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podcasts. Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, Episode 264, The Man of Legend.

Today I want to tell the story of a samurai who enjoys one of the most unique distinctions

in Japanese history. Today, if you go to Tokyo Station and work your way west, you'll arrive

in the eastern section of the Imperial Palace,

an open area of the palace grounds through which, in wonderfully modern Tokyo style, a public roadway,

now runs. It's a great place for a stroll to take in a lovely day, to distract yourself from

working in the National Archives, panicking that handwritten sources are impossible to read, and God help me, how am I going to get this project done if I can't actually

read anything? Or, at least, it seems like it would be that way. I wouldn't know.

While you're strolling in that lovely bit of palace, you might notice that among its many fine

...