Podcasts about Tokyo

Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript ----- Political developments in Japan and France have brought more volatility to sovereign debt markets. Our Global Economist Arunima Sinha highlights the risks investors need to watch out for.Arunima Sinha: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Arunima Sinha, from Morgan Stanley's Global and U.S. Economics teams.Today, I'm going to talk about sovereign debt outlooks and elections around the world.It's Wednesday, October 15th at 10am in New York.Last week we wrote about the deterioration of sovereign debt and fiscal outlooks; and right on cue, real life served up a scenario. Elections in Japan and another political upheaval in France drove a reaction in long-end interest rates with fiscal outlooks becoming part of the political narrative. Though markets have largely stabilized now, the volatility should keep the topic of debt and fiscal outlooks on stage.In Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the LDP, elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader in something of a surprise to markets. Takaichi's election sets the stage for the first female prime minister of Japan since the cabinet system was established in 1885.That outcome is not assured, however. And recent news suggests that the final decision is a few weeks away. The landmark movement in Japanese post-war politics, in some ways further solidifies the changing tides in the Japanese political economy. Markets have positioned for Takaichi to further the reflation trade in Japan and further support the nominal growth revival.The Japanese curve twists steepened sharply as Tokyo markets reopened with the long-end selling off by 14 basis points amid intensifying fiscal concerns and the unwinding of pre-election flattener positions. Specifically, expectations appear to be aligning for a more activist fiscal agenda – relief measures against inflation, bolstered investment in economic security and supply chains, and stepped-up commitments to food security.Our strategists expect that sectors poised to benefit will include high tech exporters, defense and security names, and infrastructure and energy firms, as capital is likely to rotate towards these areas. Though, as our economists cautioned, the lack of a clear legislative maturity may hamper efforts for outright reorientation of fiscal policy.Meanwhile, we expect the implications for monetary policy to be limited. Our reading is that Taikaichi Sanae is not strongly opposed to Bank of Japan Governor Ueda's cautious stance reducing expectations for near term hikes. But we also reiterate that a hike late this year remains a possibility, particularly as the yen weakens.Economically, our baseline call has been supported by the election outcome given we did not expect the BoJ to raise rates in the near future. Indeed, market expectations of an increase in interest rates have been priced out for the next meeting.France is the other economy that saw long-end rates react to political shifts since we published our debt sustainability analysis. PM Lecornu's resignation was far quicker than markets expected, especially given the fact that he was only in office for a matter of weeks.A clear majority in the current parliament remains elusive pointing to continued gridlock, and ultimately snap elections remain a possibility for the next weeks or months. At the heart of the political uncertainty is division about how to proceed with fiscal consolidation against a moving target of widening deficits.The lack of fiscal consolidation in France has been a topic for many years. Though the ECB provides an implicit backstop against disruptive widening of OAT spreads through the TPI, our Europe economists view the activation of TPI as unlikely. As the spread widening has been driven by concerns around France's fiscal sustainability, a factor that is likely seen as reflecting fundamentals.In our rather mechanical projections on debt, we highlighted markets would ultimately determine what is and is not sustainable. These political events are the type of catalyst to watch for.So far, the risks have been contained, but we have a clear message that complacency could become costly at any time. With the deterioration in debt and fiscal fundamentals, we suspect there will be more risks ahead.Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

This week on Drumcode Live we have a live mix from Adam Beyer recorded on the Resistance stage at Ultra in Tokyo, Japan.

In 1954, a man arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport carrying a passport from a country that didn't exist: Taured. He was detained while officials investigated, but by morning, both the man and his documents had vanished. Was it a hoax, a case of mistaken identity—or evidence of a traveler from another dimension? In this episode, we dive into the legend of the Man from Taured.

Stop 13 (yes, we're swapping stops 12 and 13!) of the Move Her Mind Event Series with ASICS took us all the way to Tokyo! We had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Deena Kastor - legendary marathoner and true ambassador of the sport - to talk about her journey from professional runner to passionate advocate. Deena shares her perspective on the barriers women have faced in running, the biggest shifts she's witnessed over the years, and, of course, her take on the women's marathon world record being broken - nearly twenty years after she set her own.This episode wraps up with something truly special: the next chapter of the Move Her Mind Event Series. We're thrilled to announce a new partnership with ASICS that will allow us to bring 100 women to the LA Marathon! Selected participants will receive personalized nutrition coaching and training plans from The Megs, plus a race bib and a full VIP race-day experience.Want to join us in LA? Apply through THIS LINK —we can't wait to see you there!

What happens when two builders visit the birthplace of Lean and realize it's not just a system, it's a way of living? In this powerful and emotional episode, recorded live from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Jason Schroeder and Kevin reflect on their life-changing journey through Japan with Paul Akers' Two Second Lean Study Tour. What started as a professional training trip turned into something much deeper, a rediscovery of purpose, humanity, and what it truly means to lead. Jason shares how Japan didn't just refine his understanding of Lean, it healed it. From Toyota's leadership philosophies to the culture's deep respect for people, he found a nation that values consideration, alignment, and connection. For Jason, the revelation was personal: “I feel whole. I finally found a place where kindness isn't weakness, it's the standard.” Kevin opens up about his own transformation, from learning new tools to completely rethinking leadership and fatherhood. Inspired by Japan's shoulder-to-shoulder culture, he now sees that leadership isn't about sending people off to figure it out, it's about walking beside them. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the true power of Lean begins with love and respect for people. How Japan's “Gemba-first” mindset reshapes leadership and humility. The lessons from Toyota executives that every builder should hear. How a simple app and mindset shift rebuilt Kevin's productivity and peace. Why real leadership at work or home means standing shoulder to shoulder. This isn't just a recap of a trip. It's a blueprint for becoming whole again as leaders, as parents, as people. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

Send us a textEver hit that wall where you feel like your creativity's just… gone? That's been me lately.From temple tunnels in Kyoto to crowded trains in Tokyo, I share what this trip through Japan has shown me about creative rebirth, flow state, and why your spark never actually leaves - it just needs more oxygen.Grab Low Ticket Millions - my coaching book for the ones ready to build a business that sells every day. 35 pages of real strategy, daily cash flow shifts, and what actually worked to rebuild my business from the ground up.Watch Cash Creator – a 10-part video course to help you build your first digital product from scratch. Learn how to map out your offer, package it simply, and start making daily sales.Connect with me on Instagram here.

Robyn Godfrey is an accomplished runner, pacer, RRCA Certified Level 1 coach, and motivational speaker who began her running journey at the age of 47.  What started as a personal quest to improve her health and overcome her relationship with alcohol soon evolved into a remarkable achievement: completing seven marathons, including the prestigious World Marathon Majors — London, Chicago, Berlin, Boston, New York, and Tokyo. A dedicated member of the Wilmington Road Runners Club since 2013, Robyn has made a significant impact by coaching and pacing runners, helping them unlock their potential and reach their goals. In addition to her coaching, she has volunteered with organisations like Girls on the Run, empowering young girls to grow both physically and personally through running.  New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast drop every Tuesday at 7 AM (UK time)! Make sure to subscribe so you never miss the inspiring journeys and incredible stories of tough women pushing boundaries.  Do you want to support the Tough Girl Mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media in the world of adventure and physical challenges? Support via Patreon! Join me in making a difference by signing up here: www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.  Your support makes a difference.  Thank you x Show notes Who is Robyn Making a change in her life at 47 Starting running for 30 seconds on a treadmill  Facing serious life hurdles over the years Reinventing herself Chasing after her dream Her early years and not being sporty The why before making the change Not being able to stop over indulging  Continuing the journey  Starting to run outside and why it was such a different experience  Run the 10K Cooper River Bridge Run Training for a year to run a 10K Getting hooked on running  Why motivation isn't enough  Starting to think about taking on a marathon  Running the London Marathon for her 50th Birthday  Getting a place through a lottery ticket How the structure of marathon training fitted in well with her mentality Breaking down big challenges into smaller more manageable goals  Not being a fast runner, but enjoying the process of marathon training  Fitting in training around life and work Carrying a fork  Being a party girl and drinking  Being social and not needing to drink a lot of wine to do that  The Tokyo Marathon Following strict cutoff times 27.8 miles…. Recovering after running Core work and conditioning  Strength training for women The mental side of running Being a goal orientated person Run the mile you are in  Keep going - things will turn around The lessons learned from running which can be applied to challenging situations Why running can't save you from everything Feelings of guilt Completing her goal of running all of the World Marathon Majors Training on trails and running a 50k at elevation Turning 60 next year Planning to run Sydney Marathon Writing her book How to connect with Robyn Wanting to inspire people to go after their dreams  Final words of advice - on how to take the first step Why you can't just rely on motivation  The power of community    Social Media Website - www.worldmajormarathonfinisher.com   Instagram @beachy_runner  LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/robyngodfrey  Facebook www.facebook.com/robyn.godfrey.3   Book: Running the World: A Runner's Odyssey of Struggle and Triumph in the World Marathon Majors   

What drives the seeming relentless dynamism of Tokyo? Is there something special about Japanese culture? Joe McReynolds, co-author of Emergent Tokyo, argues that the secret to Tokyo's energy and attractiveness as a place to live and visit comes from policies that allow Tokyo to emerge from the bottom up. Post-war black markets evolved into today's yokocho--dense clusters of micro-venues that turn over, specialize, and innovate nightly--while vertical zakkyo buildings stack dozens of tiny bars, eateries, and shops floor by floor, pulling street life upward. The engine? Friction-light rules: permissive mixed-use zoning, minimal licensing, and no minimum unit sizes let entrepreneurs launch fast and pivot faster. And surrounding this emergent urban landscape there's plenty of new housing with excellent transportation infrastructure to let ever-more people enjoy Tokyo's magic.

Last time we spoke about the Battle of Taierzhuang. Following the fall of Nanjing in December 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War entered a brutal phase of attrition as Japan sought to consolidate control and press toward central China. Chinese defense prioritized key rail corridors and urban strongholds, with Xuzhou, the JinPu and Longhai lines, and the Huai River system forming crucial lifelines. By early 1938, Japanese offensives aimed to link with forces around Beijing and Nanjing and encircle Chinese positions in the Central Yangtze region, threatening Wuhan. In response, Chiang Kai-shek fortified Xuzhou and expanded defenses to deter a pincer move, eventually amassing roughly 300,000 troops along strategic lines. Taierzhuang became a focal point when Japanese divisions attempted to press south and link with northern elements. Chinese commanders Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Tang Enbo, and Sun Lianzhong coordinated to complicate Japanese plans through offensive-defensive actions, counterattacks, and encirclement efforts. The victory, though numerically costly, thwarted immediate Japanese objectives and foreshadowed further attritional struggles ahead.   #171 The Flooding of the Yellow River Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. We last left off with a significant event during the Xuzhou campaign. Three Japanese divisions under General Itagaki Seishiro moved south to attack Taierzhuang and were met by forces commanded by Li Zongren, Sun Lianzhong, and Tang Enbo, whose units possessed a decent amount of artillery. In a two-week engagement from March 22 to April 7, the battle devolved into a costly urban warfare. Fighting was vicious, often conducted in close quarters and at night. The urban environment negated Japanese advantages in armor and artillery, allowing Chinese forces to contend on equal terms. The Chinese also disrupted Japanese logistics by resupplying their own troops and severing rear supply lines, draining Japanese ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements. By April 7, the Japanese were compelled to retreat, marking the first Chinese victory of the war. However both sides suffered heavy losses, with around 20,000 casualties on each side. In the aftermath of this rare victory, Chiang Kai-Shek pushed Tang Enbo and Li Zongren to capitalize on their success and increased deployments in the Taierzhuang theater to about 450,000 troops. Yet the Chinese Army remained hampered by fundamental problems. The parochialism that had crippled Chiang's forces over the preceding months resurfaced. Although the generals had agreed to coordinate in a war of resistance, each still prioritized the safety of his own troops, wary of Chiang's bid to consolidate power. Li Zongren, for example, did not deploy his top Guangxi provincial troops at Taierzhuang and sought to shift most of the fighting onto Tang Enbo's forces. Chiang's colleagues were mindful of the fates of Han Fuju of Shandong and Zhang Xueliang of Manchuria: Han was executed for refusing to fight, while Zhang, after allowing Chiang to reduce the size of his northeastern army, ended up under house arrest. They were right to distrust Chiang. He believed, after all, that provincial armies should come under a unified national command, which he would lead. From a national-unity perspective, his aspiration was not unreasonable. But it fed suspicion among other military leaders that participation in the anti-Japanese war would dilute their power. The divided nature of the command also hindered logistics, making ammunition and food supplies to the front unreliable and easy to cut off. By late April the Chinese had reinforced the Xuzhou area to between 450,000-600,000 to capitalize on their victory. However these armies were plagued with command and control issues. Likewise the Japanese licked their wounds and reinforced the area to roughly 400,000, with fresh troops and supplies flowing in from Tianjin and Nanjing. The Japanese continued with their objective of encircling Chinese forces. The North China Area Army comprised four divisions and two infantry brigades drawn from the Kwantung Army, while the Central China Expeditionary Army consisted of three divisions and the 1st and 2nd Tank Battalions along with motorized support units. The 5th Tank Battalion supported the 3rd Infantry Division as it advanced north along the railway toward Xuzhou. Fighting to the west, east, and north of Xuzhou was intense, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. On 18 April, the Japanese advanced southward toward Pizhou. Tang Enbo's 20th Army Corps, together with the 2nd, 22nd, 46th, and 59th corps, resisted fiercely, culminating in a stalemate by the end of April. The 60th Corps of the Yunnan Army engaged the Japanese 10th Division at Yuwang Mountain for nearly a month, repelling multiple assaults. By the time it ceded its position to the Guizhou 140th Division and withdrew on 15 May, the corps had sustained losses exceeding half of its forces. Simultaneously, the Japanese conducted offensives along both banks of the Huai River, where Chinese defenders held out for several weeks. Nevertheless, Japanese artillery and aerial bombardment gradually tilted the balance, allowing the attackers to seize Mengcheng on 9 May and Hefei on 14 May. From there, the southern flank split into two parts: one force moved west and then north to cut off the Longhai Railway escape route from Xuzhou, while another division moved directly north along the railway toward Suxian, just outside Xuzhou. Simultaneously, to the north, Japanese units from north China massed at Jining and began moving south beyond Tengxian. Along the coast, an amphibious landing was made at Lianyungang to reinforce troops attacking from the east. The remaining portions of Taierzhuang were captured in May, a development symbolically significant to Tokyo. On 17 May, Japanese artillery further tightened the noose around Xuzhou, striking targets inside the city.  To preserve its strength, the Nationalist government ordered the abandonment of Xuzhou and directed its main forces to break out toward northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, and eastern Henan. To deter the Japanese army's rapid westward advance and penetration into northern Henan and western Shandong, many leading military and political figures within the Nationalist government proposed breaching dams over the Yellow River to delay the offensive, a strategy that would have been highly advantageous to the Nationalist forces at the time. Chiang Kai-shek vetoed the proposal outright, insisting that the Nationalist army could still resist. He understood that with tens of millions of Chinese lives at stake and a sliver of hope remaining, the levee plan must not be undertaken. Then a significant battle broke out at Lanfeng. Chiang also recognized that defeat could allow the elite Japanese mechanized divisions, the 14th, 16th, and 10th, to advance directly toward Zhengzhou. If Zhengzhou fell, the Japanese mechanized forces on the plains could advance unimpeded toward Tongguan. Their southward push would threaten Xi'an, Xiangfan, and Nanyang, directly jeopardizing the southwest's rear defenses. Concurrently, the Japanese would advance along the Huai River north of the Dabie Mountains toward Wuhan, creating a pincer with operations along the Yangtze River.  Now what followed was arguably the most important and skillful Chinese maneuver of the Xuzhou campaign: a brilliantly executed strategic retreat to the south and west across the Jinpu railway line. On May 15, Li Zongren, in consultation with Chiang Kai-shek, decided to withdraw from Xuzhou and focus on an escape plan. The evacuation of civilians and military personnel began that day. Li ordered troops to melt into the countryside and move south and west at night, crossing the Jinpu Railway and splitting into four groups that would head west. The plan was to regroup in the rugged Dabie Mountains region to the south and prepare for the defense of Wuhan. Li's generals departed reluctantly, having held out for so long; Tang Enbo was said to have wept. Under cover of night, about forty divisions, over 200,000 men, marched out of Japanese reach in less than a week. A critical moment occurred on May 18, when fog and a sandstorm obscured the retreating troops as they crossed the Jinpu Railway. By May 21, Li wired Chiang Kai-shek to report that the withdrawal was complete. He mobilized nearly all of the Kuomintang Central Army's elite units, such as the 74th Army, withdrawn from Xuzhou and transferred directly to Lanfeng, with a resolute intent to “burn their boats.” The force engaged the Japanese in a decisive battle at Lanfeng, aiming to secure the last line of defense for the Yellow River, a position carrying the lives of millions of Chinese civilians. Yet Chiang Kai-shek's strategy was not universally understood by all participating generals, who regarded it as akin to striking a rock with an egg. For the battle of Lanfeng the Chinese mobilized nearly all of the Kuomintang Central Army's elite forces, comprising 14 divisions totaling over 150,000 men. Among these, the 46th Division of the 27th Army, formerly the Central Training Brigade and the 36th, 88th, and 87th Divisions of the 71st Army were German-equipped. Additionally, the 8th Army, the Tax Police Corps having been reorganized into the Ministry of Finance's Anti-Smuggling Corps, the 74th Army, and Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps, the new 1st Army, equipped with the 8th Division were elite Nationalist troops that had demonstrated strong performance in the battle of Shanghai and the battle of Nanjing, and were outfitted with advanced matériel. However, these so-called “elite” forces were heavily degraded during the campaigns in Shanghai and Nanjing. The 46th Division and Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps sustained casualties above 85% in Nanjing, while the 88th and 87th Divisions suffered losses of up to 90%. The 74th Army and the 36th Division also endured losses exceeding 75%. Their German-made equipment incurred substantial losses; although replenishment occurred, inventories resembled roughly a half-German and half-Chinese mix. With very limited heavy weapons and a severe shortage of anti-tank artillery, they could not effectively match the elite Japanese regiments. Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps maintained its national equipment via a close relationship with Chiang Kai-shek. In contrast, the 74th Army, after fighting in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Xuzhou, suffered heavy casualties, and the few German weapons it had were largely destroyed at Nanjing, leaving it to rely on a mix of domestically produced and Hanyang-made armaments. The new recruits added to each unit largely lacked combat experience, with nearly half of the intake having received basic training. The hardest hit was Li Hanhun's 64th Army, established less than a year prior and already unpopular within the Guangdong Army. Although classified as one of the three Type A divisions, the 155th, 156th, and 187th Divisions, it was equipped entirely with Hanyang-made firearms. Its direct artillery battalion possessed only about 20 older mortars and three Type 92 infantry guns, limiting its heavy firepower to roughly that of a Japanese battalion. The 195th Division and several miscellaneous units were even less prominent, reorganized from local militias and lacking Hanyang rifles. Additionally, three batches of artillery purchased from the Soviet Union arrived in Lanzhou via Xinjiang between March and June 1938. Except for the 52nd Artillery Regiment assigned to the 200th Division, the other artillery regiments had recently received their weapons and were still undergoing training. The 200th Division, had been fighting awhile for in the Xuzhou area and incurred heavy casualties, was still in training and could only deploy its remaining tank battalion and armored vehicle company. The tank battalion was equipped with T-26 light tanks and a small number of remaining British Vickers tanks, while the armored vehicle company consisted entirely of Italian Fiat CV33 armored cars. The disparity in numbers was substantial, and this tank unit did not participate in the battle.  As for the Japanese, the 14th Division was an elite Type A formation. Originally organized with four regiments totaling over 30,000 men, the division's strength was later augmented. Doihara's 14th Division received supplements, a full infantry regiment and three artillery regiments, to prevent it from being surrounded and annihilated, effectively transforming the unit into a mobile reinforced division. Consequently, the division's mounted strength expanded to more than 40,000 personnel, comprising five infantry regiments and four artillery regiments. The four artillery regiments, the 24th Artillery Regiment, the 3rd Independence Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, possessed substantial heavy firepower, including 150mm heavy howitzers and 105mm long-range field cannons, placing them far in excess of the Nationalist forces at Lanfeng. In addition, both the 14th and later the 16th Divisions commanded tank regiments with nearly 200 light and medium tanks each, while Nationalist forces were markedly short of anti-tank artillery. At the same time, the Nationalist Air Force, though it had procured more than 200 aircraft of various types from the Soviet Union, remained heavily reliant on Soviet aid-to-China aircraft, amounting to over 100 machines, and could defend only a few cities such as Wuhan, Nanchang, and Chongqing. In this context, Japanese forces effectively dominated the Battle of Lanfeng. Moreover, reports indicate that the Japanese employed poison gas on the battlefield, while elite Nationalist troops possessed only a limited number of gas masks, creating a stark disparity in chemical warfare preparedness. Despite these disparities, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government were initially unaware of the updated strength and composition of the Doihara Division. Faced with constrained options, Chiang chose to press ahead with combat operations. On May 12, 1939, after crossing the Yellow River, the IJA 14th Division continued its southward advance toward Lanfeng. The division's objective was to sever the Longhai Railway, disrupt the main Nationalist retreat toward Zhengzhou, and seize Zhengzhou itself. By May 15, the division split into two columns at Caoxian and moved toward key nodes on the Longhai Line. Major General Toyotomi Fusatarou led two infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment in the main assault toward Kaocheng with the aim of directly capturing Lanfeng. Doihara led three infantry regiments and three artillery regiments toward Neihuang and Minquan, threatening Guide. In response, the Nationalist forces concentrated along the railway from Lanfeng to Guide, uniting Song Xilian's 71st Army, Gui Yongqing's 27th Army, Yu Jishi's 74th Army, Li Hanhun's 64th Army, and Huang Jie's 8th Army. From May 15 to 17, the Fengjiu Brigade, advancing toward Lanfeng, met stubborn resistance near Kaocheng from roughly five divisions under Song Xilian and was forced to shift its effort toward Yejigang and Neihuang. The defense near Neihuang, including Shen Ke's 106th Division and Liang Kai's 195th Division, ultimately faltered, allowing Doihara's division to seize Neihuang, Yejigang, Mazhuangzhai, and Renheji. Nevertheless, the Nationalist forces managed to contain the Japanese advance east and west of the area, preventing a complete encirclement. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Cheng Qian, commander-in-chief of the 1st War Zone, to encircle and annihilate the Japanese 14th Division. The deployment plan mapped three routes: the Eastern Route Army, under Li Hanhun, would include the 74th Army, the 155th Division of the 64th Army, a brigade of the 88th Division, and a regiment of the 87th Division, advancing westward from Guide); the Western Route Army, commanded by Gui Yongqing, would comprise the 27th Army, the 71st Army, the 61st Division, and the 78th Division, advancing eastward from Lanfeng; and the Northern Route Army, formed by Sun Tongxuan's 3rd Army and Shang Zhen's 20th Army, was to cut off the enemy's retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River near Dingtao, Heze, Dongming, and Kaocheng, while attacking the Doihara Division from the east, west, and north to annihilate it in a single decisive operation.  On May 21, the Nationalist Army mounted a full-scale offensive. Yu Jishi's 74th Army, commanded by Wang Yaowu's 51st Division, joined a brigade of Song Xilian's 71st Army, led by the 88th Division, and drove the Japanese forces at Mazhuangzhai into retreat, capturing Neihuang and Renheji. The main Japanese force, more than 6,000 strong, withdrew southwest to Yangjiji and Shuangtaji. Song Xilian, commanding Shen Fazao's 87th Division, launched a sharp assault on Yejigang (Yifeng). The Japanese abandoned the stronghold, but their main body continued advancing toward Yangjiji, with some units retreating to Donggangtou and Maoguzhai. On May 23, Song Xilian's 71st Army and Yu Jishi's 74th Army enveloped and annihilated enemy forces at Donggangtou and Maoguzhai. That evening they seized Ximaoguzhai, Yangzhuang, and Helou, eliminating more than a thousand Japanese troops. The Japanese troops at Donggangtou fled toward Lanfeng. Meanwhile, Gui Yongqing's forces were retreating through Lanfeng. His superior strength, Jiang Fusheng's 36th Division, Li Liangrong's 46th Division, Zhong Song's 61st Division, Li Wen's 78th Division, Long Muhan's 88th Division, and Shen Ke's 106th Division—had held defensive positions along the Lanfeng–Yangji line. Equipped with a tank battalion and armored vehicle company commanded by Qiu Qingquan, they blocked the enemy's westward advance and awaited Japanese exhaustion. However, under the Japanese offensive, Gui Yongqing's poor command led to the loss of Maji and Mengjiaoji, forcing the 27th Army to retreat across its entire front. Its main force fled toward Qixian and Kaifeng. The Japanese seized the opportunity to capture Quxingji, Luowangzhai, and Luowang Railway Station west of Lanfeng. Before retreating, Gui Yongqing ordered Long Muhan to dispatch a brigade to replace the 106th Division in defending Lanfeng, while he directed the 106th Division to fall back to Shiyuan. Frightened by the enemy, Long Muhan unilaterally withdrew his troops on the night of the 23rd, leaving Lanfeng undefended. On the 24th, Japanese troops advancing westward from Donggangtou entered Lanfeng unopposed and, relying on well-fortified fortifications, held their ground until reinforcements arrived. In the initial four days, the Nationalist offensive failed to overwhelm the Japanese, who escaped encirclement and annihilation. The four infantry and artillery regiments and one cavalry regiment on the Japanese side managed to hold the line along Lanfeng, Luowangzhai, Sanyizhai, Lanfengkou, Quxingji, Yang'erzhai, and Chenliukou on the south bank of the Yellow River, offering stubborn resistance. The Longhai Railway was completely cut off. Chiang Kai-shek, furious upon hearing the news while stationed in Zhengzhou, ordered the execution of Long Muhan, commander of the 88th Division, to restore military morale. He also decided to consolidate Hu Zongnan's, Li Hanhun's, Yu Jishi's, Song Xilian's, and Gui Yongqing's troops into the 1st Corps, with Xue Yue as commander-in-chief. On the morning of May 25, they launched a determined counterattack on Doihara's 14th Division. Song Xilian personally led the front lines on May 24 to rally the defeated 88th Division.  Starting on May 25, after three days of intense combat, Li Hanhun's 64th Army advanced to seize Luowang Station and Luowangzhai, while Song Xilian's 71st Army retook Lanfeng City, temporarily reopening the Longhai Line to traffic. At Sanyi Village, Gui Yongqing's 27th Army and Yu Jishi's 74th Army captured a series of outlying positions, including Yang'eyao, Chailou, Cailou, Hezhai, Xuelou, and Baowangsi. Despite these gains, more than 6,000 Japanese troops offered stubborn resistance. During the fighting, Ji Hongru, commander of the 302nd Regiment, was seriously wounded but continued to fight, shouting, “Don't worry about my death! Brothers, fight on!” He ultimately died a heroic death from his wounds. By May 27, Chiang Kai-shek, concerned that the forces had not yet delivered a decisive victory at Lanfeng, personally reprimanded the participating generals and ordered them to completely encircle and annihilate the enemy west of Lanfeng by the following day. He warned that if the opportunity was missed and Japanese reinforcements arrived, the position could be endangered. The next day, Chiang Kai-shek issued another telegram, urging Cheng Qian's First War Zone and all participating units to press the offensive. The telegram allegedly had this in it “It will forever be a laughingstock in the history of warfare.” Meanwhile on the other side, to prevent the annihilation of Doihara's 14th Division, the elite Japanese 16th Division and the 3rd Mixed Brigade, totaling over 40,000 men, launched a westward assault from Dangshan, capturing Yucheng on May 26. They then began probing the outskirts of Guide. Huang Jie's Eighth Army, responsible for the defense, withdrew to the outskirts of Guide that evening. On May 28, Huang Jie again led his troops on his own initiative, retreating to Liuhe and Kaifeng, leaving only the 187th Division to defend Zhuji Station and Guide City. At dawn on May 29, Peng Linsheng, commander of the 187th Division, also withdrew his troops, leaving Guide a deserted city. The Japanese occupied Guide without a fight. The loss of Guide dramatically shifted the tide of the war. Threatened on the flanks by the Japanese 16th Division, the Nationalist forces were forced onto the defensive. On May 28, the Japanese 14th Division concentrated its forces to counterattack Gui Yongqing's troops, but they were defeated again, allowing the Japanese to stabilize their position. At the same time, the fall of Shangqiu compelled Xue Yue's corps to withdraw five divisions to block the enemy in Shangqiu, and the Nationalist Army shifted to a defensive posture with the 14th Division holding Sanyizhai and Quxingji. To the north of the battlefield, the Japanese 4th Mixed Brigade, numbering over 10,000 men, was preparing to force a crossing of the Yellow River in order to join with the nearby 14th Division. More seriously, the 10th Division, together with its 13th Mixed Brigade and totaling more than 40,000 men, had captured Woyang and Bozhou on the Henan-Anhui border and was rapidly encircling eastern Henan. By the time of the Battle of Lanfeng, Japanese forces had deployed more than 100,000 troops, effectively surrounding the Nationalist army. On May 31, the First War Zone decided to withdraw completely, and the Battle of Lanfeng ended in defeat for the Nationalists, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to authorize diverting the Yellow River embankment to relieve pressure. The consequence was a deteriorating strategic situation, as encirclement tightened and reinforcement options dwindled, driving a retreat from the Lanfeng front. The National Army suffered more than 67,000 casualties, killed and wounded more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers, Lanfeng was lost, and Zhengzhou was in danger.  As in Nanjing, this Chinese army might have lived to fight another day, but the effect on Xuzhou itself was horrific. The city had endured Japanese bombardment since August 1937, and the population's mood swung between cautious hope and utter despair. In March, Du Zhongyuan visited Xuzhou. Before he left Wuhan, friends told him that “the city was desolate and the people were terrified, all the inhabitants of Xuzhou were quietly getting on with their business … sometimes it was even calmer than Wuhan.” The Australian journalist Rhodes Farmer recalled a similar image in a book published at war's end, noting the “ordinary townsfolk who became wardens, fire-fighters and first-aid workers during the raid and then went back to their civil jobs.” Yet the mid-May departure of Nationalist troops left the city and its outskirts at the mercy of an angry Imperial Army. Bombing continued through the final days of battle, and a single raid on May 14, 1938 killed 700 people. Around Xuzhou, buildings and bridges were destroyed—some by retreating Chinese forces, some by advancing Japanese troops. Taierzhuang, the scene of the earlier iconic defense, was utterly destroyed. Canadian Jesuits who remained in Xuzhou after its fall recorded that more than a third of the houses were razed, and most of the local population had fled in terror. In rural areas around the city, massacres were repeatedly reported, many witnessed by missionaries. Beyond the atrocities of the Japanese, locals faced banditry in the absence of law enforcement, and vital agricultural work such as planting seed ground to a halt. The loss of Xuzhou was both strategic and symbolic. It dealt a severe blow to Chiang's attempt to hold central China and to control regional troop movements. Morale, which Taierzhuang had briefly boosted, was battered again though not extinguished. The fall signaled that the war would be long, and that swift victory against Japan was no longer likely. Mao Zedong's Yan'an base, far to the northwest, grasped the meaning of defeat there. In May 1938 he delivered one of his most celebrated lectures, “On Protracted War,” chiding those who had over-optimistically claimed the Xuzhou campaign could be a quasi-decisive victory and arguing that, after Taierzhuang, some had become “giddy.” Mao insisted that China would ultimately prevail, yet he warned that it could not be won quickly, and that the War of Resistance would be protracted. In the meantime, the development of guerrilla warfare remained an essential piece of the long-term strategy that the Communist armies would pursue in north China. Yet the loss of Xuzhou did not necessarily portend a long war; it could, instead, presage a war that would be terrifyingly short. By spring 1938 the Chinese defenders were desperate. There was a real danger that the entire war effort could collapse, and the Nationalist governments' notable success as protectors of a shrinking “Free China” lay in avoiding total disaster. Government propaganda had successfully portrayed a plan beyond retreat to foreign observers, yet had Tokyo captured Wuhan in the spring, the Chinese Army would have had to withdraw at speed, reinforcing perceptions of disintegration. Western governments were unlikely to intervene unless convinced it was in their interests. Within the Nationalist leadership, competing instincts persisted. The government pursued welfare measures for the people in the midst of a massive refugee relief effort, the state and local organizations, aided by the International Red Cross, housed large numbers of refugees in 1937–1938. Yet there was a harsher strain within policy circles, with some officials willing to sacrifice individual lives for strategic or political ends as the Japanese threat intensified. Throughout central China, the Yellow River, China's “Sorrow”, loomed as the dominant geographic force shaping history. The loess-laden river, notorious for floods and shifting channels, was banked by massive dikes near Zhengzhou, exactly along the line the Japanese would traverse toward Wuhan. Using the river as a military instrument was discussed as a drastic option: Chiang and Cheng Qian's First War Zone contemplated diverting or breaching the dikes to halt or slow the Japanese advance, a measure that could buy time but would unleash enormous civilian suffering. The idea dated back to 1887 floods that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and even in 1935 Alexander von Falkenhausen had warned that the Yellow River could become the final line of defense. In 1938 Chiang, recognizing the futility of defeating the Japanese by conventional means at Zhengzhou, considered unleashing the river's force if necessary to impede the invaders. The political and strategic calculus was stark: protect central China and Wuhan, even if it required drastic and morally fraught measures. A more humane leader might have hesitated to break the dikes and spare the dams, allowing the Japanese to take Wuhan. But Chiang Kai-shek believed that if the dikes were not breached and Wuhan fell within days, the Nationalist government might be unable to relocate to Chongqing in time and would likely surrender, leaving Japan in control of almost all of China. Some have compared the choice to France's surrender in June 1940, underscoring that Chiang's decision came during the country's most terrifying assault, with Chinese forces much weaker and less trained than their European counterparts. The dilemma over whether to break the Yellow River dikes grew out of desperation. Chiang ultimately ordered General Wei Rulin to blow the dike that held the Yellow River in central Henan. There was no doubt about the consequences: floods would inundate vast areas of central China, creating a waterlogged barrier that would halt the Japanese advance. Yet for the plan to succeed, it had to be carried out quickly, and the government could offer no public warning in case the Japanese detected it and accelerated their movement. Xiong Xianyu, chief of staff in the 8th Division at the time, recorded the urgency of those hours in his diary. The Japanese were already on the north bank of the Yellow River, briefly delayed when the Chinese army blew up the railway bridge across the river. The destruction of the dikes was the next step: if the area became a sea of mud, there would be no way the Japanese could even attempt to reconstruct the bridge. Blasting the dikes proved easier in theory than in practice. Holding back such a massive body of water required substantial engineering, dams thick and well fortified. The army made its first attempts to blow the dike at the small town of Zhaokou between June 4 and 6, 1938, but the structure proved too durable; another nearby attempt failed as well. Hour by hour, the Japanese moved closer. Division commander Jiang Zaizhen asked Xiong Xianyu for his opinion on where they might breach the dams. Xiong wrote “I discussed the topography, and said that two places, Madukou and Huayuankou, were both possible.” But Madukou was too close to Zhaokou, where the breach had already failed, presenting a danger that the Japanese might reach it very soon. The village of Huayuankou, however, lay farther away and on a bend in the river: “To give ourselves enough time, Huayuankou would be best.” At first, the soldiers treated the task as a military engineering assignment, an “exciting” one in Xiong's words. Xiong and Wei Rulin conducted their first site inspection after dark, late on June 6. The surroundings offered a deceptive calm: Xiong recounted “The wind blew softly, and the river water trickled pleasantly.” Yet gauging the water level proved difficult, hampered by murky moonlight and burned-out flashlights. They spent the night in their car to determine precisely where to break the dike as soon as day broke. But daylight seemed to bring home the consequences of what they planned to do, and the soldiers grew increasingly anxious. Wang Songmei, commander of the 2nd Regiment, addressed the workers about to breach the dike: “My brothers, this plan will be of benefit to our country and our nation, and will lessen the harm that is being done to the people.In the future, you'll find good wives and have plenty of children.” Wang's words were meant to reassure the men of the political necessity of their actions and that fate would not, in the traditional Chinese sense, deny them a family because of the enormity of their deeds. General Wei confirmed that Huayuankou was the right spot, and on June 8 the work began, with about 2,000 men taking part. The Nationalist government was eager to ensure rapid progress. Xiong recorded that the “highest authorities”,, kept making telephone calls from Wuhan to check on progress. In addition, the party sent performers to sing and play music to bolster the workers' spirits. Senior General Shang Zhen announced to the laborers that if they breached the dam by midnight on June 8, each would receive 2,000 yuan; if they achieved it by six the next morning, they would still be paid 1,000 yuan. They needed encouragement, for the diggers had no artificial assistance. After the initial failures at Zhaokou, Wei's troops relied entirely on manual labor, with no explosives used. Yet the workers earned their payments, and the dike was breached in just a few hours. On the morning of June 9, Xiong recorded a rapid shift in mood: the atmosphere became tense and solemn. Initially, the river flow was modest, but by about 1:00 p.m. the water surged “fiercely,” flowing “like 10,000 horses.” Looking toward the distance, Xiong felt as though a sea had appeared before him. “My heart ached,” he wrote. The force of the water widened the breach, and a deadly stream hundreds of feet wide comprising about three-quarters of the river's volume—rushed southeast across the central Chinese plains. “We did this to stop the enemy,” Xiong reflected, “so we didn't regret the huge sacrifice, as it was for a greater victory.” Yet he and the other soldiers also saw a grim reality: the troops who had taken on the task of destroying the railway bridge and the dikes could not bear the flood's consequences alone. It would be up to the government and the people of the nation to provide relief for the countless households uprooted by the flood. In fact, the previous evening Commander Jiang had telephoned to request assistance for those flooded out of their homes.   Wei, Xiong, and their troops managed to escape by wooden boats. Hundreds of thousands of farmers trapped in the floods were far less fortunate. Time magazine's correspondent Theodore White reported on the devastation a few days later “Last week “The Ungovernable” [i.e. the Yellow River] lashed out with a flood which promised to change not only its own course but also the course of the whole Sino-Japanese War. Severe breaks in the dikes near Kaifeng sent a five-foot wall of water fanning out over a 500-squaremile area, spreading death. Toll from Yellow River floods is not so much from quick drowning as from gradual disease and starvation. The river's filth settles ankle-deep on the fields, mothering germs, smothering crops. Last week, about 500,000 peasants were driven from 2,000 communities to await rescue or death on whatever dry ground they could find”. Chiang's government had committed one of the grossest acts of violence against its own people, and he knew that the publicity could be a damaging blow to its reputation. He decided to divert blame by announcing that the dike had been broken, but blaming the breach on Japanese aerial bombing. The Japanese, in turn, fiercely denied having bombed the dikes. White's reporting reflected the immediate response of most foreigners; having heard about the atrocities at Nanjing and Xuzhou, he was disinclined to give the Japanese the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, at the very time that the Yellow River was flooding central China, the Japanese were heavily bombing Guangzhou, causing thousands of casualties. To White, the Japanese counterargument—that the Chinese themselves were responsible, seemed unthinkable: “These accusations, foreign observers thought, were absurd. For the Chinese to check the Japanese advance at possible sacrifice of half a million lives would be a monstrous pyrrhic victory. Besides, dike-cutting is the blackest of Chinese crimes, and the Chinese Army would hardly risk universal censure for slight tactical gains.” But, of course, that is exactly what they had done. During the war the Nationalists never admitted that they, not the Japanese, had breached the dikes. But the truth quickly became widely known. Just a month later, on July 19, US Ambassador Johnson noted, in private communication, that the “Chinese blocked the advance on Chengchow [Zhengzhou] by breaching the Yellow River dikes.” Eventually some 54,000 square kilometers of central China were inundated by the floods. If the Japanese had committed such an act, it would have been remembered as the prime atrocity of the war, dwarfing even the Nanjing Massacre or the Chongqing air raids in terms of the number of people who suffered. Accurate statistics were impossible to obtain in the midst of wartime chaos and disaster, but in 1948 figures issued by the Nationalists themselves suggested enormous casualties: for the three affected provinces of Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, the number of dead was put at 844,489, with some 4.8 million becoming refugees. More recent studies place the numbers lower, but still estimate the dead at around 500,000, and 3–5 million refugees. In contrast, the devastating May 1939 air raids on Chongqing killed some thousands. Xiong reflected in his diary that the breaching of the Yellow River dikes was a sacrifice for a greater victory. Even to some Japanese it seemed that the tactic had been successful in the short term: the first secretary at the US Embassy in Wuhan reported that the flood had “completely checked the Japanese advance on Chengchow” and had prevented them taking Wuhan by rail. Instead, he predicted, the attack was likely to come by water and along the north shore of the Yangtze. Supporters of the dike breaches could argue that these acts saved central China and Chiang's headquarters in Wuhan for another five months. The Japanese were indeed prevented from advancing along the Long–Hai railway toward Wuhan. In the short term the floods did what the Nationalists wanted. But the flooding was a tactic, a breathing space, and did not solve the fundamental problem: China's armies needed strong leadership and rapid reform. Some historians suggest that Chiang's decision was pointless anyway, since it merely delayed the inevitable. Theodore White was right: no strategic advantage could make the deaths of 500,000 of China's own people a worthwhile price to pay. However, Chiang Kai-shek's decision can be partly explained, though not excused, by the context. We can now look back at the actions of the Nationalists and argue that they should not have held on to Wuhan, or that their actions in breaching the dam were unjustifiable in the extreme. But for Chiang, in the hot summer of 1938, it seemed his only hope was to deny Japan as much of China for as long as possible and create the best possible circumstances for a long war from China's interior, while keeping the world's attention on what Japan was doing. The short delay won by the flooding was itself part of the strategy. In the struggle raging within the soul of the Nationalist Party, the callous, calculating streak had won, for the time being. The breaking of the dikes marked a turning point as the Nationalists committed an act whose terrible consequences they would eventually have to expiate. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In late 1937, China's frontline trembled as Japanese forces closed in on Wuhan. Chiang Kai-shek faced a brutal choice: endure costly defenses or unleash a desperate gamble. Chiangs' radical plan emerged: breach the Yellow River dikes at Huayuankou to flood central China, buying time. The flood roared, washing villages and futures away, yet slowing the enemy. The battlefield paused, while a nation weighed courage against civilian suffering, victory against devastating costs.

Let's talk with Andrew Sgambati about his New film and get the inside scoop!

Got Faded Japan ep 790! Johnny's back and he's got the news! In this weeks news, kid goes full on Michael Meyers on his family with a crossbow,  porn star does the most “illegal” for a buck, fireman busted for putting our more than a fire, man busted for porn on plane (international-waters means jack), all this and more on GOT FADED JAPAN! FADE ON! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Supporting GOT FADED JAPAN ON PATREON directly supports keeping this show going and fueled with booze, seriously could you imagine the show sober?? Neither can we! SUPPORT GFJ at: https://www.patreon.com/gotfadedjapan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORT THE SHOW!!!!   1. THE SPILT INK: Experience art, buy art and get some original art commissioned at: SITE: https://www.thespiltink.com/ INSTAGRAM: @thespiltink YouTube: https://youtu.be/J5-TnZLc5jE?si=yGX4oflyz_dZo74m -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. MITSUYA LIQUOR in ASAGAYA: "The BEST beer shop and standing beer bar in Tokyo!" 1　Chome- 13 -17 Asagayaminami, Suginami Tokyo 166-0004　 Tel & Fax: 0303314-6151Email: Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------   3. Harry's Sandwich Company 1 min walk from Takeshita Street in HarajukuCall 050-5329-7203 Address: 〒150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 1 Chome−16−7 MSビル 3F -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Share Residence MUSOCO “It's a share house that has all that you need and a lot more!” - Located 30 minutes form Shibuya and Yokohama - Affordable rent - Gym - BAR! - Massive kitchen - Cozy lounge space - Office work units - A spacious deck for chilling - DJ booth and club space - Barber space - AND MORE! Get more info and move in at: https://sharedesign.co.jp/en/property.php?id=42&property=musaco&fbclid=IwAR3oYvB-a3_nzKcBG0gSdPQzxvFaWVWsi1d1xKLtYBnq8IS2uLqe6z9L6kY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Food House https://soulfoodhouse.comAddress:2-chōme−8−10 | Azabujūban | Tokyo | 106-0045 Phone:03-5765-2148 Email:info@soulfoodhouse.com Location Features:You can reach Soul Food House from either the Oedo Line (get off at Azabujuban Station and it's a 7-minute walk) or the Namboku Line (get off at Azabujuban Station and it's a 6-minute walk). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GET YOURSELF SOME GOT FADED JAPAN MERCH TODAY!!! We have T-Shirts, COFFEE Mugs, Stickers, even the GFJ official pants! BUY NOW AND SUPPORT THE SHOW: http://www.redbubble.com/people/thespiltink/works/16870492-got-faded-japan-podcast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Got Faded Japan Podcast gives listeners a glimpse of the most interesting side of Japan's news, culture, peoples, parties, and all around mischief and mayhem. Hosted by Johnny and Jeremy who adds opinions and otherwise drunken bullshit to the mix. We LOVE JAPAN AND SO DO YOU! Send us an email on Facebook or hell man, just tell a friend & post a link to keep this pod rolllin' Fader! Kanpai mofos! #japan #japantalk #japanpodcast #gotfadedjapan #livemusic    

Our podcast episode we referenced: Booking a Trip to Japan on Points as a Family of 5The Photographer we used: https://fleurandhoney.com/You can absolutely book her direct using the link above. We booked through Flytographer, so if you want to do that instead (or look at other options), this is our Flytographer referral link: https://flytog.co/RAYASAN-AGUSTIN As always, we appreciate you using our links to help support the podcast! The ramen restaurant, Ginza Ramen Soryu: https://share.google/aUSl6tXJnb1XeZzSbIn this episode we cover:• Alaska miles for positioning flight to SFO• Grand Hyatt SFO convenience and club access• JAL economy booked with AA miles, kids' meal tip• Haneda immigration QR flow and family line• Private transfer vs public transit on arrival• Hyatt Centric Ginza suite upgrade saga resolved• 7‑Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart meal strategies• Shinjuku family photos, fast edits, direct booking• Conveyor belt sushi trade‑offs for kids' fun• TeamLab Borderless highlights and tea add‑on caution• Ramen near Ginza worth a return trip• Language tools: Google Translate and key phrases• Metro basics with Google Maps and Suica cards• Stairs, timing, and accessibility notes• Disney parks preview and where to find linksFollow us on Instagram @travelpartyof5 to see the hotel tours and Tokyo highlights; DM us your questions for quick replies

Activist investing is back. On this week's episode of Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Joe Bauernfreund, chief executive of Asset Value Investors, about buying quality companies at deep discounts—and actively forcing a catalyst. The conversation spans Japan’s ongoing governance-driven rerating, South Korea’s push to be the new Japan and moneymaking special situations from Mitsubishi Logistics to News Corp. They also unpack why AVI tilts away from the US, how private-equity trusts and buybacks can unlock value and what the future might be for the UK’s ailing investment trust industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Times Episode 13: Hanging out with David after his return from Japan, Ep 122 Please Consider Kindly Supporting Our Crowd-Funded Show By Supporting Us Through Our Show's Patreon: https://patreon.com/lostwithoutjapanpodcast?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Maurice Instagram: @slycelyfe https://www.instagram.com/slycelyfe?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==  Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/paying-for-our-4-109129803?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link  Sora News: https://soranews24.com/2025/06/07/can-japans-favorite-cheap-chocolate-also-be-a-good-craft-beer-taste-testing-black-thunder-stout/  As always, the link to our shows Google Resource doc can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEVbRmvn8jzxOZPDaypl3UAjxbs1OOSWSftFW1BYXpI/edit#

Accunet Mortgage & Realty Show 10-11-2025: Market Insights and Client Success## Government Shutdown and Economic DataThe recent government shutdown left mortgage professionals without critical data like the jobs report. However, Bureau of Labor Statistics employees were recalled to complete the September Consumer Price Index report—needed for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. This matters because CPI measures inflation, the primary driver of mortgage rates.## Global Markets Impact Your RateJapanese political developments unexpectedly moved U.S. mortgage rates this week. Coalition negotiations caused rates to rise Monday, then fall Friday when the coalition collapsed. While you shouldn't track Tokyo politics, this shows how rates reflect complex global factors beyond local conditions.## Rate Options: No Single AnswerThere's no single “rate today.” Borrowers choose different approaches—some pay no points, others buy down their rate. The decision depends on loan size, equity, timeline, and cash preferences. Choose what aligns with your financial strategy.## Southeastern Wisconsin MarketSeptember sales rose 3% year-over-year to 1,546 transactions, though 20% below pre-pandemic levels. About 60-65% of homeowners have rates under 4%, creating a “lock-in effect.”Median prices rose 7% to $362,500, but single-family homes ($390,000, up 10%) outpaced condos ($280,000, up 1.5%). Inventory is improving—new listings exceeded closings by 583 homes, creating a 2.5-month supply (still a seller's market but trending toward balance).Competition remains steady: 46% of homes sold above asking. With inflation stabilizing, buyers may be more selective, letting good homes move fast while mediocre properties linger.## Success Story: Value Acceptance WinsA buyer transitioning from Illinois won with a $20,000 over-ask offer using strategic advantages:- **Value Acceptance**: Property qualified for no-appraisal at their offer price—eliminating risk and delays- **Proactive Communication**: Calling the listing agent to highlight this advantage- **Speed**: 10% down ready, committed to 2.5-week closeLesson: Combine financial readiness, strategic advantages, clear communication, and speed.## Smart Down Payment StrategyA buyer planning $43,000 down (12%) explored alternatives: Every $1,000 in down payment changed their monthly payment by only $6.50. Keeping $10,000 in savings costs about $65 monthly—roughly two restaurant deliveries.For homes needing work, having cash for repairs might outweigh minimal payment savings.**Balance Three Factors**: Money leaving savings, money remaining for reserves, and monthly payment comfort. The best choice depends on your situation, not generic rules.## Refinance RealityDon't wait for a full percentage point drop. On a $500,000 loan, even 0.5% saves $244 monthly—nearly $3,000 annually. Consider absolute savings and break-even timeline, not arbitrary rules.## Key TakeawaysMarkets are complex and globally connected. The best mortgage matches your specific cash position, income trajectory, and goals—not one-size-fits-all advice. Competitive success requires financial readiness, speed, and understanding advantages like value acceptance. Local dynamics matter most. Cash versus equity decisions should reflect your priorities and circumstances, helping you find what works best for your life and financial situation.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Last night, Des and Kara were live at the Chicago Marathon in a live event hosted by Brooks Running and Fleet Feet Chicago! As with all of the live episodes, this is a fun one with their usual catch-up banter, a very special guest in CJ Albertson, race previews for the marathon on Sunday, and some great questions from the live audience (with all of the audio captured!).  Just some of the fun... CJ's recovery post Tokyo and his goals for Sunday, race day predictions, quick takes on The Life of a Showgirl, what Des and Kara think about each other as friends, tips for evolving your training and goals as you age, and so much more! Good luck to those racing on Sunday. Go get it done!

What if your greatest suffering became the foundation for healing thousands of others? In this episode, Mike Dannheim, founder of Sensie, shares his extraordinary journey from a traumatic brain injury and suicide attempt at 19 to leading a groundbreaking wellness technology company. Through his experience with addiction recovery, meditation, and cutting-edge neuroscience, Mike has created a platform that predicts stress before it becomes a problem and generates measurable biopsychological resilience. Mike reflects on the mentors and relationships that saved his life, shaped his path, and continue to fuel his mission to help people connect more deeply with their body's intelligence.   [00:03:54] What Is Sensie? Predicting stress before it's a problem and generating wellness Using smartphone sensors to assess micro movements in gestures Identifying sources of stress and providing precise techniques to alleviate them Breakthrough: measurable biopsychological resilience [00:05:03] The Birth of Two Passions Leading consumer technology companies for 15 years Personal healing work and 21 years of sobriety Helping everyone from people with addiction to CEOs and professional athletes Wellness-based coaching rooted in recovery principles [00:06:00] The Car Accident That Changed Everything Traumatic brain injury at age 19 Out-of-body experience watching himself at the accident scene Retrograde amnesia: not knowing who he was or where he was Struggling with short-term memory recall and feeling like he was in hell Trying to take his own life at 19 [00:07:40] The Meditation Miracle Four to six months of meditation bringing his brain back Memory returning and life taking off Leading a $16 billion IPO and living around the world Life becoming "beyond my wildest dreams" Mainstream medicine in 2002 not understanding neuroplasticity Doctors believing he wouldn't recover Deep dive into neuroscience, consciousness studies, and Eastern spirituality [00:08:26] The Power of Movement and Meditation Witnessing impact on hundreds of people's lives Techniques that compress 10 years of therapy into one session Transforming suffering into intelligence and wisdom Helping people show up more present in their lives [00:11:26] Million-Dollar Relationships: Martin The man who taught Mike meditation and saved his life Going back seven years later to thank him [00:12:00] Alessandro Anastacia: The First Believer First investor in Sensie, met in Tokyo during Groupon expansion Speaks five languages, sometimes all in one sentence Lives by Ubuntu philosophy: "For us, by us" Invested before any R&D, just to support two friends with good hearts [00:13:40] Satya Raja: The Leadership Guide Vince Covino's partner and partner in Sensie Integrating enlightened leadership for over 30 years Found Mike in a really hard place, frustrated with support levels Helped Mike see himself and clean up his own energy [00:16:01] The Life-Saving Impact Getting emotional reflecting on the question Helping a man who was trying to take his life Using techniques learned from Satya and others The man is now a close friend with four kids and a thriving art business in Miami [00:19:00] Kevin's Story: Losing His Father Diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of ninth grade Passing at the end of 10th grade after a year and a half Not a word left unsaid between father and son The uncle who became a father figure and passed away in February The surprise family reunion with his last remaining aunt The power of honoring those still with us [00:24:21] Final Reflection: The Body's Intelligence Research field called Interoception: neuromechanics of inner awareness Deeper connection to inner environment improves life across all domains Trust levels, friendships, contentment, fulfillment, even financial success Dr. John Coates' research: traders who could self-assess heartbeat had higher profitability The more we help each other connect to our body's intelligence, the better life gets   KEY QUOTES "He invested in our company before we had done any R&D. He just wanted to support two friends. He didn't care, and put any pressure on us. He was just like, I know you guys have good hearts. Here's the money. Go do the research." - Mike Dannheim on Alessandro "Grief is unexpressed love. May we not leave this funeral with any unexpressed love." - Satya Raja's message that Mike shared with his family "By being able to grieve the death of my mother, I can still feel her in my heart. She's never left. She's here loving you, me, right now." - Mike Dannheim "Instead of having to go through 10 years of therapy, you can get it in one session. There's very well researched techniques that can help alleviate suffering so it can become intelligence and wisdom." - Mike Dannheim "The more we can help each other connect more deeply to our body's intelligence, the better this life gets." - Mike Dannheim   CONNECT WITH MIKE DANNHEIM

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!

Guests:Kam Quarles, CEO, National Potato CouncilMatt Lantz, Senior Vice President, Global Access, Bryant ChristieThe federal government shutdown is hitting U.S. potato growers where it hurts: market access and emergency relief.Tune in as NPC CEO Kam Quarles and global trade expert Matt Lantz break down the real-world costs of the continued lapse in funding. This week, we dive deep into major concerns for the industry:The Disrupted Japan Mission: Kam and Matt recently returned from a trade visit to Japan that was intended to move forward the long-awaited fresh potato access deal. They reveal how the shutdown, specifically the cancellation of the USDA Secretary's participation, impacted the negotiations in Tokyo as well as this week's bilateral meeting in Wenatchee, Wash.The Fight for Grower Relief: Kam provides an update on the Trump Administration's planned emergency aid package, initially prompted by challenges facing soybean farmers. He details the efforts of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance to ensure that potato growers are included in any aid package and to secure a mechanism that effectively delivers relief to specialty crop growers.

In this part we talk about the best ninja turtles, war in Portland, pepper spray, Cheeto dust, A.I. MLK, Korean streamer killed by fan, 1st amendment in jeopardy, pastor gets shot with pepper ball, Diddy sentenced to 4 yrs, Greta Thunberg allegedly tortured, judge who rules against Trump has her house burn down after death threats, Magic City goes to Japan, man forced to leave buffet after 4 hours, and much more! Email here: tokyoblackhour@gmail.com Check us out Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/TokyoBlackHour/   Check out the Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX_C1Txvh93PHEsnA-qOp6g?view_as=subscriber Follow us on Twitter @TokyoBlackPod Get your apparel at https://tkbpandashop.com/  You can also catch us Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify Check out Every Saturday Morning here https://www.everysaturdaymorning.fun Check out the mix here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outOhNt1vBA&t=1167s

Champion d'Europe du 800 mètres et recordman de France, Gabriel Tual nous emmène dans les coulisses de la performance : ses séances qui piquent, ses “hacks” de mental, ses doutes après Tokyo et sa façon bien à lui de se relever, toujours plus fort.Un épisode où vitesse rime avec lucidité, et où l'on découvre qu'un vrai champion, ce n'est pas seulement celui qui court le plus vite… mais celui qui sait pourquoi il court.

Roll On is here! Adam Skolnick and I catch up after a month of nonstop travel. Tokyo for the Track & Field World Championships, New York, and DC multiple times. Big news: Adam announces his debut novel American Tiger—20 years in the making, with the audiobook recorded right here in our studio. Also on tap: my family crisis that required an Ocean's 11-style heist, accidentally crashing the wrong high school reunion, Alex Honnold scaling skyscrapers live on Netflix, the Norwegians sweeping Ironman Nice, and Sean Penn's performance in “One Battle After Another." I get candid about what it means to show up when every button you have is being pushed, generational trauma, and practicing unconditional love. Buckle up! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up   Today's Sponsors: Momentous: High-caliber human performance products for sleep, focus, longevity, and more. For listeners of the show, Momentous is offering up to 35% off your first order

Our guest today is Faith Kipyegon, the greatest 1500m runner the sport has ever known. In Tokyo, she won her record fourth World Championship 1500m title — seven global golds in this event including her three Olympic golds. It is a reign that now stretches over four years and twenty-two straight victories.In Tokyo, that 1500m final was also a masterclass performance. She led from the gun and never looked back and ran 3:52.15 to win by nearly three seconds, the largest margin of any of her global titles. It was Faith at her purest: precise, patient, untouchable.In this episode, we talk about how Kipyegon continues to perfect the impossible by breaking world records three years in a row and racing not for dominance but for legacy. She's won everything there is to win, yet somehow, it feels like she's still getting better. Faith Kipyegon has redefined what greatness on the track looks like.You can watch the full interview with Faith Kipyegon here.____________Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ Guest: Faith Kipyegon | @faithkipyegon on InstagramProduced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSHOKA: We're takin' over Happy Camper Chicago (Old Town) with HOKA during the Chicago Marathon festivities. On Sunday morning, we'll be posted up as part of the HOKA cheer zone to host our alternate broadcast watchalong, where Eric Jenkins, Karen Leciewicz, Paul Hof Mahoney and other guests will be providing their own commentary, reactions, insights and analysis live as the elite races unfold. Stay tuned for some surprise giveaways that we'll have on-site for marathon finishers. Don't miss the HOKA Hub at the expo for a chance to demo the all-new Rocket X 3 and the up-tempo Mach X 3. ⁠⁠RSVP to all of these events via the HOKA Eventbrite page at the link here.⁠WAHOO: The KICKR RUN isn't just another treadmill; it's a complete rethink of indoor running. With Dynamic Pacing, it automatically adjusts to your stride—no buttons, no breaking form, just pure running freedom. Its Terrain Simulation makes the deck feel like a track or trail, while lateral tilt mimics real-world conditions so you're always prepared for race day. So whether you're chasing your first half-marathon finish, a marathon PR, or your next trail adventure, the KICKR RUN is built to help you Run Your Run. Check it all out at ⁠⁠⁠WahooFitness.com⁠⁠⁠ and use code CITIUS at checkout.OLIPOP: Straight out of Bikini Bottom, Olipop's limited edition SpongeBob cans have arrived. Pineapple Paradise features a burst of juicy pineapples and a splash of mandarin. It's on shelves now at Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Circle K, Amazon, and select stores nationwide.⁠⁠⁠ ⁠You can check out all of their flavors and get 25% off your orders at DrinkOlipop.com using code CITIUS25 at checkout.⁠

Send us a textDay eight of the shutdown, no data, no scoreboard, just thunder over St Barts and my voice in the dark. The Philly Fed whispers life and the Fed's month-old minutes somehow steal the show: dovish, nervous, and oddly triumphant. I talk about Stephen Miran's population shocks: millions arriving, then vanishing, the beat that moves jobs and rents faster than the Fed can blink. I take you from Malta to Tokyo, from tariffs to the Kobayashi test, asking why America leads, Japan staggers, and everyone else watches the credits roll. It's macro as theatre, humour, and confession.Objective of Acid BreathTo turn every trading day into a human story. Memory, irony, and mischief in place of market jargon.Why listenBecause Acid Breath makes the world's madness sound like music and might even teach you how to dance with it.Support the show⬇️ Subscribe on Patreon or Substack for full episodes ⬇️https://www.patreon.com/HughHendryhttps://hughhendry.substack.comhttps://www.instagram.com/hughhendryofficialhttps://blancbleustbarts.comhttps://www.instagram.com/blancbleuofficial⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Leave a five star review and comment on Apple Podcasts!

What if collecting your stars didn't require juggling hotel hunts, expo lines, and start-time puzzles? We sit down with Destiny2Sport founder Victor Ortiz to unpack a smarter way to run the world; from Berlin's fast streets and Chicago's walkable logistics to New York's electric maze, Tokyo's quiet precision, Boston's legendary grind, London's all-out roar, and Sydney's shiny new major status. As a former soccer player turned triathlete and marathon tour operator, Victor shares the practical moves that save energy when it matters most: stay near the start in Tokyo, arrive by Thursday in Berlin to beat jet lag, fuel for NYC's long pre-race wait, budget for Boston's premium finish-zone hotels, and time the London expo so you can enjoy the Tower Bridge crescendo without missing aid stations.We get tactical about course profiles, pacing traps, and on-the-ground choices that make or break the weekend. You'll hear how room blocks close to finish lines change everything, why a Friday shakeout is more than a photo op, and how flexible group itineraries let introverts and social butterflies thrive. Sydney's expo lessons, smarter merch runs, and those finish-line photos by the Opera House? Covered. Plus, a peek ahead at Cape Town and Shanghai as likely new majors, and what that means for entries, pricing, and planning your next racecation.If you want your training to show up on race day, cut the logistics noise and protect your focus. Tap into Victor's blueprint, choose hotels that serve your legs, and surround yourself with a community that knows the route from lobby to start corral to the medal. Want to learn more about a tour package with Destiny2Sport? Head to their website here.Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe, share this episode with a friend chasing their stars, and leave a quick review to help more runners find us.Have questions or want to chat? Send me a text!Support the showJoin the newsletter list for updates, special offers, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.Join fellow pod and running enthusiasts at The Stride Collective community on Facebook or follow us on Instagram.

Sebastien and Chris had a lovely time talking to Norihiro Fujii of Fujji Shuzo, makers of Ryusei. Their conversation was wide ranging: covering the history of the brewery, the change to all kimoto brewing, and the ongoing move to all wild fermentation. We'd love to hear what you thought about the episode! Let us know at questions@sakeonair.com or send us a message on our Instagram, Facebook, or Substack! We'll be back very soon with plenty more Sake On Air. Until then, kampai! Sake On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake & Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. Sake on Air was created by Potts K Productions and is produced by Export Japan. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air. 

The word is Tokyo, because Keith and Andy recorded this episode during their trip to Japan! The show begins with a discussion they had on their second day, while waiting at the Tokyo train station, then jumps ahead to conversations about their day at Expo 2025 in Osaka. A couple of days after that, they recorded their thoughts after returning from Tokyo Disneyland, and the show concludes with a conversation they had at the airport, while waiting to go home the following Sunday morning.

"I do want to be the greatest to ever do it in our sport. And I mean that wholeheartedly. I genuinely feel like it's something that I can do, and something I've been called to do. In due time it is going to happen. But it is going to start with me taking it one day, one practice, one meet at a time." Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has had the year of her dreams. At this year's World Championships in Tokyo, Melissa became the first American in history to win triple gold, winning the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. She became the first American woman since Allyson Felix in 2009 to win the 200m at World Championships, and became the first American woman in history to win the 100/200 double at World Championships. Melissa went undefeated in the 100m this entire season, winning Diamond Leagues, Grand Slam Track meets, and, of course, World Champs. Last year, Melissa made her Olympic debut in Paris, where she won bronze in the 100m and gold in the 4x100m relay. In this conversation, Melissa talks about what life is like for the fastest woman in the world. FOLLOW MELISSA @__melissaj19 SPONSORS:  New Balance: Click here to get your hands on the just-released Rebel v5! Shokz: Use code ALI for $10 off your next headphone purchase. In this episode: Melissa's honeymoon plans, and how she's feeling after a banner season on the track (2:30) What it was like being on The Jennifer Hudson Show (5:25) What's making Melissa happy today (10:20) What's going through Melissa's head when she's in the blocks (13:00) Melissa's mantra: One Day, One Practice, One Meet at a Time (14:50) All about Melissa's “hero's welcome” after flying home from Tokyo (21:15) Melissa's take on track fashion (23:45) On running as a team sport (29:00) Melissa recaps her 100m experience at World Championships (36:00) How Melissa feels about being a reigning World Champion (41:30) All about the 200m Final, including the false start that kicked it off (43:40) Melissa's relationship with Allyson Felix (51:15) Melissa reflects on her “introductory year,” and reflects on her early Olympic dreams (56:50) Follow Ali: Instagram @aliontherun1 Join the Facebook group Support on Patreon Subscribe to the newsletter SUPPORT the Ali on the Run Show! If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Spread the run love. And if you liked this episode, share it with your friends!

Andy and Brendan return with plenty to discuss as the golf world finally moves out of the Ryder Cup's blast radius. Naturally, this episode kicks off with a Baseball Minute due to a disappointing start to the NLDS for Andy's beloved Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Things quickly transition to "Don Watch" as Brendan is hearing rumblings that the "Lose Yourself" karaoke video may surface in the coming days. The PGA Tour moves from Jackson, Mississippi to Tokyo, Japan this week for the Baycurrent Classic. This event and its various changes in the last five years leads to a wider discussion about the PGA Tour schedule and the ultimate question of "how many tournaments is too many?" Elsewhere on the schedule this week, the Korn Ferry Tour finals are set to go off in French Lick even though most of next year's Tour cards are locked up. On the DP World Tour, many LIV stars are at the Spanish Open contending for a 2026 Masters invite. Jon Rahm is playing his home event and spoke to the media to somewhat re-ignite the Ryder Cup crowd discourse a bit, as one does. After running through the rest of the Schedule for the Week, Andy and Brendan parse through a bunch of golf news including the return of the Skins Game and the 2026 TGL schedule release (with accompanying content!).

“Why are you going to Okayama?” To be fair, we got this question more than once while traveling around Japan. I get it. It's not really a tourist hot spot like Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. So when we told people where we were going, there were certainly a few raised eyebrows. But hear us out: Okayama is incredible! The city has enough things to do on its own like Okayama Castle, Korakuen Garden, and Kurashiki nearby! AND It's a top-notch base for day trips to Hiroshima, Naoshima Art Island, Himeji, and more! So in this episode, we're discussing the top things to do in Okayama Japan, best day trips from Okayama, and why we chose this lesser known city to spend 4 nights during our 2 week trip to Japan.   Relevant Links (may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links, we earn a small commission-at no additional cost to you!): -Okayama Hotel (Koraku Hotel): https://booking.stay22.com/worldwidehoneymoon/PH-cUT2oZz -Fat Bear Week: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week -Donate to The Otis Fund for Katmai National Park: https://katmaiconservancy.org/donate   Traveling to France? Check out our Facebook Group called France Travel Tips to ask/answer questions and learn more! Don't forget to follow along! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldwidehoneymoon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldwidehoneymoon TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@worldwidehoneymoon World Wide Honeymoon Blog: https://worldwidehoneymoon.com France Voyager Blog: https://francevoyager.com Subscribe to the World Wide Honeymoon blog here for monthly updates and tips + get our FREE trip planning guide: https://www.subscribepage.com/o4e5c2

Hay quien viaja mucho, pero es como si se quedase en casa. Lo cierto es que no se entera de nada de lo que sucede alrededor en sus viajes. Se mueve de aquí para allá, pero no sabe por qué ni para qué lo hace. Es como las maletas, están en multitud de aeropuertos, pero ni sienten ni padecen Min. 01 Seg. 51 – Intro Min. 09 Seg. 08 – Hay que proteger las selecciones Min. 14 Seg. 44 – Una decisión consensuada Min. 20 Seg. 25 – Un triunfo del fútbol español Min. 28 Seg. 00 – No tengo ni idea de nada Min. 34 Seg. 18 – Cero remuneración por el partido Min. 40 Seg. 17 – A nadie le interesa la Superliga Min. 45 Seg. 08 – Una decisión al margen del colectivo Min. 51 Seg. 25 - Hablar no evita las mentiras ni las elucubraciones Min. 56 Seg. 46 - Despedida Los Tres - Déjate caer (Viña del mar, Chile 23/02/2014) U.K. (Tokyo 29-30 mayo-4 junio 1979) Alaska Nothing To Lose Presto Vivace In The Dead Of Night Rendevous 6:02 Night After Night Time To Kill As Long As You Want Me Here Caesar's Palace Blues China Crisis - Wishful Thinking (Shrewsbury Abbey 16/03/2024)

In a world where everyone's hustling for side gigs, one man in Japan found the ultimate job, doing absolutely nothing.

Send us a textDiscover how Japan celebrates Halloween in Supernatural Japan: Halloween in Japan – Cosplay, Crowds, and Caution. From massive Shibuya street parties to family-friendly parades and spooky themed cafés, this episode explores how Japan blends Western traditions with unique local culture. We'll also look at recent restrictions in Tokyo, the impact of the Itaewon tragedy in Korea, and what travelers can expect during Japan's Halloween season. Perfect for fans of Japanese culture, travel, 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.comTales from Kevin Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tales-from-kevin/id1767355563Support the podcast (Help fund the creation of new episodes) MEMBERSHIPS NOW AVAILABLE!: https://buymeacoffee.com/busankevinYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BusanKevinNEW podcast companion blogs! https://justjapanstuff.com/Website: https://supernaturaljapan.buzzsprout.comSupport the show

In the 58th episode of the ECM podcast we're joined by guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel to talk about the release of “Tokyo”, his new album played in trio with Scott Colley on double bass and Brian Blade on drums.  Wolfgang talks about telepathy, how to write a song, music, life education, and so much more.

Hey guys, what you are about to listen to is basically a “what if” Japan performed Hokushin-ron instead of Nanshin-ron, ie: What if Japan invaded the USSR during WW2? Before I jump into it I just want to thank all of you that signed up for the patreon, you guys are awesome. Please leave a comment on this episode to let me know what more you want to hear about in the future. With all of that said and done lets jump right into it.   Part 1 The Geopolitical context   Ok so, one of the questions I get the most is, what if Japan invaded the USSR. I've actually already tackled this subject, albeit lightly with Cody from AlternatehistoryHub and once with my friend Eric. Its too complicated to give a real answer, a lot of this is guess work, though I really will try to provide hard numbers. I think off the bat something needs to be made clear since we are dealing with alternate history. I am not doing a “what if Japan developed completely different, or what if the IJA got their way in the early 1930's” no no, this is going to be as realistic as possible…even though this is batshit crazy.    Japan faced the decision of whether to go to war with the USSR in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. They held meetings, made plans, and ultimately it was decided they would not engage the Soviets. Our scenario will follow exactly what they did to a T, but when the made the decision not to go to war, we will see them go to war.    Now before I jump into our this timeline, I think its very important to explain the actual situation Japan faced in 1941. There were two major strategies that emerged during the 1930's within the Japanese military. Many junior officers in the IJA favored the Hokushin-ron “northern strike” strategy against the USSR. Many officers in the IJN with some in the IJA favored the Nanshin-ron “southern strike” strategy, to seize the resource rich dutch east indies by invading Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The idea of Hokushin-ron was to perform an invasion into Southern Siberia and outer mongolia ending around Lake Baikal where they would set up defenses. They had already tried to establish this during the Russian civil war as part of the Siberian Intervention, but failed to create a buffer state. From 1935-1939 there were 108 border clashes between the USSR and Japan. In 1938 one of these border clashes turned into quite a catastrophe, it was called the battle of Lake Khasan.  The Soviets suffered nearly 800 deaths, more than 3000 wounded, perhaps nearly 50 tanks were destroyed with another 100 damaged. The Japanese suffered about 600 deaths with 2500 wounded. The result ultimately was a ceasefire, but for the Kwantung army it seemed to them like a victory. In May of 1939 they had a much larger and more famous battle known as the battle of Khalkhin Gol.  During the early part of the battle the IJA sent 80 tanks crossing over Khalkhin Gol, driving the Soviets back towards Baintsagan Hill. Zhukov was waiting for the attack and sent 450 tanks and armored cars unsupported by infantry to attack the IJA from three sides. The IJA were practically encircled and lost half their armored units as they struggled to fight back as it withdrew. The two armies spared for the next 2 weeks along the east bank of the Khalkhin Gol. Problem was the Japanese were having issues getting their supplies to the area as they lacked motor transport while Zhukov whose army was over 460 miles away from its base of supply had 2600 trucks supplying them. On july 23rd the Japanese launched attacks supported by artillery and within two days they had consumed half their ammunition stores. The situation was terrible, they suffered 5000 casualties and made little progress breaking the Soviet lines. Zhukov then unleashed an offensive on august 20th using over 4000 trucks to transport supplies from Chita base. He assembled around 500 tanks, 550 fighters and bombers and his 50,000 infantry supported by armored cars. This mechanized force attacked the Japanese first using artillery and the aircraft as his armor and infantry crossed the river. The IJA were quickly flanked by the fast moving Soviet armor and encircled by August 25th. The IJA made attempts to break out of the encirclement but failed. They refused to surrender despite overwhelming artillery and aerial bombardment; by the 31st the Japanese forces on the Mongolian side of the border were destroyed. The Japanese suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, the lost 162 aircraft, 29 tanks, 7 tankettes, 72 artillery pieces a large number of vehicles. The Soviets took a heavy hit also suffering almost 25,000 casualties, 250 aircraft, 250 tanks, 133 armored cars, almost 100 artillery pieces, hundreds of vehicles. While these numbers make it seem the Japanese did a great job, you need to consider what each party was bringing to this fight. The Japanese brought roughly 30,000 men, 80 tanks and tankettes, 400 aircraft, 300 artillery pieces, 1000 trucks. The Soviets brought nearly 75,000 men, 550 tanks, 900 aircraft, 634 artillery pieces, 4000 trucks. There are some sources that indicate the IJA brought as many artillery rounds as they could muster from Japan, Manchuria and Korea, roughly 100,000 rounds for the operation. The Soviets fired 100,000 rounds per day. A quick look at wikipedia numbers, yes I know its a no no, but sometimes its good for quick perspectives show: USSR: Bomber sorties 2,015, fighter sorties 18,509; 7.62 mm machine gun rounds fired 1,065,323; 20 mm (0.80 in) cannon rounds expended 57,979; bombs dropped 78,360 (1,200 tons). Japan: Fighter/bomber sorties 10,000 (estimated); 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine gun rounds fired 1.6 million; bombs dropped 970 tons. What I am trying to say is there was an enormous disparity in military production. And this is not just limited to numbers but quality. After the battle the Japanese made significant reforms. They increased tank production from 500 annually to 1200. The Japanese funded research into new anti-tank guns, such as the Type 1 47 mm. They mounted this gun to their Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, the new standard medium tank of the IJA. Because of the tremendous defeat to Soviet armor they send General Yamashita to Germany to learn everything he could about tank tactics. But they simply could not produce enough tanks to ever hope to match 10% of the USSR. The Soviets had mostly been using T-26's, BT-5's and BT-7's who were crudely made, but made en masse. The Japanese would find most of their tank models with less effective range, less armor and some with less penetration power. It took the Japanese a hell of a lot more time to produce tanks, they were simply not on par with the Soviets in quantity or quality. Their tank tactics, albeit improved via Yamashita after 1939, were still nothing compared to the Soviets.  The major outcome of the battle of Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol was the abandonment of the hokushin-ron strategy and adoption of the nanshin-ron strategy. But, that didnt mean Japan did not have a plan in case they had to go to war with the USSR. Part 2 Kantōgun Tokushu Enshū Kantōgun Tokushu Enshū or the Kwantung Army Special Maneuvers was an operational plan created by the General Staff of the IJA for an invasion of the Russian Far East to capitalize on Operation Barbarossa. Here our story truly begin. Between 1938-1939 the IJA General Staff and Kwantung Army formed two “Hachi-Go” plans. Variants A and B examined the possibility of an all out war with the USSR beginning in 1943. In both plans they expected to be facing 60 Soviet divisions, while they could deliver 50 divisions, delivered incrementally from China and Japan. Plan A called for attacks across the eastern and northern borders of Manchuria while maintaining a defensive stance in the west. Plan B, much more ambitious, called for striking into the vast steppe between the Great Khingan Mountains and Lake Baikal, hoping to cut off the trans-siberian railway. If this was done successfully it was believed the whole of European Russia would be doomed to be defeated in detail. Defeated in detail means to divide and conquer. This battle would take place over 5000 kilometers with Japan's final objective being to advance 1200 km into the USSR. That dwarves Operation Barbarossa in distance, let that sink in. Both plans faced impossible odds. First of all the railway networks in Manchuria were not sufficiently expanded for such far reaching offensives, especially for plan B. Furthermore the 50 divisions required for them would be impossible to come by, since 1937 Japan was bogged down in a war with China. When Japan went to war with the west in 1941 she had 51 divisions. She left the base minimum in China, 35 divisions and tossed nearly 20 into southeast asia and the pacific. On top of not having the men, the IJA estimated a fleet of 200,000 vehicles would be necessary to sustain an offensive to Lake Baikal. That was twice the number of military vehicles Japan had at any given time. After the battle of Khalkhin Gol, plan B was completely abandoned. Planning henceforth focused solely on the northern and eastern fronts with any western advance being limited in scope. Now Japan formed a neutrality pact with the USSR because of her defeat at Khalkhin Gol and Molotov Ribbentrop pact between Germany and the USSR. The Molotov Ribbentrop Pact came as a bitter and complete surprise to Japan. It pushed Japan to fully adopt the Nanshin-ron strategy and this began with her invasion of French IndoChina, which led the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and United States to embargo her. The Netherlands Dutch East Indies refused to sell oil to Japan, the UK refused to sell oil from Burma and the US gradually cut off selling oil to Japan, with her oil exports alone being 80% of Japans supply, the rest from the Dutch east indies. The United States also placed an embargo on scrap-metal shipments to Japan and closed the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. 74.1% of Japan's scrap iron came from the United States in 1938, and 93% of Japan's copper in 1939. Other things like Rubber and tin were also off the table, as this was mostly acquired from British held Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.    Now the crux of everything is the China War. Japan was stuck, she needed to win, in order to win she needed the resources she was being denied. The only logical decision was to attack the places with these resources. Thus until 1941, Japan prepared to do just that, investing in the Navy primarily. Then in June of 1941, Hitler suddenly informs the Japanese that he is going to invade the USSR. The Japanese were shocked and extremely angry, they nearly left the Tripartite Pact over the issue. This unprecedented situation that ushered in the question, what should Japan do? There were those like Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka who argued they must abandon the neutrality pact and launch a simultaneous offensive with the Germans against the USSR. The IJA favored this idea….because obviously it would see them receiving more funding as the IJN was currently taking more and more of it for the Nanshin-ron plans. But this is not a game of hearts of Iron IV, the Japanese government had to discuss and plan if they would invade the USSR….and boy it took awhile. I think a lot of you will be very disappointed going forward, but there is no grand unleashing of a million Japanese across the borders into the Soviet Far East, in the real world there is something called logistics and politics.    The Japanese military abided by a flexible response policy, like many nations do today. Theres was specifically called the Junbi Jin Taisei or “preparatory formation setup”. Japan would only go to war with the USSR if favorable conditions were met. So in our timeline the Junbi Jin encountered its first test on June 24th when the IJA/IJN helped a conference in the wake of operation barbarossa. A compromise was made allowing the IJA to prepare an invasion plan if it did not impede on the nanshin-ron plans. There was those in the IJA who argued they should invade the USSR whether conditions were favorable or not, there were those who only wanted to invade if it looked like the USSR was on the verge of collapse. One thing agreed upon was if Japan unleashed a war with the USSR, the hostilities needed to be over by mid-October because the Siberian climate would hit winter and it would simply be impossible to continue. The IJA needed 60-7 days to complete operational preparations and 6-8 weeks to defeat the Soviets within the first phase of the offensive. Here is a breakdown of what they were thinking: 28 June: Decide on mobilization 5 July: Issue mobilization orders 20 July: Begin troop concentration 10 August: Decide on hostilities 24 August: Complete readiness stance 29 August: Concentrate two divisions from North China in Manchuria, bringing the total to 16 5 September: Concentrate four further divisions from the homeland, bringing the total to 22; complete combat stance 10 September (at latest): Commence combat operations 15 October: Complete first phase of war   The plan called for 22 divisions (might I add my own calculations of 20 divisions were pretty spot on), with roughly 850,000 men, including Manchukuo allies, supported by 800,000 tons of shipping. The Japanese hoped the Soviets would toss at least half their forces in the Far East, perhaps 2/3rd of their armor and aircraft against the Germans giving them a 2-1 superiority. Even the 22 divisions was questionable, many in the war ministry thought only 16 divisions could be spared for such a venture, something only suitable for mop up operations in the aftermath of a German victory along the eastern front. It was clear to all, Japan needed perfect conditions to even think about performing such a thing.    The War hawks who still sought to perform Hokushin-ron tried to persaude Hideki Tojo on july 5th to go through with a new plan using a total of 25 divisions. This plan designated “Kantogun Tokushu Enshu or Kantokuen” would involve 2 phases, a buildup and readiness phase and an offensive phase. On July 7th they went to Hirohito for his official sanction for the build up. Hirohito questioned everything, but gradually relented to it. The plan was nearly identical to the former plans, banking on the Soviets being unable to reinforce the Far East because of Germany's progress. The level of commitment was scaled down somewhat, but still enormous. Again a major looming issue was the Manchurian railways that would need to be expanded to accomodate the movement of men and supplies. This meant the construction of port facilities, military barracks, hospitals and such. Kantokuen would begin with a initial blow against the Ussuri front, targeting Primorye and would be followed up by a northern attack against Blagoveshchensk and Kuibyshevka. The 1st area army, 3rd and 20 armies with the 19th division of the Korean army would penetrade the border south of Lake Khanka to breach the main soviet defensive lines, thus threatening Vladivostok. The 5th army would strike south of Dalnerechensk to complete the isolation of the maritime province, sever the trans-sierian railway and block Soviet reinforcements. The 4th army would attack along the Amur river before helping out against Blagoveshchensk. Two reinofrced divisions would invade Sakhalin from land and sea. The second phase would see the capture of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, and Nikolayevsk. Additionally, amphibious operations against Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula were contemplated.   It was agreed the operation could only afford 24 divisions, with 1,200,000 men, 35,000 vehicles, 500 tanks, 400,000 horses and 300,000 coolies. The deployment of thse forces would mean the western front facing Mongolia and the Trans-baikal region would be pretty much open, so delaying actions would have to be fought if the soviets performed a counter offensive there. Air forces were critical to the plan. They sought to dispatch up to roughly 2000 aircraft cooperating with 350 naval aircraft to launch a sudden strike against the Soviet Far East Air Force to knock them out early.    The Soviet Far East had two prominent weaknesses to be exploited. Number 1 was Mongolia's 4500 km long horeshoe shaped border. Number 2 was its 100% dependency on European Russia to deliver men, food and war materials via the trans-siberian railway. Any disruption of the trans-siberian railway would prove fatal to the Soviet Far East.    Now as for the Soviets. The 1930's and early 1940's saw the USSR take up a defensive policy, but retained offensive elecments as well. Even with the German invasion and well into 1942, the Soviets held a strategy of tossing back the IJA into Manchuria if attacked. The primary forces defending the Far east in 1941 were the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, under the command of Generals Iosif Apanasenko and Mikhail Kovalyov. The Trans-Baikal front held 9 divisions, including 2 armored, a mechanized brigade and a heavily fortified region west of the Oldoy River near Skovorodino had a garrison. The Far Eastern Front had 23 divisions including 3 armored, 4 brigades and 11 heavily fortified regions with garrisons including Vladivostok. Altogether they had 650,000 men, 5400 tanks, 3000 aircraft, 57,000 vehicles, 15,000 artillery pieces and nearly 100,000 horses. By 1942 the Vladivostok sector had 150 artillery pieces with 75 -356 mm calibers organized into 50 batteries. As you can imagine after Operation Barbarrosa was unleashed, things changed. From June to December, roughly 160,000 men, 3000 tanks, 2670 artillery pieces, 12,000 vehicles and perhaps 1800 aircraft were sent to deal with the Germans. Despite this, the Soviets also greatly expanded a buildup to match the apparent Japanese buildup in Manchuria. By July 22nd 1941 the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts were to be raised by 1 million men for august. By December it was nearly 1.2 million. Even the Soviet Far East Navy saw an increase from 100,000 men to 170,000 led by Admiral Yumashev. The Soviet Mongolian allies were capable of manning about 80,000, though they lacked heavy equipment.    Thus if this war broke out in September the Soviets and Mongolians would have just over a million men, with 2/3rds of them manning the Amur-Ussuri-Sakhalin front, the rest would defend Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region. Even though the war against the Germans was dire, the Soviets never really gave up their prewar planning for how to deal with the Japanese. There would be an all-out defense over the border to prevent any breach of Soviet territory. The main effort would see the 1st and 25th armies holding a north-south axis between the Pacific ocean and Lake Khanka; the 35th army would defend Iman; the 15th and 2nd Red Banner armies would repel the Japanese over the Amur River; and other forces would try to hold out on Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Pacific coast. The Soviets had constructed hundreds of fortified positions known as Tochkas along the border. Most of these were hexagonal concrete bunkers contained machine gun nests and 76 mm guns. The fortified regions I mentioned were strategically placed forcing the Japanese to overcome them via frontal attacks. This would require heavy artillery to overcome. Despite the great defensive lines, the Soviets did not intend to be passive and would launch counteroffensives. The Soviet air force and Navy would play an active role in defeating a Japanese invasion as well. The air force's objetice would be to destroy the Japanese air force in the air and on the ground, requiring tactical ground attack mission. They would also destroy key railways, bridges and airfields within Manchuria and Korea alongside intercepting IJN shipping. Strategic bombing against the home islands would be limited to under 30 DB-3's who could attack Tokyo, Yokosuka, Maizuru and Ominato. The Soviet Navy would help around the mouth of the Amur River, mine the Tatar Strait and try to hit any IJN ships landing men or materials across the Pacific Coasts.    Japan would not be able to continue a land war with the USSR for very long. According to Japanese military records, in 1942 while at war they were required to produce 50 Kaisenbun. A Kaisenbun is a unit of measurement for ammunition needed for a single division to operate for 4 months. Annual production never surpassed 25 kaisenbun with 100 in reserve. General Shinichi Tanaka estimated for an operation against the USSR 3 Kaisenbun would be needed per divisions, thus a total of 72 would be assigned to 24 divisions. This effectively meant 2/3rds of Japans ammunition stockpile would be used on the initial strike against the USSR. Japan would have been extremely hard pressed to survive such a war cost for 2 years.    Now in terms of equipment Japan had a lot of problems. During the border battles, Japanese artillery often found itself outranged and grossly under supplied compared to the Soviet heavier guns. Despite moving a lot of men and equipment to face the Germans, the Red Army maintained a gross superiority in armor. The best tank the Kwantung Army had in late 1941 was the Type 97 Chi-Ha, holding 33mm armor with a low velocity 57 mm gun. There was also Ha-Go and Te-Ke's with 37 mm guns but they had an effective range less than 1 km.   The Soviet T-26, BT-5 and BT-7's had 45 mm guns more than capable of taking out the Japanese armor and the insult to injury was they were crudely made and very expendable. Every Japanese tank knocked out was far greater a loss, as Japan's production simply could not remotely match the USSR. For aircraft the Japanese were a lot better off. The Polikarpov I-16 was the best Soviet fighter in the Far East and performed alright against the Nakajima Ki-27 at Khalkhin Gol. The rest of the Soviet air arsenal were much older and would struggle. The Soviets would have no answer to the IJN's Zero fighter or the IJA's high speed KI-21 bomber that outraced the Soviet SB-2. Japanese pilots were battle hardened by China and vastly experienced.   Another thing the Japanese would have going for them was quality of troops. The Soviets drained their best men to fight the Germans, so the combat effectiveness in the far east would be less. Without the Pacific War breaking out, some of Japan's best Generals would be brought into this war, of course the first one that comes to mind for me is General Yamashita, probably the most armor competent Japanese general of ww2.    Come August of 1941 those who still sought the invasion of the USSR were facing major crunch time. The IJA planners had assumed the Soviets would transfer 50% or more of their power west to face the Germans, but this was not the case. By August 9th of 1941, facing impossible odds and with the western embargos in full motion, in our timeline the Japanese Hokushin-Ron backers gave up. But for the sake of our story, for some batshit insane reason, the Japanese military leadership and Hirohito give the greenlight for an invasion on August 10th.   Part 3 the catastrophe   So to reiterate the actual world plan had    10 August: Decide on hostilities 24 August: Complete readiness stance 29 August: Concentrate two divisions from North China in Manchuria, bringing the total to 16 5 September: Concentrate four further divisions from the homeland, bringing the total to 22; complete combat stance 10 September (at latest): Commence combat operations 15 October: Complete first phase of war   So what is key to think about here is the events of September. The Battle for Moscow is at the forefront, how does a Japanese invasion in the first week or two of September change things? This is going to probably piss off some of you, but Operation Typhoon would still fail for Germany.  In our time line the legendary spy Richard Sorge sent back information on Japan's decision to invade the USSR between August 25th to September 14th. On the 25th he informed Stalin the Japanese high command were still discussing whether to go to war or not with the USSR. On September 6th Stalin was informed the Japanese were beginning preparations for a war against the west. Then on September 14th, the most important message was relayed to Stalin "In the careful judgment of all of us here... the possibility of [Japan] launching an attack, which existed until recently, has disappeared...."[15]    With this information on hand from 23 June to 31 December 1941, Stalin transferred a total of 28 divisions west. This included 18 rifle divisions, 1 mountain rifle division, 3 tank divisions, 3 mechanized divisions and 3 mountain cavalry divisions. The transfers occurred mainly in June (11 divisions) and October (9 divisions).    Here we come to a crossroads and I am going to have to do some blunt predictions. Let's go from the most optimistic to the most pessimistic. Scenario 1) for some insane reason, Stalin abandons Moscow and moves his industry further east, something the Soviets were actively preparing during Operation Typhoon. This is not a defeat of the USSR, it certainly would prolong the war, but not a defeat. Now that seems rather silly. Scenario 2) Stalin attempts transferring half of what he did in our time line back to Moscow and the Germans fail to take it. The repercussions of course is a limited counteroffensive, it wont be as grand as in our timeline, but Moscow is saved. Scenario 3) and the most likely in my opinion, why would Stalin risk moscow for the Far East? Stalin might not transfer as many troops, but certainly he would have rather placed his chips in Moscow rather than an enemy literally 6000 km's away who have to cross a frozen desert to get to anything he cares about.  Even stating these scenarios, the idea the German army would have taken Moscow if some of the very first units from the far east arrived, because remember a lot of these units did not make it in time to defend moscow, rather they contributed to the grand counteroffensive after the Germans stalled. The German armies in front of Moscow were depleted, exhausted, unsupplied and freezing. Yes many of the Soviet armies at Moscow were hastily thrown together, inexperienced, poorly led and still struggling to regain their balance from the German onslaught. Yet from most sources, and by sources I mean armchair historian types argue, the Germans taking Moscow is pretty unlikely. And moscow was not even that important. What a real impact might have been was the loss of the Caucasus oil fields in early 1942, now that could have brought the USSR down, Moscow, not so much, again the Soviets had already pulled their industry further east, they could do it again.   So within the context of this Second Russo-Japanese War, figure the German's still grind to a halt, they don't take Moscow, perhaps Soviets dont push them back as hard, but the USSR is not collapsing by any means. Ok now before we talk about Japans invasion we actually need to look at some external players. The UK/US/Netherlands already began massive embargoes against Japan for oil, iron, rubber, tin, everything she needed to continue her war, not just against the USSR, but with over 35 divisions fighting in China. President Roosevelt was looking for any excuse to enter WW2 and was gradually increasing ways to aid Britain and the Soviets.  Now American's lend-lease program seriously aided the USSR during WW2, particularly the initial stages of the war. The delivery of lend-lease to the USSR came through three major routes: the Arctic Convoys, the Persian Corridor, and the Pacific Route. The Arctic route was the shortest and most direct route for lend-lease aid to the USSR, though it was also the most dangerous as it involved sailing past German-occupied Norway. Some 3,964,000 tons of goods were shipped by the Arctic route; 7% was lost, while 93% arrived safely. The Persian Corridor was the longest route, and was not fully operational until mid-1942. Thereafter it saw the passage of 4,160,000 tons of goods, 27% of the total. The most important was the Pacific Route which opened up in August of 1941, but became affected when Japan went to war with America. The major port was Vladivostok, where only Soviet ships could transport non-military goods some 8,244,000 tons of goods went by this route, 50% of the total. Vladivostok would almost certainly be captured by the Japanese in our scenario so it won't be viable after its capture. Here is the sticky part, Japan is not at war with the US, so the US is pretty much free to find different Pacific paths to get lend-lease to the Soviets, and to be honest there's always the Arctic or Persian corridors. Hell in this scenario America will be able to get supplies easily into China as there will be no war in Burma, hong kong, Malaya and such. America alone is going to really ruin Japans day by increasing lend-lease to the UK, China and the USSR. America wont be joining the war in 1941, but I would strongly wager by hook or by crook, FDR would pull them into a war against Germany, probably using the same tactic Woodrow Wilson did with WW1. This would only worsen things for Japan. Another player of course is China. Late 1941, China was absolutely battered by Japan. With Japan pulling perhaps even more troops than she did for the Pacific war to fight the USSR, Chiang Kai-Shek would do everything possible to aid his new found close ally Stalin. How this would work out is anyone's guess, but it would be significant as I believe America would be providing a lot more goodies.    Ok you've all been patient, what happens with the war? Japan has to deliver a decisive knock out blow in under 4-6 months, anything after this is simply comical as Japan's production has no resources. The oil in siberia is not even remotely on the table. The Japanese can't find it, would not be able to exploit it, let alone quick enough to use it for the war. Hell the Italians were sitting on oil in Libya and they never figured that out during WW2.   So Kantokuen is unleashed with an initial blow against the Primorye in the Ussuri Front followed by an assault against Blagoveshchensk and Kiubyshevka. The main soviet lines south of Lake Khanka are attacked by the Japanese 1st area army, 3rd and 20th armies and the 19th Korean division. This inturn threatens Vladivostok who is also being bombarded by IJA/IJN aircraft. The 5th Ija army attacks south of Dalnerechensk in an attempt to sever the trans-siberian railway, to block Soviet reinforcements and supplies. The 4th IJA army fords the Amur river to help with the assault of Blagoveshchensk. Meanwhile Sakhalin is being attacked from land and sea by two IJA divisions.  Despite the Soviets being undermanned the western front facing Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region is wide up to an attack as its only defended by the 23rd IJA division, so a limited counteroffensive begins there. The Japanese quickly win air superiority, however the heavily fortified Tochkas are not being swept aside as the Japanese might have hoped. A major problem the Japanese are facing is Soviet artillery. The Japanese artillery already placed along the borders, initially performed well, crushing Tochkas in range, but when the Japanese begin advancing and deploying their artillery units they are outgunned perhaps 3-1, much of the Soviet artillery outranges them and the Soviets have a much larger stockpile of shells. Airpower is failing to knock out soviet artillery which is placed within Tochkas and other fortified positions with anti-aircraft guns. Without achieving proper neutralization or counter battery fire, the Japanese advance against the fortified Soviet positions. The Soviets respond shockingly with counterattacks. The 15th and 35th Soviet armies with the Amur Red Banner Military Flotilla toss limited counterattacks against both sides of the Sungari River, harassing the Japanese. While much of the soviet armor had been sent west, their light tanks which would be useless against the Germans have been retained in the far east and prove capable of countering the IJA tanks. The Soviets inflict tremendous casualties, however General Yamashita, obsessed with blitzkrieg style warfare he saw first hand in the west, eventually exploits a weak area in the line.Gradually a blitzkrieg punches through and begins to circle around hitting Soviet fortified positions from the rear. The Soviets knew this would be the outcome and had prepared to fight a defense in depth, somewhat managing the onslaught.  The trans-siberian railway has been severed in multiple locations close to the border area, however this is not as effective as it could be, the Japanese need to hook deeper to cut the line further away. In the course of weeks the Soviets are gradually dislodged from their fortified positions, fighting a defense in depth over great stretches of land. Vladivostok holds out surprisingly long until the IJN/IJA seize the city. Alongside this Sakhalin is taken with relative ease. The Soviet surface fleet is annihilated, but their large submarine force takes a heavy toll of the IJN who are attempting Pacific landings. Kantokuen phase 1 is meeting its objectives, but far later than expected with much more casualties than expected. The Japanese are shocked by the fuel consumption as they advance further inland. Each truck bearing fuel is using 50% of said fuel to get to the troops, something reminiscent of the north african campaign situation for Rommel. The terrain is terrible for their vehicles full of valleys, hills, forests and mountains. Infrastructure in the region is extremely underdeveloped and the Soviets are burning and destroying everything before the Japanese arrive. All key roads and cities are defended until the Japanese can encircle the Soviets, upon which they depart, similar to situations the Japanese face in China. It is tremendously slow progress. The IJA are finding it difficult to encircle and capture Soviet forces who have prepared a series of rear lines to keep falling back to while performing counterattacks against Japanese columns. As the Japanese advance further into the interior, the IJN are unable to continue supporting them with aircraft and much of the IJA aircraft are limited in operations because of the range. The second phase of Kantokuen calls for the capture of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, and Nikolayevsk. Additionally, amphibious operations against Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula are on standby as the IJN fears risking shipping as a result of Soviet submarine operations. The sheer scope of the operation was seeing the tide sides stretching their forces over a front nearly 5000 km in length. At some points the Japanese were attempting to advance more than 1000 km's inland, wasting ungodly amounts of fuel and losing vehicles from wear and tear.  So what does Japan gain? Within the span of 4 months, max 6 months Japan could perhaps seized: Sakhalin, the Primorsye krai including Vladivostok, segments of the trans siberian railway, Blagoveshchensk, Kuibyshevka. If they are really lucky Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, Nikolayevsk. Additionally, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula. What does this mean? Really nothing. Pull out a map of manchuria during WW2, take a pencil and expand the manchurian border perhaps 1000 km if you really want to be generous, that's the new extent of the empire of the rising sun. The real purpose of attacking the USSR is not to perform some ludicrous dash across 6000 km's of frozen wasteland to whittle down and defeat the Soviets alongside the rest of the Axis. It was only to break them, in late 1941 at Moscow there was perhaps a fools chance, but it was a fool's chance for Japan.  Japan has run out of its stockpiles of Kaisenbun, oil, iron, rubber, tin, all types of resources necessary for making war. Unlike in our timeline where Japan began exporting resources from its conquests in southeast asia and the pacific, here Japan spent everything and now is relying on the trickles it has within its empire. The China war will be much more difficult to manage. The lend-lease will increase every day to China. The US/UK/Netherlands will only increase pressure upon Japan to stop being a nuisance, Japan can't do anything about this as the US Pacific Fleet is operating around the Philippines always a looming threat. The Japanese are holding for a lack of better words, useless ground in the far east. They will build a buffer area to defend against what can only be described as a Soviet Invasion of Manchuria x1000. The Allies will be directing all of their effort against Germany and Italy, providing a interesting alternate history concept in its own right. After Germany has been dealt with, Japan would face a existential threat against a very angry Stalin. Cody from Alternate History Hub actually made an episode on this scenario, he believed the Soviets would conquer most of Japan occupied Asia and even invade the home islands. It would certainly be something on the table, taking many years, but the US/UK would most likely interfere in some way. The outcome would be so much worse for Japan. Perhaps she is occupied and a communist government is installed. Perhaps like in our timeline the Americans come in to bolster Japan up for the looming coldwar.  But the question I sought to answer here was, Japan invading the USSR was a dumb idea. The few Japanese commanders who pushed it all the way until August 9th of 1941 simply had to give up because of how illogical it was. I honestly should not have even talked about military matters, this all came down to logistics and resources. You want to know how Japan could have secured itself a better deal in WW2? 1941, the China War is the number one problem Japan can't solve so they look north or south to acquire the means to solve the China problem? Negotiate a peace with China. That is the lackluster best deal right there.    Sorry if this episode did not match your wildest dreams. But if you want me to do some batshit crazy alternate history stuff, I am more than happy to jump into it and have fun. Again thank all of you guys who joined the patreon, you guys are awesome. Until next time this is the Pacific War channel over and out. 

The wildly talented multi-hyphenate Mayumi Yoshida returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to discuss her long-awaited feature film directorial debut, Akashi, which is inspired by Mayumi's own experience of living in the space between cultures. Ten years after moving to Vancouver, struggling visual artist Kana (that's Mayumi) returns to Tokyo to attend the funeral of her beloved grandmother. Arriving in Japan, she rekindles a tentative flame with her bashful ex-boyfriend, Hiro, an aspiring thespian who vanished from her life a decade prior. As Kana digs deeper into her grandmother's past, she uncovers a family secret that prompts her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about love, duty, and belonging.Akashi – which Mayumi wrote, directed, and starred in – has its world premiere this week at the 2025 Vancouver International Film Festival. The feature began its life as a Fringe Festival play in 2016, before evolving into a Storyhive-funded short film in 2017 (the latter for which she earned a slew of awards, including the award for Best Female Director at the 2018 Vancouver Short Film Festival, and the Outstanding Writer Award at the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival). Although it's been a long road to bring Akashi to the screen in its current feature-length incarnation, Mayumi hasn't been idle in the intervening years: between directing short films – including the music video for Different Than Before, which won the SXSW Music Video Jury Award in 2023 – and working as a dialect coach and cultural consultant and advocating for diversity and inclusion in our challenging industry, Mayumi has been fighting to get this film made. This included, in 2021, taking on Telefilm, Canada's major funding provider, for their outdated language requirements that didn't take Canada's purported commitment to diversity and inclusion into consideration. In this riveting conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Mayumi reflects on her journey to this moment, how Akashi changed over the years, and how Akashi changed her as an artist. Episode sponsor: UBCP / ACTRA

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“The one thing I reminded myself of and something my coach has been telling me all year is this: Don't feel like you have to be anybody else. What you've been doing has been working for you. Continue to do that. If you've been being Melissa all year and you've been winning all year, what else do you need to do? Just go out there and be yourself.”My guest for today's episode is Melissa Jefferson-Wooden — the 25-year-old from Georgetown, South Carolina who just pulled off one of the rarest feats in track and field: the golden sprint triple crown.At the World Championships in Tokyo, Melissa won the 100, the 200, and was part of the Team USA team that took gold in the 4x100m relay — becoming the first American woman ever, and only the second woman in history after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, to sweep the sprints at a single Worlds.Her winning times — 10.61 in the 100m and 21.68 in the 200m — weren't just dominant; they cemented her as the fourth-fastest woman of all time and within striking distance of Flo-Jo's world record.But what makes Melissa's story so special isn't just the speed. It's also the journey.If you've followed some of her career leading into 2025, she calls herself a self-described ‘village kid' who had two partial college offers. She saved her dad's life at 17 years old with a bone marrow transplant. She built herself from an NCAA champion out of Coastal Carolina to a global superstar, who can boast the title of the fastest woman on earth.In this episode, we talk about that rise, the lessons that come with greatness all throughout 2025 from her races in April through September, and how she's thinking about being one of the faces of the sport.____________Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠Guest: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden | @__melissaj19 on Instagram Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSHOKA: We're takin' over Happy Camper Chicago (Old Town) with HOKA during the Chicago Marathon festivities. On Sunday morning, we'll be posted up as part of the HOKA cheer zone to host our alternate broadcast watchalong, where Eric Jenkins, Karen Leciewicz, Paul Hof Mahoney and other guests will be providing their own commentary, reactions, insights and analysis live as the elite races unfold. Stay tuned for some surprise giveaways that we'll have on-site for marathon finishers. Don't miss the HOKA Hub at the expo for a chance to demo the all-new Rocket X 3 and the up-tempo Mach X 3. RSVP to all of these events via the HOKA Eventbrite page at the link here.WAHOO: The KICKR RUN isn't just another treadmill; it's a complete rethink of indoor running. With Dynamic Pacing, it automatically adjusts to your stride—no buttons, no breaking form, just pure running freedom. Its Terrain Simulation makes the deck feel like a track or trail, while lateral tilt mimics real-world conditions so you're always prepared for race day. So whether you're chasing your first half-marathon finish, a marathon PR, or your next trail adventure, the KICKR RUN is built to help you Run Your Run. Check it all out at WahooFitness.com and use code CITIUS at checkout.OLIPOP: Straight out of Bikini Bottom, Olipop's limited edition SpongeBob cans have arrived. Pineapple Paradise features a burst of juicy pineapples and a splash of mandarin. It's on shelves now at Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Circle K, Amazon, and select stores nationwide. ⁠You can check out all of their flavors and get 25% off your orders at DrinkOlipop.com using code CITIUS25 at checkout.⁠

Last time we spoke about the Nanjing Massacre. Japanese forces breached Nanjing as Chinese defenders retreated under heavy bombardment, and the city fell on December 13. In the following weeks, civilians and disarmed soldiers endured systematic slaughter, mass executions, rapes, looting, and arson, with casualties mounting rapidly. Among the most brutal episodes were hundreds of executions near the Safety Zone, mass shootings along the Yangtze River, and killings at improvised sites and “killing fields.” The massacre involved tens of thousands of prisoners, with estimates up to 300,000 victims. Women and children were subjected to widespread rape, mutilation, and terror intended to crush morale and resistance. Although the Safety Zone saved many lives, it could not shield all refugees from harm, and looting and arson devastated large parts of the city. Foreign witnesses, missionaries, and diary entries documented the extensive brutality and the apparent premeditated nature of many acts, noting the collapse of discipline among troops and orders that shaped the violence.    #169 Nanjing has Fallen, the War is not Over Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Directly after the fall of Nanjing, rumors circulated among the city's foreigners that Tang Shengzhi had been executed for his inability to hold the city against the Japanese onslaught. In fact, unlike many of his subordinates who fought in the defense, he survived. On December 12, he slipped through Yijiang Gate, where bullets from the 36th Division had claimed numerous victims, and sailed across the Yangtze to safety. Chiang Kai-shek protected him from bearing direct consequences for Nanjing's collapse. Tang was not unscathed, however. After the conquest of Nanjing, a dejected Tang met General Li Zongren at Xuzhou Railway Station. In a brief 20-minute conversation, Tang lamented, “Sir, Nanjing's fall has been unexpectedly rapid. How can I face the world?” Li, who had previously taunted Tang for over-eagerness, offered sympathy. “Don't be discouraged. Victory or defeat comes every day for the soldier. Our war of resistance is a long-term proposition. The loss of one city is not decisive.” By December 1937, the outlook for Chiang Kai-shek's regime remained bleak. Despite his public pledges, he had failed to defend the capital. Its sturdy walls, which had withstood earlier sieges, were breached in less than 100 hours. Foreign observers remained pessimistic about the prospects of continuing the fight against Japan. The New York Times wrote “The capture of Nanking was the most overwhelming defeat suffered by the Chinese and one of the most tragic military debacles in modern warfare. In defending Nanking, the Chinese allowed themselves to be surrounded and then slaughtered… The graveyard of tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers may also be the graveyard of all Chinese hopes of resisting conquest by Japan.” Foreign diplomats doubted Chiang's ability to sustain the war, shrinking the question to whether he would stubbornly continue a losing fight or seek peace. US Ambassador Nelson Johnson wrote in a letter to Admiral Yarnell, then commander of the US Asicatic Fleet “There is little left now for the Chinese to do except to carry on a desultory warfare in the country, or to negotiate for the best terms they can get”.  The Japanese, too, acted as if Chiang Kai-shek had already lost the war. They assumed the generalissimo was a spent force in Chinese politics as well, and that a gentle push would suffice to topple his regime like a house of cards. On December 14, Prime Minister Konoe announced that Chiang's losses of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and now Nanjing, had created a new situation. “The National Government has become but a shadow of its former self. If a new Chinese regime emerged to replace Chiang's government, Japan would deal with it, provided it is a regime headed in the right direction.” Konoe spoke the same day as a Liaison Conference in Tokyo, where civilian and military leaders debated how to treat China now that it had been thoroughly beaten on the battlefield. Japanese demands had grown significantly: beyond recognizing Manchukuo, Japan pressed for the creation of pro-Japanese regimes in Inner Mongolia and the north China area. The same day, a puppet government was established in Japanese-occupied Beijing. While these demands aimed to end China as a unitary state, Japanese policy was moving toward the same goal. The transmissions of these demands via German diplomatic channels caused shock and consternation in Chinese government circles, and the Chinese engaged in what many regarded as stalling tactics. Even at this late stage, there was division among Japan's top decision makers. Tada, deputy chief of the Army General Staff, feared a protracted war in China and urged keeping negotiations alive. He faced strong opposition from the cabinet, including the foreign minister and the ministers of the army and navy, and ultimately he relented. Tada stated “In this state of emergency, it is necessary to avoid any political upheaval that might arise from a struggle between the Cabinet and the Army General Staff.” Although he disagreed, he no longer challenged the uncompromising stance toward China. On January 16, 1938, Japan publicly stated that it would “cease henceforth to deal with” Chiang Kai-shek. This was a line that could not be uncrossed. War was the only option. Germany, the mediator between China and Japan, also considered Chiang a losing bet. In late January 1938, von Dirksen, the German ambassador in Tokyo, urged a fundamental shift in German diplomacy and advocated abandoning China in favor of Japan. He warned that this was a matter of urgency, since Japan harbored grudges against Germany for its half-hearted peace efforts. In a report, von Dirksen wrote that Japan, “in her deep ill humor, will confront us with unpleasant decisions at an inopportune moment.” Von Dirksen's view carried the day in Berlin. Nazi Germany and Hirohito's Japan were on a trajectory that, within three years, would forge the Axis and place Berlin and Tokyo in the same camp in a conflict that would eventually span the globe. Rabe, who returned to Germany in 1938, found that his account of Japanese atrocities in Nanjing largely fell on deaf ears. He was even visited by the Gestapo, which apparently pressed him to keep quiet about what he had seen. Ambassador von Dirksen also argued in his January 1938 report that China should be abandoned because of its increasingly friendly ties with the Soviet Union. There was some merit to this claim. Soviet aid to China was substantial: by the end of 1937, 450 Soviet aviators were serving in China. Without them, Japan likely would have enjoyed air superiority. Chiang Kai-shek, it seemed, did not fully understand the Russians' motives. They were supplying aircraft and pilots to keep China in the war while keeping themselves out. After Nanjing's fall, Chiang nevertheless reached out to Joseph Stalin, inviting direct Soviet participation in the war. Stalin politely declined, noting that if the Soviet Union joined the conflict, “the world would say the Soviet Union was an aggressor, and sympathy for Japan around the world would immediately increase.” In a rare moment of candor a few months later, the Soviet deputy commissar for foreign affairs spoke with the French ambassador, describing the situation in China as “splendid.” He expected China to continue fighting for several more years, after which Japan would be too weakened to undertake major operations against the Soviet Union. It was clear that China was being used. Whatever the motive, China was receiving vital help from Stalin's Russia while the rest of the world stood on the sidelines, reluctant to upset Japan. Until Operation Barbarossa, when the Soviet Union was forced to the brink by the German Army and could no longer sustain extensive overseas aid, it supplied China with 904 planes, 1,516 trucks, 1,140 artillery pieces, 9,720 machine guns, 50,000 rifles, 31,600 bombs, and more. Despite all of this, all in all, China's position proved less disastrous than many observers had feared. Chinese officials later argued that the battle of Nanjing was not the unmitigated fiasco it appeared to be. Tang Shengzhi had this to say in his memoirs“I think the main purpose of defending Nanjing was to buy time, to allow troops that had just been pulled out of battle to rest and regroup. It wasn't simply because it was the capital or the site of Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum.” Tan Daoping, an officer in Nanjing, described the battle “as a moderate success because it drew the Japanese in land”. This of course was a strategy anticipated by interwar military thinker Jiang Baili. It also allowed dozens of Chinese divisions to escape Shanghai, since the Japanese forces that could have pursued them were tied down with the task of taking Nanjing. Tan Daoping wrote after the war “They erred in believing they could wage a quick war and decide victory immediately. Instead, their dream was shattered; parts of their forces were worn out, and they were hindered from achieving a swift end”. Even so, it was a steep price was paid in Chinese lives. As in Shanghai, the commanders in Nanjing thought they could fight on the basis of sheer willpower. Chinese officer Qin Guo Qi wrote in his memoirs “In modern war, you can't just rely on the spirit of the troops. You can't merely rely on physical courage and stamina. The battle of Nanjing explains that better than anything”. As for the Brigade commander of the 87th division, Chen Yiding, who emerged from Nanjing with only a few hundred survivors, was enraged. “During the five days of the battle for Nanjing, my superiors didn't see me even once. They didn't do their duty. They also did not explain the overall deployments in the Nanjing area. What's worse, they didn't give us any order to retreat. And afterwards I didn't hear of any commander being disciplined for failing to do his job.” Now back in November of 1937, Chiang Kai-shek had moved his command to the great trinity of Wuhan. For the Nationalists, Wuhan was a symbolically potent stronghold: three municipalities in one, Hankou, Wuchang, and Hanyang. They had all grown prosperous as gateways between coastal China and the interior. But the autumn disasters of 1937 thrust Wuhan into new prominence, and, a decade after it had ceased to be the temporary capital, it again became the seat of military command and resistance. Leading Nationalist politicians had been seen in the city in the months before the war, fueling suspicions that Wuhan would play a major role in any imminent conflict. By the end of the year, the generals and their staffs, along with most of the foreign embassies, had moved upriver. Yet as 1937 slipped into 1938, the Japanese advance seemed practically unstoppable. From the destruction of Shanghai, to the massacre in Nanjing, to the growing vulnerability of Wuhan, the NRA government appeared powerless against the onslaught.  Now the Japanese government faced several options: expanding the scope of the war to force China into submission, which would risk further depletion of Japan's military and economic resources; establishing an alternative regime in China as a bridge for reconciliation, thereby bypassing the Nationalist government for negotiations; and engaging in indirect or direct peace negotiations with the Nationalist Government, despite the failure of previous attempts, while still seeking new opportunities for negotiation. However, the Nanjing massacre did not compel the Chinese government and its people to submit. On January 2, Chiang Kai-shek wrote in his diary, “The conditions proposed by Japan are equivalent to the conquest and extinction of our country. Rather than submitting and perishing, it is better to perish in defeat,” choosing to refuse negotiations and continue resistance.  In January 1938 there was a new escalation of hostilities. Up to that point, Japan had not officially declared war, even during the Shanghai campaign and the Nanjing massacre. However on January 11, an Imperial Conference was held in Tokyo in the presence of Emperor Hirohito. Prime Minister Konoe outlined a “Fundamental Policy to deal with the China Incident.”The Imperial Conference was attended by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, Army Chief of Staff Prince Kan'in, Navy Minister Admiral Fushimi, and others to reassess its policy toward China. Citing the Nationalist Government's delay and lack of sincerity, the Japanese leadership decided to terminate Trautmann's mediation. At the conference, Japan articulated a dual strategy: if the Nationalist Government did not seek peace, Japan would no longer regard it as a viable negotiating partner, instead supporting emerging regimes, seeking to resolve issues through incidents, and aiming either to eliminate or incorporate the existing central government; if the Nationalist Government sought reconciliation, it would be required to cease resistance, cooperate with Japan against communism, and pursue economic cooperation, including officially recognizing Manchukuo and allowing Japanese troops in Inner Mongolia, North China, Central China, and co-governance of Shanghai. The Konoe cabinet relayed this proposal to the German ambassador in Japan on December 22, 1937: It called for: diplomatic recognition of Manchukuo; autonomy for Inner Mongolia; cessation of all anti-Japanese and anti-Manchukuo policies; cooperation between Japan, Manchukuo, and China against communism; war reparations; demilitarized zones in North China and Inner Mongolia; and a trade agreement among Japan, Manchukuo, and China.  Its terms were too severe, including reparations payable to Japan and new political arrangements that would formalize the separation of north China under Japanese control. Chiang's government would have seventy-two hours to accept; if they refused, Tokyo would no longer recognize the Nationalist government and would seek to destroy it.  On January 13, 1938, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui informed Germany that China needed a fuller understanding of the additional conditions for peace talks to make a decision. The January 15 deadline for accepting Japan's terms elapsed without Chinese acceptance. Six days after the deadline for a Chinese government reply, an Imperial Conference “Gozen Kaigi” was convened in Tokyo to consider how to handle Trautmann's mediation. The navy, seeing the war as essentially an army matter, offered no strong position; the army pressed for ending the war through diplomatic means, arguing that they faced a far more formidable Far Eastern Soviet threat at the northern Manchukuo border and wished to avoid protracted attrition warfare. Foreign Minister Kōki Hirota, however, strongly disagreed with the army, insisting there was no viable path to Trautmann's mediation given the vast gap between Chinese and Japanese positions. A second conference followed on January 15, 1938, attended by the empire's principal cabinet members and military leaders, but without the emperor's presence. The debate grew heated over whether to continue Trautmann's mediation. Hayao Tada, Deputy Chief of Army General Staff, argued for continuation, while Konoe, Hirota, Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai, and War Minister Hajime Sugiyama opposed him. Ultimately, Tada acceded to the position of Konoe and Hirota. On the same day, Konoe conveyed the cabinet's conclusion, termination of Trautmann's mediation, to the emperor. The Japanese government then issued a statement on January 16 declaring that it would no longer treat the Nationalist Government as a bargaining partner, signaling the establishment of a new Chinese regime that would cooperate with Japan and a realignment of bilateral relations. This became known as the first Konoe statement, through which Tokyo formally ended Trautmann's mediation attempt. The Chinese government was still weighing its response when, at noon on January 16, Konoe publicly declared, “Hereafter, the Imperial Government will not deal with the National Government.” In Japanese, this became the infamous aite ni sezu (“absolutely no dealing”). Over the following days, the Japanese government made it clear that this was a formal breach of relations, “stronger even than a declaration of war,” in the words of Foreign Minister Hirota Kōki. The Chinese ambassador to Japan, who had been in Tokyo for six months since hostilities began, was finally recalled. At the end of January, Chiang summoned a military conference and declared that the top strategic priority would be to defend the east-central Chinese city of Xuzhou, about 500 kilometers north of Wuhan. This decision, like the mobilization near Lugouqiao, was heavily influenced by the railway: Xuzhou sat at the midpoint of the Tianjin–Pukou Jinpu line, and its seizure would grant the Japanese mastery over north–south travel in central China. The Jinpu line also crossed the Longhai line, China's main cross-country artery from Lanzhou to the port of Lianyungang, north of Shanghai. The Japanese military command marked the Jinpu line as a target in spring 1938. Control over Xuzhou and the rail lines threading through it were thus seen as vital to the defense of Wuhan, which lay to the city's south. Chiang's defense strategy fit into a larger plan evolving since the 1920s, when the military thinker Jiang Baili had first proposed a long war against Japan; Jiang's foresight earned him a position as an adviser to Chiang in 1938. Jiang had previously run the Baoding military academy, a predecessor of the Whampoa academy, which had trained many of China's finest young officers in the early republic 1912–1922. Now, many of the generals who had trained under Jiang gathered in Wuhan and would play crucial roles in defending the city: Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, Tang Shengzhi, and Xue Yue. They remained loyal to Chiang but sought to avoid his tendency to micromanage every aspect of strategy.  Nobody could say with certainty whether Wuhan would endure the Japanese onslaught, and outsiders' predictions were gloomy. As Wuhan's inhabitants tasted their unexpected new freedoms, the Japanese pressed on with their conquest of central China. After taking Nanjing, the IJA 13th Division crossed the Yangtze River to the north and advanced to the Outang and Mingguang lines on the east bank of the Chihe River in Anhui Province, while the 2nd Army of the North China Front crossed the Yellow River to the south between Qingcheng and Jiyang in Shandong, occupied Jinan, and pressed toward Jining, Mengyin, and Qingdao. To open the Jinpu Railway and connect the northern and southern battlefields, the Japanese headquarters mobilized eight divisions, three brigades, and two detachments , totaling about 240,000 men. They were commanded by General Hata Shunroku, commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, and Terauchi Hisaichi, commander of the North China Front Army. Their plan was a north–south advance: first seize Xuzhou, a strategic city in east China; then take Zhengzhou in the west along the Longhai Railway connecting Lanzhou and Lianyungang; and finally push toward Wuhan in the south along the Pinghan Railway connecting Beijing and Hankou. At the beginning of 1938, Japan's domestic mobilization and military reorganization had not yet been completed, and there was a shortage of troops to expand the front. At the Emperor's Imperial Conference on February 16, 1938, the General Staff Headquarters argued against launching operations before the summer of 1938, preferring to consolidate the front in 1938 and undertake a large-scale battle in 1939. Although the Northern China Expeditionary Force and the Central China Expeditionary Force proposed a plan to open the Jinpu Line to connect the northern and southern battlefields, the proposal was not approved by the domestic General Staff Headquarters. The Chinese army, commanded by Li Zongren, commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, mobilized about 64 divisions and three brigades, totaling roughly 600,000 men. The main force was positioned north of Xuzhou to resist the southern Japanese advance, with a portion deployed along the southern Jinpu Railway to block the southern push and secure Xuzhou. Early in the campaign, Chiang Kai-shek redeployed the heavy artillery brigade originally promised to Han Fuju to Tang Enbo's forces. To preserve his strength, Shandong Provincial Governor Han Fuju abandoned the longstanding Yellow River defenses in Shandong, allowing the Japanese to capture the Shandong capital of Jinan in early March 1938. This defection opened the Jinpu Railway to attack. The Japanese 10th Division, under Rensuke Isogai, seized Tai'an, Jining, and Dawenkou, ultimately placing northern Shandong under Japanese control. The aim was to crush the Chinese between the two halves of a pincer movement. At Yixian and Huaiyuan, north of Xuzhou, both sides fought to the death: the Chinese could not drive back the Japanese, but the Japanese could not scatter the defenders either. At Linyi, about 50 kilometers northeast of Xuzhou, Zhang Zizhong, who had previously disgraced himself by abandoning an earlier battlefield—became a national hero for his determined efforts to stop the Japanese troops led by Itagaki Seishirō, the conqueror of Manchuria. The Japanese hoped that they could pour in as many as 400,000 troops to destroy the Chinese forces holding eastern and central China. Chiang Kai-shek was determined that this should not happen, recognizing that the fall of Xuzhou would place Wuhan in extreme danger. On April 1, 1938, he addressed Nationalist Party delegates, linking the defense of Wuhan to the fate of the party itself. He noted that although the Japanese had invaded seven provinces, they had only captured provincial capitals and main transport routes, while villages and towns off those routes remained unconquered. The Japanese, he argued, might muster more than half a million soldiers, but after eight or nine months of hard fighting they had become bogged down. Chiang asserted that as long as Guangzhou (Canton) remained in Chinese hands, it would be of little significance if the Japanese invaded Wuhan, since Guangzhou would keep China's sea links open and Guangdong, Sun Yat-sen's homeland, would serve as a revolutionary base area. If the “woren” Japanese “dwarfs” attacked Wuhan and Guangzhou, it would cost them dearly and threaten their control over the occupied zones. He reiterated his plan: “the base area for our war will not be in the zones east of the Beiping–Wuhan or Wuhan–Guangdong railway lines, but to their west.” For this reason he authorized withdrawing Chinese troops behind the railway lines. Chiang's speech mixed defiance with an explanation of why regrouping was necessary; it was a bold public posture in the face of a developing military disaster, yet it reflected the impossible balance he faced between signaling resolve and avoiding overcommitment of a city that might still fall. Holding Xuzhou as the first priority required Chiang Kai-shek to place a great deal of trust in one of his rivals: the southwestern general Li Zongren. The relationship between Chiang and Li would become one of the most ambivalent in wartime China. Li hailed from Guangxi, a province in southwestern China long regarded by the eastern heartland as half civilized. Its people had rarely felt fully part of the empire ruled from Beijing or even Nanjing, and early in the republic there was a strong push for regional autonomy. Li was part of a cohort of young officers trained in regional academies who sought to bring Guangxi under national control; he joined the Nationalist Party in 1923, the year Sun Yat-sen announced his alliance with the Soviets. Li was not a Baoding Academy graduate but had trained at Yunnan's equivalent institution, which shared similar views on military professionalism. He enthusiastically took part in the Northern Expedition (1926–1928) and played a crucial role in the National Revolutionary Army's ascent to control over much of north China. Yet after the Nanjing government took power, Li grew wary of Chiang's bid to centralize authority in his own person. In 1930 Li's so‑called “Guangxi clique” participated in the Central Plains War, the failed effort by militarist leaders to topple Chiang; although the plot failed, Li retreated to his southwest base, ready to challenge Chiang again. The occupation of Manchuria in 1931 reinforced Li's belief that a Japanese threat posed a greater danger than Chiang's centralization. The tension between the two men was evident from the outset of the war. On October 10, 1937, Chiang appointed Li commander of the Fifth War Zone; Li agreed on the condition that Chiang refrain from issuing shouling—personal commands—to Li's subordinates. Chiang complied, a sign of the value he placed on Li's leadership and the caution with which he treated Li and his Guangxi ally Bai Chongxi. As Chiang sought any possible victory amid retreat and destruction, he needed Li to deliver results. As part of the public-relations front, journalists were given access to commanders on the Xuzhou front. Li and his circle sought to shape their image as capable leaders to visiting reporters, with Du Zhongyuan among the most active observers. Du praised the “formidable southwestern general, Li Zongren,” calling him “elegant and refined” and “vastly magnanimous.” In language echoing the era's soldiers' public presentation, Du suggested that Li's forces operated under strict, even disciplined, orders “The most important point in the people's war is that . . . troops do not harass the people of the country. If the people are the water, the soldiers are the fish, and if you have fish with no water, inevitably they're going to choke; worse still is to use our water to nurture the enemy's fish — that really is incomparably stupid”.  Within the southern front, on January 26, 1938, the Japanese 13th Division attacked Fengyang and Bengbu in Anhui Province, while Li Pinxian, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the 5th War Zone, directed operations south of Xuzhou. The defending 31st Corps of the 11th Group Army, after resisting on the west bank of the Chi River, retreated to the west of Dingyuan and Fengyang. By February 3, the Japanese had captured Linhuai Pass and Bengbu. From the 9th to the 10th, the main force of the 13th Division forced a crossing of the Huai River at Bengbu and Linhuai Pass respectively, and began an offensive against the north bank. The 51st Corps, reorganized from the Central Plains Northeast Army and led by Commander Yu Xuezhong, engaged in fierce combat with the Japanese. Positions on both sides of the Huai shifted repeatedly, producing a riverine bloodbath through intense hand-to-hand fighting. After ten days of engagement, the Fifth War Zone, under Zhang Zizhong, commander of the 59th Army, rushed to the Guzhen area to reinforce the 51st Army, and the two forces stubbornly resisted the Japanese on the north bank of the Huai River. Meanwhile, on the south bank, the 48th Army of the 21st Group Army held the Luqiao area, while the 7th Army, in coordination with the 31st Army, executed a flanking attack on the flanks and rear of the Japanese forces in Dingyuan, compelling the main body of the 13th Division to redeploy to the north bank for support. Seizing the initiative, the 59th and 51st Armies launched a counteroffensive, reclaiming all positions north of the Huai River by early March. The 31st Army then moved from the south bank to the north, and the two sides faced across the river. Subsequently, the 51st and 59th Armies were ordered to reinforce the northern front, while the 31st Army continued to hold the Huai River to ensure that all Chinese forces covering the Battle of Xuzhou were safely withdrawn. Within the northern front, in late February, the Japanese Second Army began its southward push along multiple routes. The eastern axis saw the 5th Division moving south from Weixian present-day Weifang, in Shandong, capturing Yishui, Juxian, and Rizhao before pressing directly toward Linyi, as units of the Nationalist Third Corps' 40th Army and others mounted strenuous resistance. The 59th Army was ordered to reinforce and arrived on March 12 at the west bank of the Yi River in the northern suburbs of Linyi, joining the 40th Army in a counterattack that, after five days and nights of ferocious fighting, inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese and forced them to retreat toward Juxian. On the western route, the Seya Detachment (roughly a brigade) of the Japanese 10th Division crossed the Grand Canal from Jining and attacked Jiaxiang, meeting stiff resistance from the Third Army and being thwarted, while continuing to advance south along the Jinpu Railway. The Isogai Division, advancing on the northern route without awaiting help from the southeast and east, moved southward from Liangxiadian, south of Zouxian, on March 14, with the plan to strike Tengxian, present-day Tengzhou on March 15 and push south toward Xuzhou. The defending 22nd Army and the 41st Corps fought bravely and suffered heavy casualties in a hard battle that lasted until March 17, during which Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division defending Teng County, was killed in action. Meanwhile, a separate Japanese thrust under Itagaki Seishirō landed on the Jiaodong Peninsula and occupied Qingdao, advancing along the Jiaoji Line to strike Linyi, a key military town in southern Shandong. Pang Bingxun's 40th Army engaged the invaders in fierce combat, and later, elements of Zhang Zizhong's 333rd Brigade of the 111th Division, reinforced by the 57th Army, joined Pang Bingxun's forces to launch a double-sided pincer that temporarily repelled the Japanese attack on Linyi. By late March 1938 a frightening reality loomed: the Japanese were close to prevailing on the Xuzhou front. The North China Area Army, commanded by Itagaki Seishirō, Nishio Toshizō, and Isogai Rensuke, was poised to link up with the Central China Expeditionary Force under Hata Shunroku in a united drive toward central China. Li Zongren, together with his senior lieutenants Bai Chongxi and Tang Enbo, decided to confront the invaders at Taierzhuang, the traditional stone-walled city that would become a focal point of their defense. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Nanjing falls after one of humanities worst atrocities. Chiang Kai-Shek's war command has been pushed to Wuhan, but the Japanese are not stopping their advance. Trautmann's mediation is over and now Japan has its sights on Xuzhou and its critical railway junctions. Japan does not realize it yet, but she is now entering a long war of attrition.

Parmi toutes les légendes japonaises, celle des 47 rônins occupe une place à part. Elle incarne l'essence du bushidô, le code d'honneur des samouraïs, et raconte comment des hommes décidèrent de sacrifier leur vie pour venger leur maître.Tout commence en 1701, sous le shogunat Tokugawa. Asano Naganori, seigneur du domaine d'Akô, est chargé d'accueillir des envoyés impériaux au château d'Edo. Pour l'aider, on lui assigne Kira Yoshinaka, un haut fonctionnaire réputé pour sa cupidité. Kira attend des cadeaux et des pots-de-vin, mais Asano, jeune seigneur intègre, refuse de céder. L'humiliation grandit entre les deux hommes.Un jour, excédé par les insultes, Asano dégaine son sabre et blesse Kira dans le château du shogun. Or, dégainer une arme dans ce lieu sacré est un crime impardonnable. Asano est immédiatement condamné au seppuku, le suicide rituel, et ses terres confisquées. Ses samouraïs deviennent alors des rônins, des guerriers sans maître.À la tête de ces hommes se trouve Ôishi Kuranosuke. Officiellement, il se résigne, mène une vie dissolue et semble avoir abandonné toute idée de vengeance. Mais c'est une ruse. Pendant près de deux ans, il cache ses intentions, laissant ses ennemis croire que les anciens vassaux d'Asano ont perdu tout esprit combatif.Dans l'ombre pourtant, Ôishi et quarante-six compagnons préparent minutieusement leur revanche. Ils étudient les habitudes de Kira, la disposition de sa demeure et attendent le moment propice. Dans la nuit glaciale du 14 décembre 1702, ils passent à l'action. Armés de sabres et d'arcs, ils prennent d'assaut la résidence de Kira. Le combat est bref mais violent. Finalement, ils trouvent Kira caché dans une remise. Il est exécuté sur place, et sa tête tranchée est déposée sur la tombe d'Asano, au temple Sengaku-ji.Le Japon tout entier est bouleversé. D'un côté, les rônins ont violé la loi en commettant un meurtre prémédité. De l'autre, ils ont respecté jusqu'au bout l'honneur de leur seigneur. Le shogun hésite, puis tranche : les 47 rônins ne seront pas traités comme de vulgaires criminels, mais devront accomplir le seppuku. Ils meurent donc dignement, rejoignant leur maître dans la mort.Leur tombe au temple Sengaku-ji, à Tokyo, est devenue un lieu de pèlerinage. Aujourd'hui encore, l'histoire des 47 rônins reste un symbole de loyauté, de sacrifice et de fidélité inébranlable, rappelant qu'au Japon, l'honneur pouvait valoir plus que la vie. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Kickstart your week with John, Sam, Steve and Jack catching up on all the latest action from Asia.  The gang is joined once again by Blair Henley to chat through the latest updates from Shanghai, USTA league rules, and Federer's nomination to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. With plenty of talk amongst the tour around court design, the boys discuss the impact of court speeds on player performance. The gang also weighs in on Amanda Anisimova's backhand dominance and Gael Monfils' recently announced retirement. 00:00 Intro & Weekly News Rundown 00:41 Sam's Rant: Banned from the Club Team?! 02:37 The Great USTA Rule Debate 05:51 Blair Takes Over: No Man's Land 06:13 The Court Speed Controversy 11:10 Surviving the Shanghai Sauna 16:03 Amanda Anisimova's Beijing Comeback 19:41 Gael Monfils Says Goodbye 21:19 Farewell Season: Tournament Send-Offs 24:25 The Mascot Hand-Holding Controversy 27:35 Tokyo & Beijing: The Best of the Week 33:00 Federer's Hall of Fame Nomination 37:23 Wrap-Up

We are VERY MUCH back for Tokyo Films with Jared's pick for this week. This pick came with a few guests! Josh and John stop by to give their insight into this film. Josh had just come back from Tokyo and we enjoyed hearing about his journey through the countryside and the city itself. The pick came from the director of Jared's favorite Studio Ghibli film, director Isao Takahata's “Pom Poko” Ladies and Gentlemen, this film was absolutely nuts. This film is a 5 out of 5. A true wacky masterpiece. We loved talking through the animation style, the deeper themes, the very obvious presence of scrotum, and other things. We hope you enjoy!Film Discussed: Pom Poko (1994)Letterboxd: Eric Peterson:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/EricLPeterson/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Jared Klopfenstein:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/kidchimp/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ethan Jasso:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/e_unit7/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Caleb Zehr:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/cjzehr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ricky Wickham:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/octopuswizard/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Cody Martin: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letterboxd.com/codytmartin/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here is a COMPLETE LIST of every film that we have done an episode for. Enjoy!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/ericlpeterson/list/a-complete-list-of-every-the-film-snobs-episode/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Five star reviews left on the pod get read out loud!

Bitcoin.com CEO Corbin Fraser joins Graham and David for a fast, candid chat on:- Getting tipped ~$5 on Reddit and falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole- Tokyo meetups → an email from Roger → joining Bitcoin.com in 2017- Rebranding “back to orange” while staying multi-chain- Rewards that reduce onboarding friction and actually get people using crypto- Wallet roadmap: better rates, lower fees, exploring more efficient trading- Privacy flows (Zano, fUSD) for everyday spending without oversharing- Where the action is across Asia and MENATry the Bitcoin.com Wallet to start your journey and earn rewards as you onboard.Watch the full video now and drop your thoughts in the comments.#Bitcoin #Reddit #Zano Subscribe to our channel and hit the bell "

“You almost need to just have this fearlessness towards it. You can absolutely look at what each of the athletes have done and put them up on a pedestal, but you almost have to be like, ‘They've done that, but I'm going to try and do this today.'”My guest for today's episode is Jessica Hull, who just earned her second straight global medal with a bronze in the 1500m at the World Championships in Tokyo. Hull went toe-to-toe with the greatest of all time, Faith Kipyegon, hanging on until the final 200 meters before battling all the way to the line to secure her spot on the podium.Last year was obviously a dream season for Jess — an Olympic silver medal, a 2000m world record, a 3:50 personal best. This year, she didn't always hit the same highs, but she raced with consistency, courage, and adaptability, proving she's a contender in every scenario. In Tokyo, she left it all out there, fending off a charging Nelly Chepchirchir to hang on for bronze in 3:55.16. A repeat of the disastrous tie-up that happened in the Diamond League final was avoided.In this episode, we talk about how she leveled up to get to this point, we talk about the bond shared between all of the 1500m women and the reverence and respect for Faith Kipygeon, her exploration of the 800m which saw her break the Australian record in 1:57.15 in the semifinals and then reaching the final, where she ran another 1:57.Plus, you'll learn where some of her early thoughts are on her plans for 2026.____________Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠Guest: Jessica Hull | @jessicaahull on InstagramProduced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSHOKA: We're takin' over Happy Camper Chicago (Old Town) with HOKA during the Chicago Marathon festivities. On Sunday morning, we'll be posted up as part of the HOKA cheer zone to host our alternate broadcast watchalong, where Eric Jenkins, Karen Lesiewicz, Paul Hof Mahoney and other guests will be providing their own commentary, reactions, insights and analysis live as the elite races unfold. Don't miss the HOKA Hub at the expo for a chance to demo the all-new Rocket X 3 and the up-tempo Mach X 3. RSVP to all of these events via the HOKA Eventbrite page at the link here.WAHOO: The KICKR RUN isn't just another treadmill; it's a complete rethink of indoor running. With Dynamic Pacing, it automatically adjusts to your stride—no buttons, no breaking form, just pure running freedom. Its Terrain Simulation makes the deck feel like a track or trail, while lateral tilt mimics real-world conditions so you're always prepared for race day. So whether you're chasing your first half-marathon finish, a marathon PR, or your next trail adventure, the KICKR RUN is built to help you Run Your Run. Check it all out at WahooFitness.com and use code CITIUS at checkout.OLIPOP: Straight out of Bikini Bottom, Olipop's limited edition SpongeBob cans have arrived. Pineapple Paradise features a burst of juicy pineapples and a splash of mandarin. It's on shelves now at Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Circle K, Amazon, and select stores nationwide. ⁠You can check out all of their flavors and get 25% off your orders at DrinkOlipop.com using code CITIUS25 at checkout.⁠

In this episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, we're in Tokyo, Japan, and we're sitting down with the folks from Team Ninja and PlatinumGames to discuss the return of the legendary series, Ninja Gaiden 4. We're diving deep into the visceral, fast-paced, and challenging combat that's made the franchise iconic, while also talking about how Team Ninja and PlatinumGames have come together to create one of the most anticipated games of the year.00:00 Introduction02:46 Storytelling and cinematic moments03:46 Character Insights05:35 Difficulty settings and customization10:30 Ninja Coin12:36 Are there any challenges for the speedrunning community?14:33 Ryu and Yakumo's swords brought into real life15:44 Do either have a dream weapon for Yakumo or Ryu wield?16:44 Ninja Gaiden 4 on the ROG Xbox Ally 17:29 Custom controllers18:50 OutroFOLLOW XBOXFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Xbox​​​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Xbox​​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Xbox

"This is just the time to be brave and see what happens." Georgia Hunter Bell just won a silver medal for Team Great Britain in the 800m at World Championships in Tokyo. Last year, she won bronze in the 1500m at the Olympics in Paris. Before that? Georgia was working fulltime in cybersecurity sales, convinced that her running days were behind her. In this conversation, Georgia talks about her time off from racing, her return to the sport, and her road to becoming an Olympic and World Championship medalist. Georgia will wrap up her season next week, competing in the 800m at Athlos in New York City. FOLLOW GEORGIA @georgiabelltheduathlete SPONSORS:  goodr: Click here and use code ALI for $5 off your next order. Vuori: Click here for 20% off your first Vuori purchase. In this episode: How Georgia is feeling post-World Championships, pre-Athlos (2:30) What's making Georgia happy today, and all about her run today (4:45) Georgia reflects on her race at World Championships, where she won a silver medal, and explains why she ran the 800m instead of the 1500m (10:20) On being a “guaranteed medalist” (18:20) Georgia's key takeaways from World Championships (26:40) All about Georgia's relationship with teammate, training partner, and friend Keely Hodgkinson — and what it's like competing against each other (31:55) Why Georgia took a break from running after college — and why she eventually returned to the sport (38:30) What it took to get a spot on Team GB for the 2024 Olympics in Paris (45:00) How it feels not to be an underdog anymore (55:00) Georgia's advice to runners in a hard season (58:00) Follow Ali: Instagram @aliontherun1 Join the Facebook group Support on Patreon Subscribe to the newsletter SUPPORT the Ali on the Run Show! If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Spread the run love. And if you liked this episode, share it with your friends!

“A year ago, I just wanted to get on that team. The goals changed as the season went on. Things progressed and then it was like: you're sixth in the world and you're still hungry for more. That's a really encouraging spot to be in.”My guest for today's episode is Josette Andrews, who just finished sixth in the 5000m final at the World Championships in Tokyo, one of the best global finishes by an American woman ever in the event. Josette's run caps off a season that's been nothing short of STRONG.From making her first outdoor U.S. team in Eugene with a gutsy third-place finish, to racing Diamond Leagues in Brussels and Zurich, to standing on the line in Tokyo ready to take on the best in the world, she's tested herself all throughout and come away with impressive results each time.We've had Josette on the show multiple times in the past and it's always felt like she was on the cusp of a breakthrough on the global stage. This year she put it all together. Today we talk about her path in 2025, what clicked so well to lead to the success and the lessons she's taking away for the future.____________Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠Guest: Josette Andrews | @josettenorris on Instagram Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSASICS: The Megablast is the Mega Man of the Blast lineup. Armed with ASICS' latest foam innovation, FlyteFoam Turbo Squared, it's 33% bouncier and 10% softer than before. That means every stride feels effortless—whether you're out for an easy shakeout, stacking long miles, or testing race pace. The lightweight woven upper keeps your foot locked in, the rocker geometry smooths out transitions, and the AsicsGrip outsole gives you confident traction no matter the road ahead. And here's the kicker—no plate needed. If you're ready for the shoe that defines ultimate bounce, check out the ASICS Megablast—available now at asics.com and your local run specialty store. WAHOO: The KICKR RUN isn't just another treadmill; it's a complete rethink of indoor running. With Dynamic Pacing, it automatically adjusts to your stride—no buttons, no breaking form, just pure running freedom. Its Terrain Simulation makes the deck feel like a track or trail, while lateral tilt mimics real-world conditions so you're always prepared for race day. So whether you're chasing your first half-marathon finish, a marathon PR, or your next trail adventure, the KICKR RUN is built to help you Run Your Run. Check it all out at WahooFitness.com and use code CITIUS at checkout.OLIPOP: Straight out of Bikini Bottom, Olipop's limited edition SpongeBob cans have arrived. Pineapple Paradise features a burst of juicy pineapples and a splash of mandarin. It's on shelves now at Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Circle K, Amazon, and select stores nationwide. ⁠You can check out all of their flavors and get 25% off your orders at DrinkOlipop.com using code CITIUS25 at checkout.⁠