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This week I'm going to recommend Silence by Endo Shusaku.

The most famous work of Japan's most famous Christian author, Silence, is the tale of a man who

loses his faith in the face of the Edo period's harsh anti-Christian measures.

At the center of the story is a haunting meditation on the nature of faith and on how, or even

if, Christianity can fit into Japanese society.

Go to audible trial.com slash Japan to claim your copy. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast.

Episode 158, Best of Frenemies, Part 4.

We left things off with the end of the Sino-Japanese War. China, defeated, was driven from Korea and forced to recognize Korea's independence, which in practice meant that Korea was now a Japanese protectorate.

One of Japan's opening moves in the war had been to march on Seoul and seize control of the

Korean royal court, and while the war was still raging, the Japanese in Seoul hastened to solidify

their hold.

They accomplished this by forcing the Korean court to adopt the first in a series of measures collectively referred to as the Gabo reforms.

Gabo, by the way, is another one of those sexagenery cycle names, the year of the wooden horse,

or 1894.

The Koreans were also forced to sign on to a series of garrison agreements, allowing

Japanese troops to be stationed in Korea, just in case anybody was under the mistaken impression

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