Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast.

Episode 163, The Mailstrom, Part 1.

This week, we're going to kick off another series.

I mentioned the idea in passing and the reception was pretty overwhelmingly positive.

So we're going to take a few episodes to talk about one of the least well-known, but arguably

most important conflicts of the 20th century, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, 1905.

Like any good story, we're going to begin at the beginning.

Today we've got two things to accomplish.

First, we have to set the stage, then we have to introduce the beginning. Today we've got two things to accomplish. First, we have to set the stage,

then we have to introduce the players. So let's move our gaze north from Korea to Manchuria,

a place where we've spent a decent amount of time to be sure, but it's worth going back over things

so that we're clear on how it all fits together.

So, Manchuria is the region of China that sticks out above the Korean Peninsula.

Today, the region is divided into three provinces by the government of the People's Republic of China,

Liaoning, Ji Lin, and Heilongjiang.

And, by the way, don't worry, I'll post a map with this week's episode.

This region is sometimes also creatively called the three provinces, in reference to those three provinces, or referred to collectively as East of the Past, or Guangdong in Chinese.

The pass being referenced is Shanghai Pass,

the major pass through the eastern end of the Great Wall of China, not to be confused with the

city of Shanghai. Manchuria has been in and out of the Chinese world for over a millennium,

but its role was fairly consistent

up until the 20th century. It was the home of horse nomad conquerors whose primary interaction

...