Tokyo likewise agreed Manchuria was the vital defensive line against the USSR. But unlike the Kwantung army who sought all of Manchuria, the heads in Tokyo sought to absorb southern Manchuria via the south manchurian railway and did not seek anything north of it. Ishiwara however assumed the only way Japan could prevent the USSR from placing pressure on southern Manchuria was no less that Japan having to occupy northern Manchuria and even further north towards the Amur River so Japan could control the mountain ranges flanking western and eastern frontiers of northern manchuria.  Once Japan controlled northern Manchuria, Ishiwara stated in 1931 “With the solution of our defense problems in the north, we would then be free to plan an advance in any direction: to China proper, for example, or even to Southeast Asia”.   Ishiwara took all of this a step further, after Manchuria was conquered, Japan would have to somehow administer and pacify the peoples of it. Ishiwara argued the stability of Manchuria would be developed through the special talents of various races living there. The Chinese would develop the small businesses in the region, the Koreans would use their paddy farming knowledge, etc. These racial ideas would contribute to the development of Manchukuo and the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere. But above all else, Manchuria would serve the interests of Japan, many of which would be exploitative and economic in nature.    By early 1930 Ishiwara and Itagaki worked out a plan using the same strategy used during the Russo-Japanese war, a surprise night attack. The Kwantung army would assault the Liaoning area hitting important Chinese garrisons. The plans had to be meticulous as the Kwantung army was severely smaller than most of the Manchurian forces led by Zhang Xueliang. Around Mukden alone Zhang held 20,000 men well equipped with aircraft and tanks. Throughout all of Manchuria, if a war arose, Zhang could assemble roughly 250,000 troops to bear down on an enemy. The Kwantung army meanwhile could muster 10,000 men which were basically garrison units around the railway. They did not have significant aircraft nor mechanized forces at hand, and were pretty poorly equipped to boot. Ishiwara's answer to the disparity in forces called for the use of intelligence and rigorous training. He sought to perfect specific assault techniques so that when the conflict broke out, the Japanese would use lightning speed and effective concentration of force to overwhelm the Chinese. The plan overall was remarkably simplistic, wagering everything on dealing a crushing blow at the center of Zhang Xueliangs military powerbase at the Peitaying barracks at Mukden. If this fell, he predicted the enemy's morale would break, giving the Kwantung the necessary military and psychological momentum to subdue the surrounding areas. If the USSR got involved, the plan would have gone to utter shit.   One important variable Ishiwara highlighted was the necessity to pull off the operation before any attempt to restructure the domestic order in Japan occurred. Ishiwara knew his arguments and those of his colleagues would influence the heads in Tokyo, and they had to act before they did. However the heads at Tokyo and the Kwantung army held very different perspectives on when to act. In June of 1931 the Central army HQ stated in its General Outline of a solution to the Manchurian problem “we must defer the question of military action for a whole year. During this time the foreign ministry would attempt to dampen anti japanese activities in manchuria through negotiations with the government of Nanking. In the meantime the government would launch an information campaign to try and drive acquiescence at home and aboard for military action ”. Ishiwara as you can imagine was very bitter about the idea of prolonging for a year and argued the international environment meant they must strike immediately. The Soviet 5 year plan was still in mid course; the US, Britain and France had yet to overcome their financial crisis and could offer limited resistance in the far east and most obviously the Nationalist regime in China was still busy in its unification efforts south of the Great wall, but that would change soon. If they waited a year all of this would change for the worse, the time was now or never to Ishiwara.   In july of 1931 Ishiwara and Itagki organized a final major staff reconnaissance designed to get the newest Kwantung officers up to date with northern Manchuria. To cover for what they were doing they told high command it was a survey against the USSR, but it was of course to investigate the Chinese power in northern manchuria. On their return trip, the party heard of the disappearance of one Kwantung staff officer, captain Nakamura Shintaro. Ishiwara and the others found out when they reached Port Arthur and the rumor spread that Captain Nakamura had been killed by Chinese soldiers under “mysterious circumstances”. Now over the past few months there had been violent riots, murders, work strikes and other incidents occurring in Manchuria. The Nakamura affair flared all of these tensions up. Seeing the paint on the wall, Chinese and Japanese foreign ministries tried to negotiate the issue, but those at the central army HQ like Nagata Tetsuzan who were sympathetic to the impatience of their Kwantung colleagues felt compelled to aid them. For Ishiwara the issue was clear as he wrote “the Nakamura incident adds just one more issue to the others. What the army should do now is to ignore the foreign ministry and solve the problem by taking matters into its own hands”. And that is just what he did. The Kwantung officers took their forces outside the railway zone, which they had been restricted to and without waiting for approval from Itagaki who was in Japan at the time, initiated the steps to despatch an armored train and a mixed regiment of infantry and artillery forces to go to Mukden to get the Chinese military to help investigate the Nakamura disappearance. Tokyo got word of this and dispatched a telegram to stop their departure from the railway and to not use the Nakamura incident as a way to use force to solve the manchurian problem.   For Ishiwara this was the last straw. On August 20th he sent a message to Nagata condemning the current diplomatic situation and that negotiations were an utter waste of time. “There is no way to settle the matter except by placing it in the hands of the army. If central hq finds it so difficult to trust its field personnel then it had better replace them with representatives more suitable to the conditions it imagines to exist in Manchuria”. Ishiwara doubled down and pushed for a plot to provoke military conflict outside of Mukden. As he wrote in almost a messianic Nichiren conviction ‘I will be the pillar of Japan; I will be the eyes of Japan; I will be the great vessel of Japan” .   “Gekokujo / ruling from below” is a Japanese historical term referring to when subordinates defy or manipulate their superiors. Ishiwara and his like minded close colleagues were about to perform Gekokujo. On september 18th, 1931 a bomb was planted by the Kwantung army on the tracks of the south manchuria railway at Liutiaokou and it exploded. Japanese troops under the guise the bomb was a “chinese terrorist attack” moved to swiftly overrun the Peitaying barracks. Ishiwara's plot had finally unfolded. 

The Krewe sits down with Haruka Kikuchi, a Japanese jazz trombonist making waves in New Orleans. From discovering jazz in Japan to second-lining through the Crescent City, Haruka shares her story of finding home through music — and how jazz bridges cultures across oceans.  ------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode (timestamps [hh:mm:ss] where you can find the code)!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  (00:53:00)------ Past Music Episodes ------S5E13 - The Thunderous Sounds of Taiko ft. Takumi Kato (加藤 拓三), World Champion Taiko DrummerS5E10 - The Japanese Pop Music Scene ft. Patrick St. MichelS4E1 - Shamisen: Musical Sounds of Traditional Japan ft. Norm Nakamura of Tokyo LensS3E14 - City Pop & Yu ft. Yu HayamiS3E1 - Exploring Enka ft. Jerome White Jr aka ジェロ / Jero------ Links about Haruka ------Haruka's Website Haruka on IGHaruka on FacebookHaruka on YouTubeGoFundMe to Help Support Haruka's Family------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

This episode looks at the Kabane and Court Rank systems in light of the changes made during this reign, in 684 and 685.  We go a bit more in depth on the kabane, what they were, and how they were organized, prior to the reorganization that took place at the end of the 8th century into just 8 kabane, total.   For more, check out our blogpost:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-136   Rough Transcript   Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 136: Kabane and Court Rank   Mononobe no Muraji no Ujimaro was in a foul mood.  Once more he had been passed over for promotion, and so he continued to toil away, tallying reports as they came in from the various provinces across the kingdom. Meanwhile, Hasama no Atahe no Woshibi was now his superior, with an exalted rank and the generous stipend that came with it.  Ujimaro fumed—he was Mononobe, and his family had once all but ruled Yamato.  Though they had been perhaps reduced in circumstances since then, they still proudly held to their place as a Muraji family—a distinction that demonstrated their superior pedigree.  Meanwhile, Woshibi was from the Hasama family.  Sure, his relative, Nemaro, had been one of those on the front lines in the recent conflict, but still, his family was only atahe.  Honestly, a Mononobe was supposed to take orders from someone of an Atahe family? But this was the new way of things.  The ancient traditions were no longer enough—you had to work hard and make sure way up through this new court rank system if you wanted to succeed.  Ujimaro grumbled, but there was little he could do in the moment.  Nonetheless, he couldn't help but think about how the natural order of the world was somehow turned upside down…     Greetings and welcome back, everyone. We are working our way through the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou.  This reign spanned fourteen years, if you include the Jinshin year of 672, though it is broken into two narratives in the Nihon Shoki.  The first chapter covers the year of the disturbance, the Jinshin no Ran, when Ohoama fought with the Afumi court, who supported his nephew, Ohotomo, on the throne.  We've covered that turbulent period previously.  The second chapter covers the other 13 years of Ohoama's reign. Last episode we covered the first year of Ohoama sitting properly on the throne.  The year 673 included Ohoama's ascension; the confirmation, continuation, and evolution of the Ritsuryou system instituted during Naka no Oe's time; as well as various ceremonies around Ohoama's ascension to the throne, including the first verifiable “Daijosai”, the specialized harvest ceremony for the first harvest season of the reign. This episode we are going to try and tackle something that people have sent in questions about.  We've touched on it here and there, but I really want to get into the Kabane system—that ancient practice of family titles that were like a collective rank system.  It was during Ohoama's reign that the court made major reforms to the kabane system and restructured it pretty extensively.  At the same time, the kabane system was gradually being replaced by other systems of displaying one's status in society—such as the court rank system, which was also revised this reign.  Eventually, without the same purpose as before, kabane would fade away, with a few remaining as honorifics and titles, but at this point they were still important.  So we'll get into both of these status systems  and discuss a little bit about what that meant for the people of the late 7th century court. From the beginning of Ohoama's reign, the court had continued to implement the cap-rank system, most recently amended in 664, by Ohoama's brother, Naka no Ohoye.  With the new rank system of 685, the format changed considerably. To better understand this, let's talk about the rank systems in Yamato and how we have gotten to this point.  We'll want to start with the kabane, and to do that, I want to take us back to a much earlier time. As you may recall, in the oldest stories in the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, most individuals only have a single name, or they are known by the name of a location and a title.  Iware Hiko, for example, with Hiko and Hime being general masculine and feminine terms for elites from a given area.  From this, it would appear as though there was no such thing as a “family” name in early Wa societies. As I've pointed out before, that does not mean that there were not families, of course, or that lineage and family relationships were not important; we do see familial relationships, and we see concepts of lateral inheritance—from brother to brother rather than necessarily from father to son.  The rules behind such inheritance seem to have been rather malleable, however. And that all makes some sense in a society where most people are dealing with the people of their village and surrounding communities—there is no need for anything more than a given name.  Otherwise one's place of origin or their profession could easily be used to identify any given individual.  Even the elites would be known by the territory they control. I mention all of this because some of the earliest terms we see as “kabane” appear to be titular in nature—that is to say they are derived from ancient titles.  Hiko, Hime, Wake, Mimi, and Ushi are all terms we see from the ancient past, commonly found in the names of sovereigns, among other things. It isn't until some time in about the 5th century that we start to see the family units arise.  These started as something like a corporate group or guild: Those who looked after horses were all labelled as Umakai, while those who worked jade and made magatama jewels were labelled as Tamatsukuribe.  These groups or “be” were familial in that they were structured much as a family, with a single family head.  That gave the ruler a single point of contact to presumably administer all of the work that particular corporate group was expected to perform.  Furthermore, the name passed to their children, who would presumably have been brought up in the family business.  For some of these families, rather than overseeing a business, craft, or similar thing, they were, instead, administrators of a given region or locality.  We might think of these as chiefly families, overseeing domains of varying sizes.  These families were known as “uji”.  This is often translated in English as “clan”, which is an overloaded term used to describe a group that all claim familial descent from a single putative ancestor—whether real or fictional.  Many of the earliest uji were created as “-be” groups:  Abe, Mononobe, Imbe, Kataribe, etc., but they eventually started dropping “-be” altogether: Inukahi, Umakahi, Soga, Nakatomi, Wani, and the like.  For these Uji, many were connected to various deities, or kami, from which they claimed descent.  These kami are thought to be some of the original ujigami, though that term later came to be applied to various kami that were seen as guardians of a particular locale, and later uji need not claim direct descent from a kami for it to be special.  For example, the main deity of Kasuga Taisha, the shrine built in Nara in the 8th century, said to house the ujigami of the Nakatomi and Fujiwara, primarily pays worship to Takemikazuchi no Mikoto and Futsunushi no Mikoto, deities brought from the east.  Takemikazuchi is considered an ujigami of the two uji, but the oyagami, the actual parent or ancestral kami from which they claim direct lineage, would be Ame no Koyane no Mikoto, who is also worshipped as the third deity at the shrine. The fact that these uji operate more like clans means that they were made up of numerous family units, who might be scattered across the archipelago.  At the head of each uji would have been a central family to provide the uji leadership and interface with the court.  Nonetheless, they were all considered the same uji, and a rise in the fortunes of the uji applied to all of its disparate members. To be clear, there were titles attached to individual names, Sukune, for example, which is one we've encountered several times in the narrative.  Professor Kan'ichi Asakawa, in his work “The Early Institutional Life of Japan”, provides an overview of some of these corporate titles, that came to be known as “kabane”.     In all likelihood, they all had a straightforward meaning at some point.  “Omi” means minister, for example, and continues to be used in that sense—as well as as a title—up through at least the 7th century.  Another common kabane that we see is “Muraji”, which appears to originally reference someone in charge of a village or similar polity.  Asakawa suggests that it comes from Mura no Ushi, with “Ushi” meaning something like “lord” and showing up elsewhere as well.  “Kimi” also appears to be demonstrating some kind of hegemony over a land. Beyond that, here are a few others that we have seen:  Atahe—or Atai—as well as Suguri, which appears to truly be a lower level village headmaster.  Then there is Agata-nushi, aka Agata No Ushi, the Lord of an Agata, or district.  Asakawa also notes Wake, Inaki, Sukune, Kishi, and Tamitsukasaas other kabane. The kabane are interesting in that they do appear to be precedental—that is to say that there does appear to be some kind of hierarchy in terms of the social position of each uji.  The kabane did not, however, confer any particular resources.  There was no stipend attached to a given kabane, though certain court positions were only open to members of uji with the appropriate kabane.  Perhaps most notable in this are the Omi and the Muraji, which were the only two family types that held the supreme court positions—what we would likely refer to as “Prime Minister”.  These included families such as the Ohotomo no Muraji, the Mononobe no Muraji, the Kose no Omi, and the Soga no Omi.  The heads of these families had a special title—the Ohomuraji or the Oho-omi, the Great Muraji and the Great Omi.  These positions were placed at the top of the court system, allowing them unrivaled access to the levers of power.  Typically there were two to three of these individuals at any given time, down to as few as one during the height of the Soga no Omi's power and influence. It is unclear if all uji at the Omi and Muraji level had a designated Oho-Omi or Oho-Muraji at their head, or if that was only for those who were in actual positions at the top of the court structure. It is also unclear if the precedence between the Omi and Muraji was always fixed.  Early on, we see Muraji houses that appear to be holding the majority of the powerful positions, and later we see the ascendancy of the Omi households.  By the 7th century, however, it appears that Omi came first, followed by Muraji, based on the order that individuals are frequently named in the Chronicles, among other things. As for the other titles, some of them we believe we know, and others are more of a mystery.  The origin of “wake” and “kimi” are rather obscure, though they both appear to have something to do with territorial rule and belong to uji that lay some kind of claim to a blood relationship with the royal house.  Some of them may have been rulers in their own lands, prior to Yamato hegemony. “Inaki” may be related to rice castle, or storehouse, and seems to have referred to one of the smallest local units.  That also means we rarely see it in the narrative, which tended to focus on those more closely tied to the court and the royal house.  Asakawa notes that the Atahe, or Atai, seems to be for uji who possessed some amount of private land and private soldiery, but we don't know much more.  Asakawa also points out that the Suguri, Tamitsukasa, and the Kishi kabane all seem to be related to groups with ties to the continent—perhaps descended from immigrant groups.  The Kuni no Miyatsuko and the Agata-nushi are the titles with the clearest seeming ties to territorial hegemony.  “Kuni” is the term for the ancient lands, such as Yamato, Kibi, Kenu, Koshi, etc. There seem to be around 140 such “kuni” described in the archipelago.  Agata, on the other hand, were much smaller districts.  While some of these district names have survived, it is hard, if not impossible, to know exactly how many of them there were. Then you have this term: “Miyatsuko”.  Breaking that apart, he translates it as child or servant—ko—of the exalted house—miya.  Taken together, these appear to reference the elite families in charge of overseeing territorial lands.We also see another term that uses “Miyatsuko”:  Tomo no Miyatsuko.  Unlike Kuni no Miyatsuko, Tomo no Miyatsuko is a term representing a group, rather than a kabane attached to an individual family.  When the sovereign addresses the court, for example, he typically addresses the Omi, the Muraji, the Tomo no Miyatsuko and the Kuni no Miyatsuko. Asakawa proposed that, technically, all of these could fall under the term “Miyatsuko” as servants of the sovereign's house.  Rather than focusing on specifics of all the myriad kabane, however, Asakawa treats them broadly as the Omi, Muraji, Tomo no Miyatsuko, and Kuni no Miyatsuko.  The Omi and the Muraji we already touched on.  They were the houses that could, among other things, supply the court with their Ohoomi and Ohomuraji—their prime ministers.  So it makes some sense.  The Tomo no Miyatsuko and the Kuni no Miyatsuko are a little more tricky  to pin down, but Asakawa suggests that, ased on what we can tell, the heads of the Omi, Muraji, and Tomo no Miyatsuko likely attended court on a regular basis and lived nearby, whereas the Kuni no Miyatsuko were those whose heads dwelt elsewhere, likely because they were the local elites in various other areas of the archipelago.  This is in the name—the term “tomo” might be thought of as being “with” someone, and at one point it is suggested  that the Tomo no Miyatsuko are related to those who traced kinship back to the kami who originally descended from the Plain of Heaven.  However, among the myriad kabane, not all of them were strictly local, and we find some kabane doing double duty for both local and geographically dispersed uji.  Thus he also suggested that Kuni no Miyatsuko, though it was a kabane in its own right, also represented the other forms of territorial elite titles—all those who did not regularly attend the court, but instead administered their own lands.   Richard Miller, in his work, “Ancient Japanese Nobility”, does provide a suggested hierarchy of the kabane.  I don't know if I completely agree, as I think that it was a lot more complicated across the entire archipelago, but nonetheless I'll add the information to the blogpost page if you want to see at least one suggestion of relative precedence between uji of different kabane. Now let's not forget that not everyone was a member of an uji.  For one thing, the royal family—both the sovereign's immediate family and Princes who claimed a more distant relationship—were exempt from the Uji-Kabane system.  Also, the commoners, those who actually toiled and worked the land, likewise would not have been included in a given Uji.  The Uji may have directed production, and even included certain artisans, but it still only included those who were tied, in some way, to the government. Now while the Uji-Kabane system may have started as titles with actual meanings—that is to say that the names and titles were essentially indicative of a group's role in society—it didn't take too long for it to become a little more abstract.  After all, generation after generation, people change.   Individuals vied for power and position in the court and elsewhere, and one's uji may rise, and even fall, depending on how they were able to succeed in the political climate of the day.  This was augmented with the marriage politics which no doubt was conducted as much between the elite families as well as with the royal family.  And then there were the branch or cadet families.  For example, let's say that the head of a family has four children.  Each one of those children could theoretically succeed their father—if his own siblings don't do so.  With each generation, the familial ties get weaker, and smaller, sub-houses could form.  If the uji was geographically dispersed, then local branches could become more or less independent. All of this seems to have caused not a small bit of confusion, and thus we get an edict in the last months of 682: it instructed all of the uji to ensure that they had a senior member—an uji-no-kami or ko-no-kami, with “kami”, in this instance, meaning top or head, rather than deity.  This family head was to be reported to the government, presumably so that the government knew exactly who was in charge of each family.  If there were too many people in a given uji, then they were encouraged to split themselves up and submit their own heads, with government officials adjudicating the decision.  Finally, they are exhorted not to include any people that do not belong. A few things this seems to indicate.  First is that the government did not have a handle on all of the different families out there, which makes some sense.  It had been many generations since the uji had been initially set up, and the State had gone through a lot in that period.  It may also indicate that there were those making a false claim to a family name specifically for the added prestige.  How difficult would it be to claim to be a member of a prominent family that just happened to have been from a far-flung, out of the way branch?  We see this in the 10th century with the Oushu Fujiwara—a family in Tohoku, around the region of Hiraizumi, who claimed descent from the famous Fujiwara family.  Of course, the Fujiwara family by that point had grown so large, that it was next to impossible to check any such claim.  How much moreso in the age before written records were common? We've seen examples where different parts of a given Uji were recorded separately.  For example, the Aya were split early on into different groups, with the Yamato no Aya being perhaps the most often referenced, but we also have the Kawachi no Aya—the Aya from Kawachi.  And then we have the Inukahi, where we see the Ama no Inukahi and the Agata no Inukahi, referring to the Inukahi of the Sea and the Inukahi of the District, though sometimes just a reference to “Inukahi”. Of course, it also seems that these branch families maintained the kabane of the original. Over time, uji were promoted, but rarely were they demoted.  And so, over time, more and more uji are counted among the ranks of the Omi and the Muraji. At the same time, the court was changing.  With the Taika reforms and the development of the ritsuryo codes, the Uji-kabane system was no longer required for managing the realm.  Furthermore, the government was centralizing land and the produce thereof.  And so they instituted the cap-rank system, a more explicit system of rank within the court that was held by the individual, not by the entire uji.  In addition, cap-rank could be tied directly to a stipend, making the court officers more dependent on the central government, rather than on their own uji's resources. Early on, it is likely that higher cap rank was given to members of the more highly exalted uji, as those were the uji that also filled the upper echelons of government and therefore would have been best prepared to succeed in those roles.  However, as things continued, it was likely that it was going to get even more confused.  Or they would need to raise up all of the families to Omi and Muraji status, but as that happened, the meaning of the kabane themselves became less and less clear.  After all, if everyone is an “Omi” and “Muraji” than, really, nobody is. In 681, we are told that they began to put together a law code, and later a law code of 92 articles is said to have been established.  However, it seems it was still being updated, and wasn't until 689, after Ohoama's death, that all 22 volumes would be distributed to the various governors.  It became known as the Kiyomihara Codes.  In 684, Ohoama's reforms attacked the problem of the Kabane.  The record complains that the various titles had become confused.  That there were people out there taking kabane they were not entitled to, and just a general confusion because it no longer aligned quite so well with the evolving cultural norms of the new Yamato state.  Early attempts to deal with this appear to have been, in the years since they began codifying it all in 681, to raise up families and individuals to the rank of “Muraji”.  There are several records where lists of families are all given “Muraji”.  In the case of individuals being granted Muraji, it is unclear if that was going just to them or to their entire family, though there are some examples where it seems an individual was granted the title and then their uji was separately awarded the same. This seems like an initial attempt to straighten things out.  With the new bureaucratic system and the court ranks, no doubt there were people of worth from uji with less prestigious kabane who now outranked individuals from uji that were, at least on paper, more prestigious.  This can't really have solved the problem.  If anything, it just watered down the meaning of “muraji” even further, since now everyone and their brother seemed to have been granted that title. Ohoama's solution was to pare down the system to only eight kabane, total.  Some of these were existing kabane, and others were entirely new. At the bottom of this new system was the title of Inaki, which had been about the lowest territorial kabane of the existing system.  I suspect that this included all of those families that were still below the rank of Muraji, who had not been raised up in the preceding years.  However, from there it immediately jumped up to the Muraji and Omi, in that order.  And so the kabane that were previously at the top of the system were now towards the bottom.  That way, they could “promote” families into greater kabane, without needing to “demote” a bunch of existing families at the same time. Above the Omi were mostly new kabane, except for one.  The first was “Michinoshi”, a Master of the Way.  It is unclear what this was intended for, as we aren't told who was promoted to this kabane.  Based on the name, it is thought that this may have been for uji that had demonstrated a mastery of learning or perhaps some other pursuit, such as medicine, science, crafts, etc. Above the Michinoshi title was the kabane of Imiki, the fourth of eight.  This may mean something like “One who arrived”.  Some suggest that it may have originally been “imaki”.  Richard Miller, in his work “Ancient Japanese Nobility” suggests that this was effectively the equivalent of the old title of “Atahe”.  That said, most of those who received this kabane had previously been promoted to the old title of “Muraji”, though before that they were mostly Atahe, or else Obito, Kishi, or Miyatsuko. There is a thought that Imiki had something to do with “coming” and was meant for uji descended from immigrant families.  Miller notes that this is not immediately born out in the data from the Nihon Shoki, where we see about a 50:50 split between immigrant and native uji.  However, in the following chronicle, the Shoku Nihongi, we see about 100 of 150 of uji with the Imiki kabane  that were of immigrant origins, so 2/3rds.  That still isn't entirely conclusive, but does add some weight to the idea. Continuing to the 3rd kabane from the top we are at “Sukune”.  This was previously used as a kabane, but from what I can tell it was given to an individual and was not passed down to the entire uji.  Now it was something different.  Miller suggests that this kabane was for those uji who claimed descent from one of the kami, but not necessarily from the royal lineage. In contrast, Asomi, later read as “Ason”, the 2nd of the 8 kabane, literally reads as “court minister”.  It appears to be for those who claimed some connection to the royal family.  It is notable that Ohoama awarded this to some 52 families during his reign.  Compare that with making 11 Imiki and 13 Mabito, the next and highest ranking kabane.  Asomi would be the most common kabane among those at the top of the court bureaucracy.  Of all of them, this one seems to linger, perhaps because it is the kabane that was given to the Fujiwara family, who then carried that with them into later centuries. Finally, there is Mabito.  Mabito means something like “True Person” or perhaps “Upright Person”, and it seems to have gone exclusively to families with the old kabane of “kimi”.  An examination of the thirteen uji in this group indicates that they were those with close royal ties, who claimed a descent closely related to that of the royal family.  So those were the new kabane.  Although they were declared in 684 and handed out through the following year, we do see some individuals referenced with these kabane earlier in the narrative.  This is likely just due to the fact that it is how they were eventually known, and so they are given an anachronistic kabane, which was probably much easier for the compilers than trying to make sure that all of the names were exactly correct for each record. With the kabane thus dealt with, Ohoama then went on to make some major changes to the court rank system as well.  In many ways I would say that his ranks were quite novel—previous changes to the cap-rank system had largely been additions or slight modifications but had left many of the names intact with each change.  As such, the rank system decreed in 664 was really just an update to the previous cap-rank system of 649 and earlier.  And so even through 664 you still had things like “Greater brocade” as someone's rank.  Towards the end of his reign, though, along with other reforms to the government, Determining what exactly the rank system was at any given point can be a little confusing.  Depending on the record being used, names are sometimes referenced anachronistically: That is they are given with the ultimate title, kabane, or rank by which they were known. This could sometimes be after multiple phases of reform, and so the honors mentioned may not necessarily reflect that individual's ranks and position at the date of the entry.  Also the various rank systems are close enough, sharing many of the various rank names, such that it isn't immediately obvious if something different is being used. This is true of both kabane and court ranks.  Furthermore, as many individuals may only be mentioned once or twice, we may not always have a lot of data on how things may have changed.    The new system enacted in 685 was different in several ways that make it quite distinct.  In fact, we see in the record of this reign earlier mentions of individuals where their rank is given in terms of the new system even in records predating 685.  So what did that look like? The rank system of 685 still used various signifiers, which broke things up into categories, but these were broken up into 2-4 numerical grades:  Ichi-I, Ni-I, San-I, Shi-I, or first rank, second rank, third rank, and fourth rank.  This gets us closer to what was eventually an almost purely numerical system.  Each grade was then divided further into “Larger”: “Dai”; or “Broader”: “Kou” This is also where we see Princely ranks enumerated for the first time.  As we noted, previously, princely rank was something that we started to see at the beginning of this reign in the Nihon Shoki, with Prince of the third rank, etc. In 685, however, we get an actual proclamation. The Princely ranks are broken into two large categories—the bright, or Myou, ranks and the Pure, or Jou ranks.  There were two grades of Myou—Ichi-I and Ni-I, and four grades of Jou—Ichi-I, Ni-I, San-I, and Shi-I.  Each grade was further divided twice into large, dai, or broad, kou.  So you had Myou-dai-ichi-I, Myou-kou-ichi-I, Myou-dai-ni-I, Myou-kou, ni-i… et cetera.  That translates to something like Large First Bright rank, Broad First Bright rank, Large Second Bright rank, and Broad Second Bright rank.  This would continue with “Jou” replacing “Myou”, and provided a total of 12 princely ranks. As for how they were divvied out, we only see the granting of “Jou” ranks.  In fact, Kusakabe, the Crown Prince himself is given Broader Pure First Rank (Jou-kou-ichi-i).  His brother, Prince Ohotsu, was given Larger Pure Second Rank, their brother Takechi, who had helped lead the forces in the Jinshin war, was given Broader Pure Second Rank, one lower than his younger brother.  Both Kawashima and Osakabe were given Larger Pure Third Rank.  So if the highest “Pure” rank was going to the Crown Prince, then who were the Myou ranks going to?  Unfortunately, thou the system would last until the development of the Taihou code, in 703, we don't have any clear examples of the Myou ranks being handed out, so that may be a puzzle we don't unravel. Beyond the ranks for the various princes, there was another, similar set of ranks for the common court nobles.  This system had 6 categories, broken up, like the Princely ranks, into four grades, each further divided into Larger and Broader, as before.  In this case the categories were: Shou – Upright Jiki – Straight Gon – Diligent Mu – Earnest Tsui – Pursue Shin – Advancement This created 48 total rank divisions, which gave an unprecedented granularity for the court.  As for granting rank, we have a couple of examples of that, beyond just the posthumous grants.  In 686, Ohoama conferred Gon-I, the Dilligent rank, on six ministers who attended to him, personally.  There was also a request that provincial governors should select nine people of achievement who could likely be given the same. There is one strange account:  in 685, Awata no Asomi no Mabito—Mabito, in this case, being his given name—requested permission to transfer his rank to his father, but this was refused. And I think this gets to the heart of the cultural change that was underway, and which Ohoama and the court was actively encouraging.  Although the kabane titles were a collective rank, court rank, and the accompanying stipend, was for the individual.  This wasn't something that could accrue to the head of a family.  That would have been an important point at a time when the traditions of the uji system were still quite strong. So there we have it.  Hopefully there was something new for you to take away as we come to better understand Ohoama and his court. We still have plenty more to discuss—probably enough for a few more episodes as we cover some of the natural events and disasters, the ties between the court and religion, as well as what was going on with peninsular affairs, not to mention the myriad other little random tidbits.  We'll get to all of that as we can. Next episode we'll take a look at the material culture of the court.  Specifically we'll take a look at what we know about their dress and clothing, much of which was influenced by that sumptuary laws that were, themselves, tied in closely with this new rank system. Until then, 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.

VOV1 - Chiều nay 11/10, tại Sendai – Đông Bắc Nhật Bản, Đại học Tohoku – một trong những cơ sở giáo dục - nghiên cứu khoa học hàng đầu Nhật Bản và thế giới, có bề dầy lịch sử hơn 100 năm, đã trang trọng tổ chức Lễ trao giải thưởng quốc tế Tohoku cho các nhà khoa học nước ngoài.

DIY Enthusiast & the man behind "Anton in Japan" YouTube Channel, Anton Wörmann joins the Krewe to talk about akiya, Japan's abandoned home phenomenon, and how he's transforming them into stunning spaces. We dig into what it's like to buy, clear out, & renovate an akiya and how Anton's journey from fashion to DIY restoration is reshaping what “home” means in Japan.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode (timestamps [hh:mm:ss] where you can find the code)!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  (00:53:00)------ Past Home & Architecture Episodes ------S5E15 - Change in Urban & Rural Japanese Communities ft. Azby BrownS5E6 - Inside Japanese Homes & Architecture ft. Azby BrownS3E2 - Buying Real Estate in Japan ft. Ziv Nakajima-Magen------ Links about Anton ------Anton in Japan YouTube ChannelAnton on IGAnton in Japan Website & ResourcesAnton on TikTokAnton's Live Master Class on Oct 12 @ 10am JST (Sign Up!)Anton's Akiya Master Class Program------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

Welcome to Those Days: A Michinoku Pro Retrospective!Those Days returns as it's time to close out Michinoku Pro's 1994! Case (https://twitter.com/_inyourcase) and Mike (https://twitter.com/fujiiheya) discuss a return to Tohoku for Michinoku to close out their year, starting with a huge show in Iwate (10/30) and the Double Hell Exploding Wire Timed Landmine Death Match between The Great Sasuke and Atsushi Onita, Michinoku Pro on the Big Egg Wrestling Universe Dome Show, Jinsei Shinzaki's debut as Hakushi in WWF, and closing out the year with shows in Nagoya (12/15) and Tokushima (12/17) concluding MichiPro's 1994 with Jinsei Shinzaki's farewell as Delfin Corps collide with Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa vs Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku!A full match listing of footage covered during this episode can be found at the show post on www.voicesofwrestling.com or in the Open The Voice Gate channel on the VOW Discord.Our podcast provider, Red Circle, offers the listeners the option to sponsor the show. Click on “Sponsor This Podcaster” at https://redcircle.com/shows/open-the-voice-gate and you can donate a single time, or set up a monthly donation to Open the Voice Gate!Please Rate and Review Open The Voice Gate on the podcast platform of your choice and follow us on social media with @openvoicegate!.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Japan Station, we're talking to Quinlan from the GoNorth Japan YouTube channel about surviving a bear encounter in Japan, hiking in the Tohoku area of Japan and more.

In this episode of Supernatural Japan, we explore the chilling legend of the “Extra Dancer” who appears during Bon Odori festivals in rural Tohoku. Rooted in Japan's Obon traditions—a time when spirits of the dead are believed to return—we uncover ghostly encounters, cultural history, and eerie first-hand accounts of this mysterious figure who joins the dance but vanishes without a trace. Join us as we dive deep into Japanese folklore, regional customs, and the haunted heart of summer in Tohoku. Perfect for fans of Japanese ghost stories, Obon traditions, and the supernatural.Follow the podcast: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supernaturaljapanBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/madformaple.bsky.socialX: https://x.com/MadForMapleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/supernaturaljapanEmail: supernaturaljapan@gmail.comSupport the podcast (Help fund the creation of new episodes) MEMBERSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE!: https://buymeacoffee.com/busankevinYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BusanKevinNEW podcast companion blogs! https://justjapanstuff.com/Website: https://supernaturaljapan.buzzsprout.comSupport the show

A quick update from the Krewe on a short release break & things to come! Big things poppin' with the Krewe!!------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ JSNO Info & Upcoming Events ------Support the Krewe - Donate to JSNO!JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

The Richter scale is used to measure the strength of an earthquake. Theoretically, the maximum reading that's possible is 10. The most powerful quake ever recorded was 9.5, which happened in Chile in 1960. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami for instance, was caused by a quake that measured 9.2 on the Richter scale, and it led to the death of 228,000 people. The 2011 Tohoku quake in Japan measured 9 on the Richter scale – it caused the Fukushima nuclear accident, and led to more than 19,500 deaths.  On July 30, the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 – not far behind the deadly quakes of 2004 and 2011. It is the sixth most powerful quake ever recorded. It led to tsunami alerts in a dozen countries. But amazingly, and fortunately, for such a powerful quake, there were zero casualties.  Kamchatka is on the Circum-Pacific seismic belt or the so-called ‘Ring of Fire,' and is prone to seismic activity. So how did the region escape such a major earthquake with no casualties?  Guest: Christina Malyk, special correspondent with Sputnik, based in Moscow.  Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu  Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian  Note: The term ‘Richter scale' used in the podcast and in the note above is meant to denote the strength of the quake on the moment magnitude scale, and not the Richter scale, which is no longer in use. The Kamchatka quake measured 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale. The term Richter scale remains a familiar one for the public and is frequently used but is technically incorrect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Need personalised guidance for planning your Japan trip?Send me a DM on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram @japan.experts⁠⁠⁠Join the ⁠⁠⁠Japan Experts Community on Facebook⁠⁠⁠Grab one of my FREE Japan Travel Guides:⁠⁠⁠T⁠⁠⁠⁠he Complete Japan Travel Guide: the 7 steps to creating your unique immersive experience⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hidden Japan: 10 Authentic Cultural Experiences⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Đầu tháng 5 vừa qua, Bộ Chính trị Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam đã ban hành nghị quyết mới về phát triển khu vực tư nhân, lần đầu tiên khẳng định "kinh tế tư nhân là một động lực quan trọng nhất của nền kinh tế quốc gia". Đối với những người mong muốn một làn sóng cải cách mới, có thể mở ra giai đoạn tăng trưởng kinh tế tiếp theo của Việt Nam, Nghị quyết 68 được ca ngợi là một văn kiện chính sách quan trọng, thậm chí là một "bình minh mới". Theo Nghị quyết 68, khu vực tư nhân ở Việt Nam  hiện chiếm 50% GDP, 30% thu ngân sách nhà nước và 82% việc làm, tuy nhiên văn kiện này thừa nhận những vấn đề trong việc phát triển một khu vực tư nhân mạnh ở Việt Nam: “Sau gần 40 năm đổi mới, kinh tế tư nhân hiện vẫn đối mặt với nhiều rào cản kìm hãm sự phát triển, chưa bứt phá về quy mô và năng lực cạnh tranh, chưa đáp ứng được yêu cầu, kỳ vọng là lực lượng nòng cốt của kinh tế đất nước.” Nghị quyết nêu rõ, trong 5 năm tới, Việt Nam cần tăng gấp đôi số lượng doanh nghiệp nhỏ đăng ký chính thức,  từ khoảng 900.000 doanh nghiệp hiện nay lên 2 triệu doanh nghiệp vào năm 2030. Đến năm 2045, cả nước phải đạt mục tiêu ít nhất 3 triệu doanh nghiệp, đóng góp hơn 60% GDP và "có năng lực cạnh tranh cao trong khu vực và quốc tế".  The Diplomat: Đảng "độc thoại" với khu vực tư nhân Vì sao Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam lại cảm thấy cần phải ban hành một nghị quyết như vậy và nghị quyết này hướng đến ai? Nick J. Freeman, một nhà tư vấn phát triển kinh tế, trong một bài viết đăng trên trang mạng của Nhật The Diplomat ngày 08/07/2025, giải đáp:  “Một số người có thể lập luận rằng đây là một phần trong nỗ lực của Việt Nam nhằm thuyết phục bộ Thương Mại Hoa Kỳ rằng Việt Nam thực sự là một nền kinh tế thị trường? vào thời điểm các vấn đề thương mại và thuế quan đang là ưu tiên hàng đầu trong kinh tế. Gần đây nhất, vào tháng 8/2024, Washington vẫn coi Việt Nam là một nền kinh tế phi thị trường (chỉ có khoảng một chục quốc gia bị xem như vậy), điều này có ảnh hưởng đến cách Hoa Kỳ đánh giá thuế đối với hàng xuất khẩu của Việt Nam và đối với bất kỳ cáo buộc bán phá giá nào. Bộ Thương Mại Mỹ lưu ý rằng, tuy Hà Nội đã có những nỗ lực cải cách gần đây, "sự can thiệp sâu rộng" của chính phủ vào nền kinh tế đã "làm sai lệch giá cả và chi phí của Việt Nam". Chắc chắn rằng việc chính phủ Việt Nam sở hữu trực tiếp nhiều doanh nghiệp nhà nước và mức độ kiểm soát của chính phủ đối với một loạt các nguồn lực kinh doanh là những vấn đề di sản của nền kinh tế chỉ huy của Việt Nam trước những năm 1990 . Cũng đúng là cho đến nay, bộ phận thành công nhất của khu vực tư nhân là bộ phận có vốn đầu tư nước ngoài. Mức độ thành công mà Việt Nam đạt được trong 40 năm qua trong việc thu hút đầu tư trực tiếp nước ngoài không được phản ánh trong việc phát triển một khu vực phi nhà nước, tự phát triển hơn.” Theo Nick J. Freeman, “các doanh nghiệp nhà nước (và chính phủ sở hữu các doanh nghiệp đó ) phải chịu một phần trách nhiệm, vì đã lấn át các đối thủ tư nhân trong một số lĩnh vực, nhưng họ không phải là thủ phạm duy nhất. Ai cũng thừa nhận rằng môi trường bảo đảm cho các công ty tư nhân phát triển và đạt được quy mô kinh tế cần thiết để cạnh tranh hiệu quả đã không hoàn toàn thuận lợi.” Nick J. Freeman viết tiếp: “Nếu tin vào Nghị quyết 68, các doanh nghiệp nhà nước sắp mất đi những đặc quyền còn lại của họ. Tuy nhiên, những thói quen cũ khó thay đổi. Giống như vào thời kỳ kinh tế chỉ huy, nghị quyết đặt ra nhiều mục tiêu đầy tham vọng cho sự phát triển của khu vực tư nhân vào năm 2030, chẳng hạn như tăng gấp đôi số lượng doanh nghiệp tư nhân, có 20 doanh nghiệp tư nhân trên 1.000 dân, tăng đóng góp của khu vực tư nhân vào GDP và lực lượng lao động...  Sự ưu ái có phần lãng mạn của giới lãnh đạo đối với các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ vẫn còn, mặc dù điều Việt Nam thực sự cần là một đội ngũ các công ty tư nhân lớn có thể tự mình cạnh tranh với các doanh nghiệp nhà nước và doanh nghiệp có vốn đầu tư nước ngoài, thay vì cứ phải tự xoay xở. Món quà lớn nhất mà giới lãnh đạo Hà Nội có thể dành cho khu vực tư nhân là giải phóng họ khỏi những mục tiêu tùy tiện như vậy, và trao cho họ quyền tự chủ để phát triển và thành công về mặt thương mại, bằng cách tập trung và tận dụng năng lực, cũng như chuyên môn vốn có của nhiều doanh nghiệp Việt Nam. Nếu Đảng yêu thích khu vực tư nhân, thì hãy để họ tự do.” Nick J. Freeman ghi nhận năm nay, dự kiến ​​Việt Nam sẽ cải tổ Hiến pháp, cũng có thể sẽ có một số thay đổi quan trọng trong những phần liên quan đến nền kinh tế, vì những thay đổi về tư duy trong Nghị quyết 68 bắt đầu không phù hợp với một số điều khoản trong Hiến pháp. Ví dụ, Điều 51 Hiến pháp khẳng định: “Nền kinh tế Việt Nam là nền kinh tế thị trường định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa với nhiều hình thức sở hữu và nhiều thành phần kinh tế; kinh tế nhà nước giữ vai trò chủ đạo”.  Tác giả bài viết kết luận: “Một phần nào đó, Nghị quyết 68 khiến ta có cảm giác như một lời độc thoại của Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam với khu vực tư nhân, như thể họ đang tìm cách tự thuyết phục mình, cũng như thuyết phục bất kỳ ai khác, dù trong nước hay nước ngoài, rằng triển vọng kinh tế tương lai của Việt Nam sẽ phụ thuộc vào sự phát triển thành công của khu vực tư nhân. Với hàng loạt vụ bê bối gây chấn động gần đây trong lĩnh vực doanh nghiệp và ngân hàng, có lẽ Hà Nội cảm thấy cần phải tái khẳng định cam kết theo đuổi nền kinh tế thị trường, dù “định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa” đến đâu. Liệu Nghị quyết 68 có đủ sức thuyết phục chính quyền Hoa Kỳ rằng Việt Nam ngày nay thực sự là một nền kinh tế thị trường hay không? Có thể hình dung rằng Washington sẽ xem xét có những thay đổi nào trong cách diễn đạt của Hiến pháp, bao gồm cả Điều 4 : “Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam lấy chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin và Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh làm nền tảng tư tưởng“ Nikkei Asia: Hưởng lợi nhiều nhất là các doanh nghiệp lớn Trang mạng Nikkei Asia ngày 10/07/2025 thì đặc biệt lưu ý là Nghị quyết 68 về kinh tế tư nhân chủ yếu tạo thuận lợi cho các doanh nghiệp lớn, còn số phận của các doanh nghiệp nhỏ thì vẫn không rõ ràng. Tờ báo viết: “Tại Việt Nam, một đội quân những người bán hàng rong nhỏ lẻ đang cung cấp thực phẩm cho cả nước, từ già đến trẻ, bán những món ăn chủ yếu, như bánh mì thịt với giá chưa đến một đô la. Đội quân này cũng là trọng tâm của Nghị quyết 68. Giống như 5 triệu hộ kinh doanh cá thể mà chính quyền ước tính đang hoạt động không chính thức tại Việt Nam, nhiều người bán hàng rong không nộp thuế và không được đăng ký chính thức là doanh nghiệp, theo các chuyên gia. Họ cho rằng thời gian, thủ tục hành chính liên quan đến việc đăng ký các doanh nghiệp siêu nhỏ không mang lại lợi ích gì, mà chỉ là gánh nặng vì rườm rà và có thể ảnh hưởng đến thu nhập của các doanh nghiệp này, thường hoạt động mà không thu hoặc cấp hóa đơn”. Phóng viên của tờ báo đã đến một con hẻm đông đúc ở quận Bình Thạnh, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, nơi các doanh nghiệp nhỏ đủ loại hình chiếm lĩnh tầng trệt của hầu hết các chung cư, rõ ràng thách thức trong việc thực hiện cải cách vẫn còn ít được hiểu rõ. Một chủ nhà hàng sushi trong con hẻm mô tả Nghị quyết 68 là "đáng thất vọng". Nghiêm, một chủ nhà hàng đăng ký là kinh doanh hộ gia đình, cho biết : "Thực sự rất khó mà tuân thủ các tiêu chuẩn." Gần đó, một người phụ nữ bán bánh bao trên một chiếc xe đẩy nhỏ cho biết gia đình bà đã tránh đăng ký kinh doanh cho đến nay, sợ rằng thuế sẽ cắt giảm thu nhập ít ỏi của họ. Các doanh nghiệp lớn nhỏ trên khắp cả nước đang chờ đợi được giải thích rõ ràng hơn về luật thuế mới được ban hành phù hợp với các cải cách khu vực tư nhân, bao gồm cả việc doanh nghiệp phải nộp bao nhiêu thuế.  Một người bán hàng rong, xin được giấu tên, cho biết: " Xe bán bánh bao do bố mẹ tôi làm chủ và họ chỉ kiếm được một ít tiền, vì vậy tôi không nghĩ họ sẽ đăng ký. Thu nhập của chúng tôi quá ít ỏi."  Nghị quyết 68 kêu gọi các cơ quan chức năng xóa bỏ lệ phí đăng ký và miễn thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp cho các doanh nghiệp mới trong ba năm đầu hoạt động. Nghị quyết cũng thúc đẩy việc đơn giản hóa và số hóa các thủ tục hành chính, khuyến khích tiêu dùng và bán hàng hóa Việt Nam, đồng thời đảm bảo việc sử dụng hợp lý quyền tiếp cận đất đai, vốn, công nghệ và dữ liệu trong các lĩnh vực kinh tế.  Nikkei Asia lưu ý: “Nghị quyết 68 mới chỉ bắt đầu được cụ thể hóa trong luật, khiến nhiều chủ doanh nghiệp nhỏ đang loay hoay tìm hiểu xem chính sách và quy định của chính phủ sẽ ảnh hưởng đến họ cụ thể như thế nào. Một số người lo ngại sẽ có cuộc trấn áp chống trốn thuế và kinh doanh hàng giả, nên có thể sẽ bị chậm trễ trong quá trình đăng ký kinh doanh cho các doanh nghiệp hợp pháp. ( … ) Mặc dù nỗ lực thúc đẩy khu vực tư nhân được ủng hộ rộng rãi trong nước, các chuyên gia lo ngại rằng nhóm nhỏ các tập đoàn tư nhân lớn hiện có của Việt Nam có thể là những người hưởng lợi nhiều nhất, trong khi các chủ doanh nghiệp nhỏ đang phải vật lộn dưới áp lực chính thức hóa hoạt động.” Nikkei Asia trích dẫn ông Nguyễn Khắc Giang, nghiên cứu viên thỉnh giảng tại Viện Nghiên cứu Đông Nam Á của Singapore, cho biết “có thể sẽ được hưởng lợi nhiều nhất chính là các doanh nghiệp vốn đã được hưởng ưu đãi từ các nhà hoạch định chính sách, bao gồm quyền tiếp cận đất đai - đặc biệt là đất thuộc sở hữu nhà nước - và tín dụng ưu đãi từ các ngân hàng thương mại tại Việt Nam". Nhà nghiên cứu Nguyễn Khắc Giang lấy Vingroup làm ví dụ. Tập đoàn này đã dựa vào lĩnh vực bất động sản để xây dựng cơ đồ và hiện có một loạt các công ty con, bao gồm VinFast, thương hiệu ô tô đầu tiên của Việt Nam vươn ra toàn cầu. Trong số các doanh nghiệp lớn khác có thể hưởng lợi từ Nghị quyết 68, có Tập đoàn thép Hòa Phát, công ty bất động sản Sun Group và nhà sản xuất ô tô THACO. Các doanh nghiệp tư nhân lớn hiện có ở Việt Nam rất táo bạo, giàu vốn, hoặc có mối quan hệ với các tổ chức tài chính toàn cầu, và nhất là đã chứng minh được khả năng phát triển nhanh chóng, trong khi các doanh nghiệp nhà nước vẫn chậm chạp và kém hiệu quả, theo nhận định của các nhà quan sát.  Cũng trong bài viết của Nikkei Asia, Alexander Vuving, giáo sư tại Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Chiến lược và Quốc tế Honolulu, cho rằng, trên thực tế, Nghị quyết 68 không tạo nhiều không gian cho một thị trường cạnh tranh. Thay vào đó, ông Tô Lâm đang thúc đẩy một mô hình giống như các chaebol Hàn Quốc - các tập đoàn lớn do gia đình điều hành - làm động lực tăng trưởng chính. Vuving nói: "Điều tôi thấy trong nghị quyết này là sự thúc đẩy các công ty lớn. Họ sẽ được hưởng một vị thế độc quyền."  Fulcrum: Giám sát chặt chẽ và nỗ lực chống tham nhũng Trong một bài viết đăng ngày 05/06 trên trang Fulcrum, chuyên phân tích về Đông Nam Á, Nicholas Chapman, nhà nghiên cứu tại Đại học Tohoku, chuyên về chính sách đối ngoại, kinh tế chính trị và lịch sử Việt Nam, cảnh báo: “Nếu không đưa giám sát, minh bạch và cạnh tranh công bằng vào quá trình thực hiện, chiến lược này có thể lặp lại những sai lầm trong quá khứ. Bài học quan trọng ở đây là: chỉ loại bỏ các rào cản đầu tư thôi là chưa đủ. Chính phủ cũng phải đảm bảo rằng sự hỗ trợ của nhà nước đi đôi với việc giám sát thận trọng và các nỗ lực chống tham nhũng, tạo ra một sân chơi bình đẳng giữa các tập đoàn lớn và các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ, và nỗ lực hơn nữa để tích hợp các công ty trong nước vào chuỗi cung ứng toàn cầu. Nghị quyết 68 chắc chắn cho thấy nhiều hứa hẹn, nhưng nếu không có các biện pháp bảo vệ, chiến lược này có thể lặp lại những sai lầm trong quá khứ. Bản thân các doanh nghiệp tư nhân cũng không tránh khỏi tham nhũng và hành vi trục lợi.”  Nhà nghiên cứu Nicholas Chapman viết tiếp: “Tương tự, việc nhà nước thúc đẩy khu vực tư nhân mạnh mẽ hơn cũng cần đảm bảo rằng các tập đoàn lớn không bóp nghẹt nền kinh tế và độc quyền chuyển giao tri thức, từ đó có khả năng cản trở sự phát triển của các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ. Nghị quyết 68 nhấn mạnh rằng khu vực tư nhân nên cạnh tranh bình đẳng với các khu vực kinh tế khác, nhưng không đề cập đến việc các doanh nghiệp cạnh tranh bình đẳng với nhau. Các chaebol của Hàn Quốc là một ví dụ điển hình về mối nguy hiểm của việc mất cân bằng trong sân chơi. Sự thống trị thị trường của các tập đoàn khổng lồ trong những năm gần đây đã kìm hãm sự phát triển của các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ và các công ty khởi nghiệp, mặc dù các doanh nghiệp này chiếm tỷ trọng về việc làm cao hơn nhiều. Nghị quyết 68 đặt mục tiêu thành lập 2 triệu doanh nghiệp trong nền kinh tế. Tuy nhiên, như các chuyên gia đã chỉ ra, tăng trưởng về số lượng trong các doanh nghiệp tư nhân là chưa đủ. Các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ cần có cơ hội hội nhập vào chuỗi giá trị và thiết lập mối liên kết chặt chẽ với các công ty trong và ngoài nước.”

Đầu tháng 5 vừa qua, Bộ Chính trị Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam đã ban hành nghị quyết mới về phát triển khu vực tư nhân, lần đầu tiên khẳng định "kinh tế tư nhân là một động lực quan trọng nhất của nền kinh tế quốc gia". Đối với những người mong muốn một làn sóng cải cách mới, có thể mở ra giai đoạn tăng trưởng kinh tế tiếp theo của Việt Nam, Nghị quyết 68 được ca ngợi là một văn kiện chính sách quan trọng, thậm chí là một "bình minh mới". Theo Nghị quyết 68, khu vực tư nhân ở Việt Nam  hiện chiếm 50% GDP, 30% thu ngân sách nhà nước và 82% việc làm, tuy nhiên văn kiện này thừa nhận những vấn đề trong việc phát triển một khu vực tư nhân mạnh ở Việt Nam: “Sau gần 40 năm đổi mới, kinh tế tư nhân hiện vẫn đối mặt với nhiều rào cản kìm hãm sự phát triển, chưa bứt phá về quy mô và năng lực cạnh tranh, chưa đáp ứng được yêu cầu, kỳ vọng là lực lượng nòng cốt của kinh tế đất nước.” Nghị quyết nêu rõ, trong 5 năm tới, Việt Nam cần tăng gấp đôi số lượng doanh nghiệp nhỏ đăng ký chính thức,  từ khoảng 900.000 doanh nghiệp hiện nay lên 2 triệu doanh nghiệp vào năm 2030. Đến năm 2045, cả nước phải đạt mục tiêu ít nhất 3 triệu doanh nghiệp, đóng góp hơn 60% GDP và "có năng lực cạnh tranh cao trong khu vực và quốc tế".  The Diplomat: Đảng "độc thoại" với khu vực tư nhân Vì sao Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam lại cảm thấy cần phải ban hành một nghị quyết như vậy và nghị quyết này hướng đến ai? Nick J. Freeman, một nhà tư vấn phát triển kinh tế, trong một bài viết đăng trên trang mạng của Nhật The Diplomat ngày 08/07/2025, giải đáp:  “Một số người có thể lập luận rằng đây là một phần trong nỗ lực của Việt Nam nhằm thuyết phục bộ Thương Mại Hoa Kỳ rằng Việt Nam thực sự là một nền kinh tế thị trường? vào thời điểm các vấn đề thương mại và thuế quan đang là ưu tiên hàng đầu trong kinh tế. Gần đây nhất, vào tháng 8/2024, Washington vẫn coi Việt Nam là một nền kinh tế phi thị trường (chỉ có khoảng một chục quốc gia bị xem như vậy), điều này có ảnh hưởng đến cách Hoa Kỳ đánh giá thuế đối với hàng xuất khẩu của Việt Nam và đối với bất kỳ cáo buộc bán phá giá nào. Bộ Thương Mại Mỹ lưu ý rằng, tuy Hà Nội đã có những nỗ lực cải cách gần đây, "sự can thiệp sâu rộng" của chính phủ vào nền kinh tế đã "làm sai lệch giá cả và chi phí của Việt Nam". Chắc chắn rằng việc chính phủ Việt Nam sở hữu trực tiếp nhiều doanh nghiệp nhà nước và mức độ kiểm soát của chính phủ đối với một loạt các nguồn lực kinh doanh là những vấn đề di sản của nền kinh tế chỉ huy của Việt Nam trước những năm 1990 . Cũng đúng là cho đến nay, bộ phận thành công nhất của khu vực tư nhân là bộ phận có vốn đầu tư nước ngoài. Mức độ thành công mà Việt Nam đạt được trong 40 năm qua trong việc thu hút đầu tư trực tiếp nước ngoài không được phản ánh trong việc phát triển một khu vực phi nhà nước, tự phát triển hơn.” Theo Nick J. Freeman, “các doanh nghiệp nhà nước (và chính phủ sở hữu các doanh nghiệp đó ) phải chịu một phần trách nhiệm, vì đã lấn át các đối thủ tư nhân trong một số lĩnh vực, nhưng họ không phải là thủ phạm duy nhất. Ai cũng thừa nhận rằng môi trường bảo đảm cho các công ty tư nhân phát triển và đạt được quy mô kinh tế cần thiết để cạnh tranh hiệu quả đã không hoàn toàn thuận lợi.” Nick J. Freeman viết tiếp: “Nếu tin vào Nghị quyết 68, các doanh nghiệp nhà nước sắp mất đi những đặc quyền còn lại của họ. Tuy nhiên, những thói quen cũ khó thay đổi. Giống như vào thời kỳ kinh tế chỉ huy, nghị quyết đặt ra nhiều mục tiêu đầy tham vọng cho sự phát triển của khu vực tư nhân vào năm 2030, chẳng hạn như tăng gấp đôi số lượng doanh nghiệp tư nhân, có 20 doanh nghiệp tư nhân trên 1.000 dân, tăng đóng góp của khu vực tư nhân vào GDP và lực lượng lao động...  Sự ưu ái có phần lãng mạn của giới lãnh đạo đối với các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ vẫn còn, mặc dù điều Việt Nam thực sự cần là một đội ngũ các công ty tư nhân lớn có thể tự mình cạnh tranh với các doanh nghiệp nhà nước và doanh nghiệp có vốn đầu tư nước ngoài, thay vì cứ phải tự xoay xở. Món quà lớn nhất mà giới lãnh đạo Hà Nội có thể dành cho khu vực tư nhân là giải phóng họ khỏi những mục tiêu tùy tiện như vậy, và trao cho họ quyền tự chủ để phát triển và thành công về mặt thương mại, bằng cách tập trung và tận dụng năng lực, cũng như chuyên môn vốn có của nhiều doanh nghiệp Việt Nam. Nếu Đảng yêu thích khu vực tư nhân, thì hãy để họ tự do.” Nick J. Freeman ghi nhận năm nay, dự kiến ​​Việt Nam sẽ cải tổ Hiến pháp, cũng có thể sẽ có một số thay đổi quan trọng trong những phần liên quan đến nền kinh tế, vì những thay đổi về tư duy trong Nghị quyết 68 bắt đầu không phù hợp với một số điều khoản trong Hiến pháp. Ví dụ, Điều 51 Hiến pháp khẳng định: “Nền kinh tế Việt Nam là nền kinh tế thị trường định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa với nhiều hình thức sở hữu và nhiều thành phần kinh tế; kinh tế nhà nước giữ vai trò chủ đạo”.  Tác giả bài viết kết luận: “Một phần nào đó, Nghị quyết 68 khiến ta có cảm giác như một lời độc thoại của Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam với khu vực tư nhân, như thể họ đang tìm cách tự thuyết phục mình, cũng như thuyết phục bất kỳ ai khác, dù trong nước hay nước ngoài, rằng triển vọng kinh tế tương lai của Việt Nam sẽ phụ thuộc vào sự phát triển thành công của khu vực tư nhân. Với hàng loạt vụ bê bối gây chấn động gần đây trong lĩnh vực doanh nghiệp và ngân hàng, có lẽ Hà Nội cảm thấy cần phải tái khẳng định cam kết theo đuổi nền kinh tế thị trường, dù “định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa” đến đâu. Liệu Nghị quyết 68 có đủ sức thuyết phục chính quyền Hoa Kỳ rằng Việt Nam ngày nay thực sự là một nền kinh tế thị trường hay không? Có thể hình dung rằng Washington sẽ xem xét có những thay đổi nào trong cách diễn đạt của Hiến pháp, bao gồm cả Điều 4 : “Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam lấy chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin và Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh làm nền tảng tư tưởng“ Nikkei Asia: Hưởng lợi nhiều nhất là các doanh nghiệp lớn Trang mạng Nikkei Asia ngày 10/07/2025 thì đặc biệt lưu ý là Nghị quyết 68 về kinh tế tư nhân chủ yếu tạo thuận lợi cho các doanh nghiệp lớn, còn số phận của các doanh nghiệp nhỏ thì vẫn không rõ ràng. Tờ báo viết: “Tại Việt Nam, một đội quân những người bán hàng rong nhỏ lẻ đang cung cấp thực phẩm cho cả nước, từ già đến trẻ, bán những món ăn chủ yếu, như bánh mì thịt với giá chưa đến một đô la. Đội quân này cũng là trọng tâm của Nghị quyết 68. Giống như 5 triệu hộ kinh doanh cá thể mà chính quyền ước tính đang hoạt động không chính thức tại Việt Nam, nhiều người bán hàng rong không nộp thuế và không được đăng ký chính thức là doanh nghiệp, theo các chuyên gia. Họ cho rằng thời gian, thủ tục hành chính liên quan đến việc đăng ký các doanh nghiệp siêu nhỏ không mang lại lợi ích gì, mà chỉ là gánh nặng vì rườm rà và có thể ảnh hưởng đến thu nhập của các doanh nghiệp này, thường hoạt động mà không thu hoặc cấp hóa đơn”. Phóng viên của tờ báo đã đến một con hẻm đông đúc ở quận Bình Thạnh, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, nơi các doanh nghiệp nhỏ đủ loại hình chiếm lĩnh tầng trệt của hầu hết các chung cư, rõ ràng thách thức trong việc thực hiện cải cách vẫn còn ít được hiểu rõ. Một chủ nhà hàng sushi trong con hẻm mô tả Nghị quyết 68 là "đáng thất vọng". Nghiêm, một chủ nhà hàng đăng ký là kinh doanh hộ gia đình, cho biết : "Thực sự rất khó mà tuân thủ các tiêu chuẩn." Gần đó, một người phụ nữ bán bánh bao trên một chiếc xe đẩy nhỏ cho biết gia đình bà đã tránh đăng ký kinh doanh cho đến nay, sợ rằng thuế sẽ cắt giảm thu nhập ít ỏi của họ. Các doanh nghiệp lớn nhỏ trên khắp cả nước đang chờ đợi được giải thích rõ ràng hơn về luật thuế mới được ban hành phù hợp với các cải cách khu vực tư nhân, bao gồm cả việc doanh nghiệp phải nộp bao nhiêu thuế.  Một người bán hàng rong, xin được giấu tên, cho biết: " Xe bán bánh bao do bố mẹ tôi làm chủ và họ chỉ kiếm được một ít tiền, vì vậy tôi không nghĩ họ sẽ đăng ký. Thu nhập của chúng tôi quá ít ỏi."  Nghị quyết 68 kêu gọi các cơ quan chức năng xóa bỏ lệ phí đăng ký và miễn thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp cho các doanh nghiệp mới trong ba năm đầu hoạt động. Nghị quyết cũng thúc đẩy việc đơn giản hóa và số hóa các thủ tục hành chính, khuyến khích tiêu dùng và bán hàng hóa Việt Nam, đồng thời đảm bảo việc sử dụng hợp lý quyền tiếp cận đất đai, vốn, công nghệ và dữ liệu trong các lĩnh vực kinh tế.  Nikkei Asia lưu ý: “Nghị quyết 68 mới chỉ bắt đầu được cụ thể hóa trong luật, khiến nhiều chủ doanh nghiệp nhỏ đang loay hoay tìm hiểu xem chính sách và quy định của chính phủ sẽ ảnh hưởng đến họ cụ thể như thế nào. Một số người lo ngại sẽ có cuộc trấn áp chống trốn thuế và kinh doanh hàng giả, nên có thể sẽ bị chậm trễ trong quá trình đăng ký kinh doanh cho các doanh nghiệp hợp pháp. ( … ) Mặc dù nỗ lực thúc đẩy khu vực tư nhân được ủng hộ rộng rãi trong nước, các chuyên gia lo ngại rằng nhóm nhỏ các tập đoàn tư nhân lớn hiện có của Việt Nam có thể là những người hưởng lợi nhiều nhất, trong khi các chủ doanh nghiệp nhỏ đang phải vật lộn dưới áp lực chính thức hóa hoạt động.” Nikkei Asia trích dẫn ông Nguyễn Khắc Giang, nghiên cứu viên thỉnh giảng tại Viện Nghiên cứu Đông Nam Á của Singapore, cho biết “có thể sẽ được hưởng lợi nhiều nhất chính là các doanh nghiệp vốn đã được hưởng ưu đãi từ các nhà hoạch định chính sách, bao gồm quyền tiếp cận đất đai - đặc biệt là đất thuộc sở hữu nhà nước - và tín dụng ưu đãi từ các ngân hàng thương mại tại Việt Nam". Nhà nghiên cứu Nguyễn Khắc Giang lấy Vingroup làm ví dụ. Tập đoàn này đã dựa vào lĩnh vực bất động sản để xây dựng cơ đồ và hiện có một loạt các công ty con, bao gồm VinFast, thương hiệu ô tô đầu tiên của Việt Nam vươn ra toàn cầu. Trong số các doanh nghiệp lớn khác có thể hưởng lợi từ Nghị quyết 68, có Tập đoàn thép Hòa Phát, công ty bất động sản Sun Group và nhà sản xuất ô tô THACO. Các doanh nghiệp tư nhân lớn hiện có ở Việt Nam rất táo bạo, giàu vốn, hoặc có mối quan hệ với các tổ chức tài chính toàn cầu, và nhất là đã chứng minh được khả năng phát triển nhanh chóng, trong khi các doanh nghiệp nhà nước vẫn chậm chạp và kém hiệu quả, theo nhận định của các nhà quan sát.  Cũng trong bài viết của Nikkei Asia, Alexander Vuving, giáo sư tại Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Chiến lược và Quốc tế Honolulu, cho rằng, trên thực tế, Nghị quyết 68 không tạo nhiều không gian cho một thị trường cạnh tranh. Thay vào đó, ông Tô Lâm đang thúc đẩy một mô hình giống như các chaebol Hàn Quốc - các tập đoàn lớn do gia đình điều hành - làm động lực tăng trưởng chính. Vuving nói: "Điều tôi thấy trong nghị quyết này là sự thúc đẩy các công ty lớn. Họ sẽ được hưởng một vị thế độc quyền."  Fulcrum: Giám sát chặt chẽ và nỗ lực chống tham nhũng Trong một bài viết đăng ngày 05/06 trên trang Fulcrum, chuyên phân tích về Đông Nam Á, Nicholas Chapman, nhà nghiên cứu tại Đại học Tohoku, chuyên về chính sách đối ngoại, kinh tế chính trị và lịch sử Việt Nam, cảnh báo: “Nếu không đưa giám sát, minh bạch và cạnh tranh công bằng vào quá trình thực hiện, chiến lược này có thể lặp lại những sai lầm trong quá khứ. Bài học quan trọng ở đây là: chỉ loại bỏ các rào cản đầu tư thôi là chưa đủ. Chính phủ cũng phải đảm bảo rằng sự hỗ trợ của nhà nước đi đôi với việc giám sát thận trọng và các nỗ lực chống tham nhũng, tạo ra một sân chơi bình đẳng giữa các tập đoàn lớn và các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ, và nỗ lực hơn nữa để tích hợp các công ty trong nước vào chuỗi cung ứng toàn cầu. Nghị quyết 68 chắc chắn cho thấy nhiều hứa hẹn, nhưng nếu không có các biện pháp bảo vệ, chiến lược này có thể lặp lại những sai lầm trong quá khứ. Bản thân các doanh nghiệp tư nhân cũng không tránh khỏi tham nhũng và hành vi trục lợi.”  Nhà nghiên cứu Nicholas Chapman viết tiếp: “Tương tự, việc nhà nước thúc đẩy khu vực tư nhân mạnh mẽ hơn cũng cần đảm bảo rằng các tập đoàn lớn không bóp nghẹt nền kinh tế và độc quyền chuyển giao tri thức, từ đó có khả năng cản trở sự phát triển của các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ. Nghị quyết 68 nhấn mạnh rằng khu vực tư nhân nên cạnh tranh bình đẳng với các khu vực kinh tế khác, nhưng không đề cập đến việc các doanh nghiệp cạnh tranh bình đẳng với nhau. Các chaebol của Hàn Quốc là một ví dụ điển hình về mối nguy hiểm của việc mất cân bằng trong sân chơi. Sự thống trị thị trường của các tập đoàn khổng lồ trong những năm gần đây đã kìm hãm sự phát triển của các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ và các công ty khởi nghiệp, mặc dù các doanh nghiệp này chiếm tỷ trọng về việc làm cao hơn nhiều. Nghị quyết 68 đặt mục tiêu thành lập 2 triệu doanh nghiệp trong nền kinh tế. Tuy nhiên, như các chuyên gia đã chỉ ra, tăng trưởng về số lượng trong các doanh nghiệp tư nhân là chưa đủ. Các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ cần có cơ hội hội nhập vào chuỗi giá trị và thiết lập mối liên kết chặt chẽ với các công ty trong và ngoài nước.”

Jenn and Doug dive into how social media shapes global perceptions of Japan—both the good and the misleading. From viral content to common myths, they explore what's real, what's exaggerated, and why it matters.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------Tickets to Kanpai on the Bayou JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

Think you know Japanese alcohol? Think again. In this episode, the Krewe dives into shochu — Japan's most beloved distilled spirit that somehow still flies under the radar outside the country. We sit down with Christopher Pellegrini, founder of Honkaku Spirits and one of the world's leading voices on shochu, to break it all down. Whether you're new to shochu or looking to deepen your understanding, this episode is a great place to start. Kanpai!Tickets to Kanpai on the Bayou ------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Past Food & Beverage Episodes ------Craving Ramen ft. Shinichi Mine of TabiEats (S4E11)Hungry For Travel ft. Shinichi of TabiEats (S3E15)Sippin' Sake ft. Brian Ashcraft (S1E19)Talking Konbini: Irasshaimase! (S1E3)------ About Christopher & Honkaku Spirits ------Christopher on IGHonkaku SpiritsJapan Distilled Podcast------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

BEST OF TST: A manga book from Japan has recently caught the attention of international travelers due to its seeming ability to predict the future, specifically the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Originally written and published in 1999, the newest version from 2021 now suggests there will be a mega quake somewhere between Japan and the Philippines on July 5, or within that month, 2025. The author and artist, Ryo Tatsuki, has been right about other future events too, including the 2020 pandemic. Reportedly, she obtains her insights from dreams and has become so popular she is being compared to Nostradamus or the Bulgarian blind woman Baba Vanga, who made a series of sometimes accurate predictions before her death in the 1990s, from current times all the way to the year 5,079, or the end of the world as we know it. Ryo Tatsuki is also predicting a second global pandemic due to COVID, or a variation of it, and implied by her July earthquake dream, a mega tsunami with massive waves.  There should be a debate about the differences between psychic predictions from dreams or visions, and the same predictions made my computer models and scientific analysis; about movies and tv shows making predictions or obtaining information through channeling sessions with spirits, and the nature of pure imagination; also, the influence art and reality have on one another. Either way, reports are that tourists are changing their plans or cancelling their trips to the far east as a result of Tatsuki's dreams, though the data doesn't seem to support that claim beyond small airlines or travel companies that are probably looking for free publicity. However, there are very real scientific fears of the Nankai Trough causing a massive earthquake and tsunami which has provoked the first ever mega quake warnings in Japan, followed by their revocation, followed by their reissuing. The same can be said about the western United States too, though some reports are nothing but pure sensationalism. Despite this, dead oarfish have been washing up on shore in California and Mexico, an omen in Japan of an impending earthquake due to unseen things happening underwater. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKWEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Thinking of going vegan in Japan? This week, the Krewe chats with Leonore of itadakihealthy about navigating the unique challenges of being vegan in Japan. From hidden ingredients and dining tips to nutrition and travel advice, Leonore shares practical insights for plant-based living in & traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, Threads: @kreweofjapanpodcast & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Past Food & Travel Episodes ------Expo 2025: Japan on the World Stage ft. Sachiko Yoshimura (S6E2)Hanging Out in Hyogo ft. Rob Dyer (S5E14)Checking Out Miyagi ft. Ryotaro Sakurai (Guest Host, William Woods) (S5E5)Explore Matsue ft. Nicholas McCullough (S4E19)Craving Ramen ft. Shinichi Mine of TabiEats (S4E11)Travel Hiroshima ft. Joy Jarman-Walsh (S4E4)Travel Aomori ft. Kay Allen & Megan DeVille (S3E17)Hungry For Travel ft. Shinichi of TabiEats (S3E15)Henro SZN: Shikoku & the 88 Temple Pilgrimage ft. Todd Wassel (S3E12)Border Closures Couldn't Stop These Visas! ft. Rob Dyer & Allan Richarz (S3E11)Natsu Matsuri Mania: Summer Festivals in Japan (S3E3)Off the Beaten Path: Kansai ft. Rob Dyer [Part 2] (S2E12)Off the Beaten Path: Kansai ft. Rob Dyer [Part 1] (S2E11)Japan Travel Destination: Hokkaido ft. Kay Allen (S2E7)Japanese Theme Parks ft. Chris Nilghe of TDR Explorer (S2E4)Talking Konbini: Irasshaimase! (S1E3)Navigating Nippon: Where to Go in Japan? ft. Kay Allen of JNTO (S1E11)Matsue & New Orleans: Sister Cities ft. Dr. Samantha Perez (S1E2)------ About Leonore & itadakihealthy ------Ultimate Vegan Guide for Japan 2025itadakihealthy on IG (ENG)itadakihealthy on IG (JP)itadakihealthy Websiteitadakihealthy Linktree & Resources------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

In Part 2 of our Japanese soccer series, journalist Dan Orlowitz returns to help us explore how Japan's soccer scene is making waves across the globe! We dive into Samurai Blue's international success, Japanese players shining abroad, and the flow of global talent into the J.League. Plus — how can fans outside Japan actually watch the matches? We've got that covered, too.If you've ever cheered for Japan in the World Cup or wanted to follow J.League stars in Europe, this episode is for you!------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Past KOJ Sports-Related Episodes ------Meet the J.League ft. Dan Orlowitz (S6E4)Kendo: The Way of the Sword ft. Alexander Bennett, 7th Dan in Kendo (S4E16)The Life of a Sumotori ft. 3-Time Grand Champion Konishiki Yasokichi (S4E10)Talking Sumo ft. Andrew Freud (S1E8)------ About Dan Orlowitz ------Dan's Socials & WritingsJ-Talk Podcast------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

The Krewe is kicking off a 2-part series on Japanese soccer! In Part 1, journalist Dan Orlowitz joins the Krewe to break down Japan's domestic soccer scene — the J.League. From league structure and top teams to standout players making waves right now, this episode is your perfect deep dive into the beautiful game, Japan-style. Whether you're new to Japanese soccer or a longtime fan, you'll come away with fresh insights and maybe even a new favorite club! Don't miss Part 2, where we go global with Japan's national teams and international impact!------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Past KOJ Sports-Related Episodes ------Kendo: The Way of the Sword ft. Alexander Bennett, 7th Dan in Kendo (S4E16)The Life of a Sumotori ft. 3-Time Grand Champion Konishiki Yasokichi (S4E10)Talking Sumo ft. Andrew Freud (S1E8)------ About Langston Hill ------Dan's Socials & Writings------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!

6/4/25 Yokohama DeNA BayStars vs Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles FREE NPB Picks and Predictions by Ron Crawford.

Ever wondered what it's like to study Japanese in Japan? This week, the Krewe sits down with Langston Hill — administrator at a Tokyo-based language school and Japanese language content creator — to dive into opportunities to learn in Japan via dedicated Japanese language schools. We explore the benefits of language schools, how they compare to traditional academic settings, and Langston's journey as a creator (plus his own textbook series!). Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned learner, this episode is packed with insight, inspiration, and a few laughs along the way.------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode!Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season!Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan! ------ Past KOJ Language Learning Episodes ------Japanese Self-Study Strategies ft. Walden Perry (S5E4)Learn the Kansai Dialect ft. Tyson of Nihongo Hongo (S4E14)Heisig Method ft. Dr. James Heisig (S4E5)Prepping for the JLPT ft. Loretta of KemushiCan (S3E16)Language Through Video Games ft. Matt of Game Gengo (S3E4)Pitch Accent (Part 2) ft. Dogen (S2E15)Pitch Accent (Part 1) ft. Dogen (S2E14)Language through Literature ft. Daniel Morales (S2E8)Immersion Learning ft. MattvsJapan (S1E10)Japanese Language Journeys ft. Saeko-Sensei (S1E4)------ About Langston Hill ------Langston aka @TheJapaneseGuy101 on IGThe Japanese Language Manual (2 Book Series - Kindle)The Japanese Language Manual Vol 1 (Paperback)------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------JSNO Event CalendarJoin JSNO Today!