Before we get started today, I just wanted to remind everyone of the Intelligent Speech

coming up on April 24th.

I'm very excited to be joining the conference for the first time and to be appearing alongside

some absolutely fantastic guests, many of whom I've had the great fortune to interact with

over my time as a podcaster.

Go to Intelligentspeechconference.com to see the schedule, biographies of the speakers,

and to get your tickets.

Again, that's Intelligentspeechconference.com.

I'm very excited to be participating, and I can't wait to see you all there.

Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 385, The Iron Road, part two.

By the dawn of the 20th century, rail technology was clearly a part of the Japanese government's national strategy for integrating and strengthening

the imperial state. The ability of rail to bind the country more closely together than it ever had

been before made it invaluable to the governmental leadership, and as we've seen, that perception

of value ultimately led the decision to nationalized most of Japan's rail track

and turned the rail network into a centrally integrated part of the country's infrastructure.

By the dawn of the 20th century, however, rail was not just a part of the domestic planning of the Japanese government,

it was at the forefront of imperial planning as well.

And nowhere was this more evident than in Manchuria.

Manchuria, for a quick refresh, is the part of China that dangles over Korea.

It is the homeland of the Manchu, an ethnic group related to the Mongols, who conquered China in

the mid-1600s and ruled over the final imperial dynasty, the Qing.

By the 20th century, while Manchuria remained officially the Manchu homeland, it also

...