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This week I'm going to recommend The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Coal.

Do you like Hidden Figures? Well, here's something very similar, but more science fiction.

This is the fascinating tale of the space program that could have been

if humanity, instead of exploring the stars because of the Cold War,

had to do it because, well, frankly, they had no choice, and the world was ending.

It's a fascinating story, it's really well done,

and it made me really appreciate that as much as I think space is cool,

I have no desire to ever try and actually go there.

Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your copy.

Thank you. to claim your copy.

Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast.

Episode 324, the Tejan Scandal, Part 1.

This week, I want to tell a story about one of the aspects of the 1930s in Japan that is usually overlooked when discussing that time period.

You see, the evergreen question of 30s Japan is, how did a country that looked to be trending towards liberal democracy in the 20s see its parliament and indeed the very

idea of democracy completely discredited by the end of the decade? What made that slide

away from liberalism and towards fascism possible?

And usually when we tell that story we focus on two events, one in 1932 and another in 1936,

...