Episode 115 - The Far Side of the World

History of Japan

Isaac Meyer

Japan, History, Japanese

4.8 • 744 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2015

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we cover the first Japanese expeditions to Europe. How was it decided that a group of samurai should be dispatched to Rome? Were there really samurai who were also technically knights? How scandalized were the European upper classes by the idea of chopsticks? All that and more, this week!

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week's episode is brought to you by Audible.
0:03.3	Audible has over 180,000 titles to choose from, all compatible with iPhone, Android,
0:10.2	Kindle, or your MP3 player of choice.
0:13.8	For listeners of the show, Audible is offering a free 30-day trial membership, complete with credit
0:19.3	for a free audiobook of your choice.
0:21.8	You can cancel any time and keep the free book, or keep going with one of Audible's subscription
0:27.1	offers.
0:28.2	Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your offer.
0:32.8	This week, I'm going to recommend Guy Jin by James Clavel.
0:37.3	Clavel's novel Shogun is the chronological first in a whole series of novels covering a
0:42.5	grand sweep of Asian history, and Guy Jin is the second one set in Japan.
0:48.3	I'll always have a bit more of a soft spot for it, because it's set during the final years
0:52.8	of the Tokugawa, a period that's
0:55.0	been on my mind quite a bit lately for reasons that will become clear in a few weeks.
0:59.9	Go to audible trial.com slash Japan to claim your copy. Hello, and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 115, The Far Side of the World.
1:30.0	Our topic this week is really more of a side story than anything else, but I still find it
1:35.3	fascinating for two reasons. First, I love historical firsts. I've always found the idea of
1:42.0	being the first person to see something or do something very interesting.
1:46.1	Call it a personal interest, though it's certainly something with relevance for a historian.
1:52.2	Second, I think this story in particular does a good job of illustrating Japan's road not taken.
1:58.7	It's a good antidote to the idea that Japan was always destined to go down a
2:02.7	certain path, or it has some kind of unique path through history. Nothing is predetermined,
	...

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