Episode 35 OMG Part 2
A Short History of Japan Podcast
"How did it come to this?" - This must have been the question the Christian missionaries asked themselves as Hideyoshi followed by successive Tokugawa Shoguns made life unbearable for Christians in Japan. If only we had handed over the ship...if only we'd handed over the treasure.....if only we had that Englishman beheaded.....
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Episode 34: OMG Part 1
A Short History of Japan Podcast
To Christian missionaries, Japan was a most attractive prospect. Literate, cultured and rich - the Jesuits arrived in Japan in the 1500s and set about a process of conversion: from the lowest peasant to the highest warlord. In Part One, we chart the rise and rise of Christianity under Nobunaga and Hideyoshi - before things turned sour.
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Episode 32: Masterful Inactivity
A Short History of Japan Podcast
With the destruction of the Toyotomi at Osaka in 1615, the Tokugawa clan were unrivalled in their domination of Japan. They would establish a Shogunate that would last over 200 years. But how did they change Japan from a nation perpetually at war to one of enforced peace?
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Episode 31: End of the Sengoku Jidai
A Short History of Japan Podcast
The Siege of Osaka Castle in the winter of 1614-15 and the final Battle for Osaka Castle in the summer of 1615 marks the final chapter in the Sengoku Jidai. After years of rivalry between the forces of the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa the final question of who would dominate Japan for the next few hundred years was decided - but not before conspiracy, cowardice, spanked bottoms and cross dressing was tried as a winning strategy! Here is of the events discussed in the podcast.
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Episode 30: For Whom The Bell Tolls
A Short History of Japan Podcast
Tokugawa Ieyasu had won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and set up organising Japan under his clan’s domination. However, safely ensconced in Osaka Castle was Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi; the last of the Toyotomi. Tokugawa Ieyasu knew that he would never be safe until the last of the Toyotomi claims to control of Japan were snuffed out.
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Competition Draw
A Short History of Japan Podcast
And the winner is of the Size-L Oda Nobunaga t-shirt - complete with his slogan “Tenka Fubu” (The Realm Subjected to Military Power) is……………………
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Competition
A Short History of Japan Podcast
OK - I’m going to draw out the winner of the competition THIS SATURDAY (Australian Eastern Standard Time) so if you haven’t entered - get your act together and make it happen! Good luck!
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Episode 29: My Trip to Japan
A Short History of Japan Podcast
I went to Japan with 25 students and 2 other teachers. In this podcast I’ll tell you where we went with a particular emphasis on the historical dimension (obviously!) and *drum roll* I bought you a present!! Well, there is a competition and a prize! Here is the and a link to a with some pics too!
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Episode 28: Sekigahara
A Short History of Japan Podcast
With Hideyoshi’s body barely cold, the plotting and scheming began in earnest. This was the complete opposite of what Hideyoshi had hoped and begged for - for the sake of his infant son. But promises to a dead man counted for little when the domination of Japan was in the offing. Here is a with a few locations of the places mentioned in this cast
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Episode 27: You Can’t Take It With You
A Short History of Japan Podcast
My mother says that the cemetery is full of people who thought they were indispensable - but in Hideyoshi’s case, he would have been right. His fervent desire was to ensure that his son, Hideyori, would be able to maintain the Toyotomi rule over Japan. In the end, he had to rely on promises of men he clearly didn’t trust.
info_outlineIf murdering Nobunaga was Phase One of a long thought-out and well-considered plan for the take-over of Japan it certainly wasn’t obvious in 1582. In fact, it hardly seems obvious today! One thing we do know, Hideyoshi, though flat-out besieging the Mori clan, was not going to let this opportunity pass. If things went right, he could achieve victory over the Mori, avenge his lord and overcome rivals for control of post-Nobunaga Japan.