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This week, I'm going to recommend Hillbilly Elegie by J.D. Vance.

I try to stay away from modern politics in the United States on this show as much as possible,

but in light of recent events, I think Vance's look at the collapse of the white working class

over the last 40 years is worth a moment of your time.

It's also just a fine bit of memoir writing.

So go to audible trial.com slash Japan to clean your copy.

Hello. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast.

Episode 174, All the World's a Stage.

So the last few weeks have been some pretty heavy stuff, what with all the wars and revolutions and power politics and all that.

And while, in the paraphrased words of a friend of mine, I think I managed to make all those

dirty peasants being sent off to die somewhat fun, and thanks for that, man, I do what I can.

I figured this week we'd change tax a bit and do something a little more

lighthearted. Let's talk about the theater. Specifically, this week I want to focus on one of the

most well-known forms of theater in Japanese history, Kabuki. But to understand Kabuki, we have to

...